Citizens voice
Reflections from a Senior Citizen, written by Roopa —
I am told muscle mass declines with age, and having neither the time to go to the gym like our Men in Blue nor the bandwidth to drink Women’s Horlicks that Taapsee Pannu advocates.
I have learned to make walking and cycling part of my daily work life. I cycle part of the way to commute to work because it’s fun and meditative. I see beautiful sights, and of course- save on my carbon footprint, that ever-present sword of Damocles that only the Climate Change activists seem to see!
So when I received an invitation last month from Chiku Agarwal of Jhatkaa and Dimpu Chindappa, who heads the Cycle to Metro campaign, to join them, I said, “Surely, I will be there”.
That was my first ride as part of this group, one fine Sunday morning in Sept from RBI layout, Kothanur, to Jayanagar. I often do this route solo but it was a pleasure to do it in the company of like-minded individuals.
Meeting older and younger cycling enthusiasts and concerned Bangalore citizens was an eye-opener, from young IT professionals to retired engineers to people who work and dream of a more sustainable, safer, slower Bangalore.
On 08th Oct 2023, our second month’s journey, we did the route along Kanakapura Road under the Green Metro line from RBI Layout to Yelachanahalli to Silk Institute. Stopped first at the Yelachanahalli station, where there are a lot of safe parking spaces for bicycles, which the student community uses regularly.
The traffic police person was extraordinarily enthusiastic and starred in the Instagram reel, which will soon be released. But, more importantly, three policemen cordoned off our cycling group safely all the way, actually stopping traffic when we had to take U-turns. It felt safe, and I only wished it was like that every day, all the time!
Fellow cyclist encouragement
Top it off with idli-vada-dosa breakfast at the Udupi Uphara between Vajrahalli and Dhodkalsandra and great company. Thank you for that trip down memory lane of Mehsana- Modhera, Diptesh of Ahmedabad/ HSR and the encouragement from Riya of Waalmart/ Banashankari.
Thank you for remembering the cycle prototype- Manohar, and the peer company -Anil. Also, all the conversation from the young souls, whose names I don’t remember, but will continue to do this together.
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