I had been away from home for good one week, traveling to places which are supposed to be home – place of birth, home town, land of my forefathers etc.
I travel to Patna at least once a year, but rarely for whole seven days. Traveling to Patna is rather easy with an overnight express train without any stops along the entire 1004km.
Patna can be a frustrating experience. The sorry state of roads has been worsened with the excessive rain washing away the top black layer. The slow moving traffic and the constant honking can be maddening. However I believe local travel in the city can improve dramatically by two simple changes – a) build roads that last & b) remove the slow moving cycle rickshaws off the main thoroughfares, at least from Bailey Road, Fraser Road, Exhibition Road, Boring Road and Ashok Rajpath and around Gandhi Maidan.
A friend’s father lent me his car for use during the stay in Patna. It was rather very thoughtful of him. With the car I was able to finish the tasks in hand quite comfortably. But driving around in Patna was a test of patience. I was jostling for space with cycle rickshaws and pedestrians, even in the central business district of the city. When did I knock off both the front indicators, I just don’t know.
Patna seemed to have an optimistic buzz which I hadn’t seen in the last few years. The city is gripped with a whole lot of activity with a brand new IIT at last, a new national law university, and a much hyped business school and a couple of new engineering colleges. Patna had not seen such an effort at institutional building for a very long time. Property prices have gone up, the city has various flyovers under construction, and people seem to be generally making more money. Things at last are changing for the better.
Being away from home for such a long time, brought about certain new realizations - A simple call asking ‘what’s happening’ twice - thrice a day meant quite a lot to my mother; I was missing someone much more than I thought I should have; I could talk like an equal and sometimes more than that amongst my relatives; & most importantly that I still love Patna.
I travel to Patna at least once a year, but rarely for whole seven days. Traveling to Patna is rather easy with an overnight express train without any stops along the entire 1004km.
Patna can be a frustrating experience. The sorry state of roads has been worsened with the excessive rain washing away the top black layer. The slow moving traffic and the constant honking can be maddening. However I believe local travel in the city can improve dramatically by two simple changes – a) build roads that last & b) remove the slow moving cycle rickshaws off the main thoroughfares, at least from Bailey Road, Fraser Road, Exhibition Road, Boring Road and Ashok Rajpath and around Gandhi Maidan.
A friend’s father lent me his car for use during the stay in Patna. It was rather very thoughtful of him. With the car I was able to finish the tasks in hand quite comfortably. But driving around in Patna was a test of patience. I was jostling for space with cycle rickshaws and pedestrians, even in the central business district of the city. When did I knock off both the front indicators, I just don’t know.
Patna seemed to have an optimistic buzz which I hadn’t seen in the last few years. The city is gripped with a whole lot of activity with a brand new IIT at last, a new national law university, and a much hyped business school and a couple of new engineering colleges. Patna had not seen such an effort at institutional building for a very long time. Property prices have gone up, the city has various flyovers under construction, and people seem to be generally making more money. Things at last are changing for the better.
Being away from home for such a long time, brought about certain new realizations - A simple call asking ‘what’s happening’ twice - thrice a day meant quite a lot to my mother; I was missing someone much more than I thought I should have; I could talk like an equal and sometimes more than that amongst my relatives; & most importantly that I still love Patna.
3 comments:
After travelling in Gurgaon with the same sorry state of roads that has been worsened with the excessive rain washing away the top black layer. The slow moving traffic and the constant honking can be maddening – I am sure you must feel like being at home in Patna.
IIT, it seems is in the way of loosing all its glory - courtesy our dear Mr. Arjun Singh. With a guy who got ‘0’ in maths getting admission, forget Patna, the whole country should be ashamed of it. Anyways good for people there. But a law college in Patna is like trying to create a Sunderban in Thar. I might be wrong in my perception but that’s how people perceive it to be.
Hmm..nie post. If one thing thats actually changing in India, its the change - that is the pace of change and the qualitative aspects of it. Politicians and administrators are probably still as corrput and inept but I think the whole definition of what is an acceptable standard has changed in all aspects of life. Roads, railways, all infrastrcuture facilities, education, healthcare etc. Though its a long journey still, I am sure we'll get there. And Patna or for that matetr Bihar is not going to be far behind.
Arre yaar, don't demean you birthplace so much! I have lived at Patna long time back, & believe me, its not as bad as the media & the general public opinion would make you believe. Agreed, it is not in league with the top 10 cities of India, but the place has its own unique charm!
As for roads, now-a-days, even the metros & other big cities are not much better-off. I can, at least, vouch for Pune, for that matter. But then again Pune has got its own charm too!
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