It has been a rough experience travelling within Sub City. This is Delhi…
It is not about travelling from one part of the city to another. Not from Chandni Chowk to Rohini but within Rohini.
I have been living in sector 11 of Rohini. A very nice place with lots of greenery, and wide roads.
The road in front of my house is so wide that 2 vehicles can pass side by side. Seem funny but you will not find such wide roads in Delhi except diplomatic areas like chanakayapuri and few other places.
So… I had to go today from Sector 11 to sector 15 in Rohini which is a 10 minutes drive.
Every time using same mode of transport is boring at least for me. I like to explore new things and hence thought of using public transport.
I started from home at around 12.30 noon and had to reach bank to get internet banking by 1.00 PM as it is closed from 1.00 PM till 1.30 PM for lunch. You cannot expect staff to work and address your requirement even if it is urgent.
Employees need lunch time to relax and discuss day to day things which also make them aware of the surroundings. But most important- they have to satisfy their hunger which is the essence of going to work and earn money. If you skip your lunch or take lunch very late, it will make you sick.
So I took rickshaw from home till Cineplex which is an about half a kilometer. I felt relaxed as I had not thought of getting rickshaw so easily.
I cursed myself why I had been driving car for 10 minutes distance feeling exhausted by the time I reach my destination. I was exhausted because of honking of horns and traffic jams or slow movement of traffic.
I got down from rickshaw in 5 minutes and crossed the road to take another public transport- rickshaw or bus or RTV (tempo like small bus).
My mom had told me about the public transport route and also benefits of using public transport. Car makes us lazy as it is door to door service. Public transport can keep you healthy as you have to board transport and then get down from the bus/rickshaw. You also may have to walk a little to reach destination or to change transport.
I waited for 5 minutes but no bus or rickshaw came. I asked passerby how I can reach sector 15. I was informed that bus and rickshaw will take you to sector 15.
I waited for 20 minutes but nothing came in my sight. Now I cursed myself why I did not come in the car. This is human tendency. We do not care for what we have or we have got easily. We run for something we do not have or look for new things. When things move in the right direction we feel that no one is above us. If things go haywire then we start blaming our thought process or rather person who suggested for new things.
Bus came and I felt relieved. I asked “bhaiya sector 15 jayenge”. He said “nahi. Hum to metro station ja rahe hai”.
Another bus came but it did not go the required destination. I waited. Auto rickshaw came and I asked for sector 15. It did not go. RTV came after 10 minutes. But it would not go. Subsequently many buses, rickshaws and RTV’s came but of no use.
After 5 minutes an e-rickshaw came in my sight and I immediately waived my hand to stop it. I asked with low energy if it would go. Finally it agreed for Sun Glow Public School which was the starting point of sector 15. I had no choice and I boarded e- rickshaw. After about 10 minutes I reached the school.
There was no conveyance from school to the bank. I started walking and finally reached bank. It was about 1.45 PM. The lunch time was already over and staff was attending customers. There were very few people making it easy for me to get my work done in less time. I got my internet banking kit.
This part was good as I had not to wait during lunch time. But it had been offset by the time consumed in public transport.
No doubt I explored the other side of commuting-public transport which is far more time consuming as compared to our comfort zone-car.
So in a nutshell it took more than 2 hours in commuting instead of half an hour I had used my car.
Oops… I did not mention journey from bank to home. No worries- it was smooth. I came out from bank and got rickshaw immediately and in about 20 minutes I reached home.
The government and local bodies should address these problems. It is very difficult for senior citizens to commute with these challenges.
For me it was nothing. I am young. Not much in age but young at heart.