Seven years ago, I migrated to the city of dreams and settled down in Thane. After traveling regularly to south Mumbai for an initial period, since last one year I had been driving my XUV700 to the Kandivali office of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited. While my car, renowned for its smooth drive, helped me cover the distance, the relentless traffic and poor road conditions slowly eroded the pleasure—and even began to impact my health. The city’s inadequate road infrastructure, compounded by sluggish Metro construction, has been a glaring problem for years, with improvements seeming to rest on road developments from the era of Nitin Gadkari over two decades ago.
In the last several years, several startups have introduced business models that provide comfortable commuting solutions and have gained popularity amongst the daily office commuters. Compared to cab-aggregator services like Ola or Uber, these solutions are less expensive and more comfortable. I have been travelling through Cityflo bus service for the past one month to avoid traffic hassles. This realignment was done to overcome the extra fatigue and was not a calculated call much thought about. Surprisingly this change turned out to be a blessing in disguise to me.
Travelling by bus has added to my daily travel time and I had to realign my morning routine to ensure that I start early by at least 15 minutes to catch the bus. It was never an easy task for me as it demanded efficient time management. Further I did not want to compromise on my vital morning rituals like my physical workout, newspaper read and daily puja.
My first two travel days were altogether boring as I had no task to keep myself engaged while traveling. My inability to read the financial daily Business Standard was long haunting me. Suddenly I realized that I have created a sweet spot for myself to fulfill this task. Within a couple of days, occupying my seat and reading Business Standard became my standard protocol during my office travel.
This has facilitated increased academic awareness and enhanced engagements in office discussions on contemporary topics. This routine has helped me reframe my travel time into a valued pocket for learning and reflection. By nightfall, I trade the reading light for audio content, engaging with scholars like Dr. Vikram Sampath and J. Sai Deepak, or enjoying the music of legends like Lata Mangeshkar and Pt. Hari Prasad Chourasia. The adjustment has transformed my commute into a restorative experience, and my family has also noted the positive change.
All these days I struggled to find quality time to pursue my interests, but public transportation ensured that I was left with a couple of hours each day for my own well-being. Assuming that on a third of the occasions I still opt to drive, this still translates into 40 productive working man-days on an annualized basis, which would facilitate productive engagement to pursue my own interests.
That reminds me of a famous quote by Colombian President Gustavo Petro that “a developed country is not a place where the poor own cars, but where the rich people use public transport.” I am not sure what had prompted him to say so, but there is certainly an essence in what he has quoted. Developed countries are not just functions of higher Per Capita Income. Productive usage of resources, efficient time management by all the stakeholders, and higher happiness index of the common citizens go a long way in transforming the country into a developed nation. Effective time management and pursuit of personal passion play a key role in transforming individuals into an impactful performer. Reliable public infrastructure and efficient transportation also contribute to environmental sustainability. Altogether these changes, improve the quality of life, and result in enhanced economic power of the country. I unexpectedly realized that by opting to travel by public transportation, I am contributing towards the development of India.
(The author is a Chartered Accountant and works at Automotive Division of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited. Views personal.)
コメント