<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Carlos, I have enjoyed very much reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VS_Naipul">VS Naipul</a>'s books about India. He is a well-known writer of 'travel literature' (he recently won the Nobel prize for literature) and has a very good perception of cultural issues. He is of Indian descent, but has never lived in India, although he has travelled there extensively. I have read his books <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Among_the_Believers:_An_Islamic_Journey">Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey</a>, which is about his travels in the Islamic areas of Asia (including India and Pakistan), and also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India:_A_Million_Mutinies_Now">India: A Million Mutinies Now</a>, which is only about India. I think that he has newer material about these areas as well. He is very opinionated and not everyone appreciates his views, but I think that he is an excellent writer. One of these days I hope to make it over there myself.... Best regards, Zvi Madhav Badami, Prof. wrote: <blockquote cite="mid45AEE06A4800AF4FAD8BEF09C433D85F0213ED59@EXCHANGE2VS2.campus.mcgill.ca" type="cite"> <title></title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; "> <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3059" name="GENERATOR"> <div dir="ltr" align="left">Dear Carlos,</div> <div dir="ltr" align="left"> </div> <div dir="ltr" align="left">Once the craziness of the academic term comes to an end, I promise a detailed response to Jonathan Richmond's (and others') postings on the situation in India (and what we can and ought to do about it). I will try and work elephants, cows and yoga  -- but not planes -- into my response as well :-). Meanwhile, I will leave you with this personal viewpoint ... India is like life itself -- joyous, sometimes sublime, and at the very same time, very messy, even obscene, but never ever dull and boring. </div> <div dir="ltr" align="left"> </div> <div dir="ltr" align="left">Madhav</div> <div> </div> <div align="left">************************************************************************</div> <div> </div> <div align="left">"As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it." Antoine de Saint-Exupery   Madhav G. Badami, PhD School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment McGill University Macdonald-Harrington Building 815 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6, Canada   Phone: 514-398-3183 (Work); 514-486-2370 (Home) Fax: 514-398-8376; 514-398-1643 URLs: <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning">www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning</a> <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/mse">www.mcgill.ca/mse</a> e-mail: <a href="mailto:madhav.badami@mcgill.ca">madhav.badami@mcgill.ca</a></div> <div> </div> <div class="OutlookMessageHeader" dir="ltr" align="left" lang="en-us"> <hr tabindex="-1">From: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca@list.jca.apc.org">sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca@list.jca.apc.org</a> [<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca@list.jca.apc.org">mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca@list.jca.apc.org</a>] On Behalf Of Carlos F. Pardo Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 9:42 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques </div> We had the chance to be in India (Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune) last week, working in a BRT training course with the SUTP project, ITDP and World Bank (which was very useful). Parallel to the workshop I would go walking around to see these cities. This news from a plane in the middle of a road reminded me of some other issues I saw: - A mosque as wide as the sidewalk (Delhi), "blocking" the way for pedestrians, - An elephant walking on a major arterial, - The typical cows in roundabouts or roads, - The classic situation of the "chaotic" Indian intersection. This has all made me think deeper about the recent discussion started by J. Richmond. Is it institutions? Is it a deeply culturally rooted characteristic of Indians? Is it religion, yoga or whatever? I bought a book on Indian culture which I've started reading to see if I find any answers. I would really like to hear from people in India their point of view on why they think this happens. Being from Colombia, I'm completely lost trying to understand this. Best regards, <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Carlos </pre> Roselle Rivera wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:fc.0119ec9f013125a93b9aca00c6e50543.13125b9@iss.nl" type="cite"> <style type="text/css">BODY { MARGIN: 10px } </style> something (amusing/very bothering?) on transport.  Bad and irresponsible planning? or planned tourist attraction? ** The Boeing 737 stuck in city road ** Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a busy road. < <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm</a> > ** BBC Daily E-mail ** Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail < <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/email" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.bbc.co.uk/email</a> > ** Disclaimer ** The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. 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ROSELLE LEAH K RIVERA PhD Fellow Human Resource and Local Development Staff Group Institute of Social Studies Kortenaerkade 12 2518 AX The Hague, Netherlands Office Tel: +31 70 4260428 Fax: +31 70 4260507 Mobile: +31 627315444 __________ NOD32 2238 (20070503) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. <a href="http://www.eset.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.eset.com</a> <pre wrap=""><hr size="4" width="90%"> -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss">http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss</a> to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). __________ NOD32 2238 (20070503) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.eset.com">http://www.eset.com</a> </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> <hr size="4" width="90%"> -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss">http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss</a> to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). </pre> </blockquote> </body> </html>