<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3059" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Dear Carlos,</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>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. </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Madhav</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>************************************************************************</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>"As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it."<BR>Antoine de Saint-Exupery<BR> <BR>Madhav G. Badami, PhD<BR>School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment McGill University Macdonald-Harrington Building<BR>815 Sherbrooke Street West<BR>Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6, Canada<BR> <BR>Phone: 514-398-3183 (Work); 514-486-2370 (Home)<BR>Fax: 514-398-8376; 514-398-1643<BR>URLs: <A href="http://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning">www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning</A><BR><A href="http://www.mcgill.ca/mse">www.mcgill.ca/mse</A><BR>e-mail: <A href="mailto:madhav.badami@mcgill.ca">madhav.badami@mcgill.ca</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV><BR> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left> <HR tabIndex=-1> <FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> 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] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Carlos F. Pardo<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 04, 2007 9:42 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Global 'South' Sustainable Transport<BR><B>Subject:</B> [sustran] Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques<BR></FONT><BR></DIV> <DIV></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:<BR><BR>- A mosque as wide as the sidewalk (Delhi), "blocking" the way for pedestrians,<BR>- An elephant walking on a major arterial,<BR>- The typical cows in roundabouts or roads,<BR>- The classic situation of the "chaotic" Indian intersection.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>Best regards,<BR><PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">Carlos </PRE><BR><BR>Roselle Rivera wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:fc.0119ec9f013125a93b9aca00c6e50543.13125b9@iss.nl type="cite"> <STYLE type=text/css>BODY { MARGIN: 10px } </STYLE> <FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: rgb(0,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS" face="Trebuchet MS" color=#006600 size=+0><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-FAMILY: Geneva" face=Geneva color=#000000 size=+0><B><BR>something (amusing/very bothering?) on transport.<BR> Bad and irresponsible planning? or planned tourist attraction?<BR></B><BR><BR><BR>** The Boeing 737 stuck in city road **<BR>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.<BR>< <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> ><BR><BR><BR>** BBC Daily E-mail **<BR>Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all<BR>in one daily e-mail<BR>< <A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/email" target=_blank moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.bbc.co.uk/email</A> ><BR><BR><BR>** Disclaimer **<BR>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. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified.<BR><BR>If you do not wish to receive such e-mails in the future or want to know more about the BBC's Email a Friend service, please read our frequently asked questions. <A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4162471.stm" target=_blank moz-do-not-send="true">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4162471.stm</A><BR><BR>Please refer to: <A href="http://www.iss.nl/content/view/full/2873" target=_blank moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.iss.nl/content/view/full/2873</A> for ISS’ email disclaimer.<BR><BR><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: rgb(0,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS" face="Trebuchet MS" color=#006600 size=+0><BR>ROSELLE LEAH K RIVERA<BR>PhD Fellow<BR>Human Resource and Local Development Staff Group<BR><BR>Institute of Social Studies<BR>Kortenaerkade 12<BR>2518 AX<BR>The Hague, Netherlands<BR>Office Tel: +31 70 4260428<BR>Fax: +31 70 4260507<BR>Mobile: +31 627315444</FONT> <BR><BR>__________ NOD32 2238 (20070503) Information __________<BR><BR>This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.<BR><A href="http://www.eset.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.eset.com</A><BR><PRE wrap=""><HR width="90%" SIZE=4> -------------------------------------------------------- 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></BODY></HTML>