--
“Without culture, society, even when perfect,
is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the
future.”― Albert Camus
“You know, bicycling isn't just a matter of
balance," I said. "It's a matter of faith. You can keep upright only
by moving forward. You have to have your eyes on the goal, not the
ground.”― Susan Vreeland
“Any sports, even that of paddling, is in a
way a race with your own self, to do better”-- Me
Well, the quotes by Camus & Vreeland may
confuse you as to what's the connection of cycling & culture or society but
then I am glad to get opportunity to write about both because if sport is my
passion, then culture/ society is directly related to my bread & butter
i.e. real estate! So, thanks to Grand Cycle Race (I should mention Bajaj but I
am not an influencer not Mr Bajaj is going to pay me for mentioning their name
so be it, lol) which was conducted recently in our beloved Pune city or say
region & my sharing is not to describe the cycle racing but its impact or
say connection with city at large! But before that “Dilese” congratulations to
Mr.Collector as administrative head of district & Municipal as well Police
Commissioners of Pune & Pimpri Chinchwad & Superintendent of District
Police & entire ground staff of these organizations! This will sound like a
builder speaking from political dais where every name & mention of credit
given to that name matters more than the speech of the speaker but let it be!
Why I mentioned these names is not because they matter for my business (they do
btw) but what they all must have gone through not just the last week which saw
400 plus kilometers of cycle race through Pune region but even nearly a month
before that which saw election of both city’s civic elections also! And the
pressure of work can be imagined only by those who have seen all these
organizations (read as depts) closely & I am one such that’s why!
Ohk, the formalities of niceties are done
& let’s come to our subject which is the cycle race & city’s culture as
the Gen Z may not be even knowing that few decades back this city was called as
“Cyakalinche Shahar” (Bicycle City) in the entire country & my genre may be
last of it, which has witnessed it in reality & not AI! When I got down at
Pune Railway Station in the late 80”s for my engineering education, all I was
carrying, a bag, some books, a mattress & a cycle. Thirty-five years down
the line the city is now called Two-wheeler’s city & cycles are only for
upper few that too for exercise & not as means of commuting. Even the
poorest segment of society doesn’t look at this most economical means of
commuting i.e. cycle, as effective or say useful & on such background when
a cycle race was arranged right on the working days that too after the hustle
of elections just over, the event has got mixed reactions from the entire city
& which is my subject of sharing! The moment this race was declared as
usual (that’s synonymous with Pune now) controversy started, right from who is
conducting this race & for whose benefit to why suddenly this love for
cycling, all this under whose instructions & why on working days &
social media was abuzz with these posts, even newspapers too! What I came to
understand, the major lead was taken by Hon Collector & under his
leadership, other depts followed. This means the driving force was or is none
other than the State govt because Collector represents govt, right? And may be
because of the PMC/PCMC elections the political figures as well rulers kept
distance from the event as it could be considered as breach of Code of Conduct.
This in itself was a boon (by me) as the entire cycle race event was in total
control of administration without any intervention for individual or party
benefit & that’s one reason for the success of the event!
Before this event no such type of race was
ever conducted in the Pune region (at least I am not aware of) rather I don’t
remember reading about such anywhere in the country. In my college days there
used to be the famous Mumbai _Pune cycle race which was a yearly event but that
was mostly out of city limits & slowly as the traffic increased &
expressway came into existence the fame & popularity of this race faded
away & today not many even know such a race of cycling ever existed! On this
background to make a fully dedicated cycling race an event & where
international players are involved & to make it pass through our city roads
& in rural parts, well it indeed was a challenge which administration took
on & full marks to them for the same. Because their riders are not our
normal leisure or work-related paddlers & speed of cycling can be nearly
60km/ hour & at such speed even a small pebble in the path or an uneven
surface of road can cause serious accidents. Means for the track of nearly 400
plus kilometers you will have to assure a road surface which will stand till
end of this race & this is not overnight job (which usually our local
bodies are used to get done) just to face-lift for any Big Leader’s visit to
the city, but we have to make roads on which international cyclers are supposed
to race & one mistake means damage of country’s name on world map, now you
will understand the tough part of conducting the race. Silently the entire
system was working overnight & meticulously the entire road from where the racers
were to pass was worked on & actual as they say in Marathi, “aarasha sarkhe
raste” (mirror like surfaced roads) were prepared & outcome is not a single
mishap in the entire race because of quality of the road, that’s success!
If this was achievement for the engineering
team then the bigger challenge awaited for Police or say enforcement team as
for nearly four days all these roads needed to remain empty to cyclists to pass
from them freely & in a country ( read as City) where people don’t even
bother red signals & put their as well others’ lives at risk, you can
imagine the impossibility of the job that the race should be conducted without
any pedestrian or two where or stray animal entering suddenly in the path of
racers! And on top of that the race was scheduled on the working days that too
after elections, so the roads were bound to get crowded like hell &
Punekars are over sensitive about traffic & water! Here, the police did a
sensible thing (well, many won’t like it) which was. To close the major roads
from morning 10 am to evening 6 pm on the day of the race in the particular
patch of that day’s route! This decision wasn’t easy as there was a heavy
public cry they had to face & on top of it the police barricaded the entire
such stretch to avoid crossing on these roads which only fuelled the
frustration of the public! I will come to the negative aspect of this action
later but trust me, knowing the way Punekars drive or behave on the streets,
what other solution could you have thought, had you been put in charge of
controlling the safety aspect of the race? As the way we drive or behave even
when traffic signals are on, imagine what we would have done with getting mixed
with the cyclists of the race, it would have been chaos & that's why the
road closers'!
And lastly the beautification via flower pots
& signages & murals along the roads & in chowks, well if you see
those images, you will feel you are in some city of Europe, such was the work
done! No wonder many of the foreign players who have participated in the race
were thrilled & happy with the arrangement as well the way the crowd
greeted them during the entire race. As most of them had never been to India
& unlike other sports which are played in some single confined venue, here the
players had to travel across the entire segment of the city as well country
side & what they saw, what they felt wasn’t as bad as they must have heard
about our so-called poor country, this is the real success of the race, is what
I feel! At the same time, this race made people realize once again the Golden
Days of this city of paddling as well the way people celebrated the passing of
cyclists from their locality shows our culture. In a way this can be “Savaii
Gandharva” (plz google) of cycling adding one more feather in the cap of the
cultural capital of the State! As these types of events are important for the
city at large not just for name & fame of the city but for the society to
realize fun & importance of the fitness which comes through such games as
well as the bonding, because a sport doesn’t recognize any man-made boundaries
such as caste, religion, gender, or profession but treats every player as
equal!
Now, coming to flip side of the race (actually
there isn’t any) as why people (read as Janata) get frustrated or angry about
such events is, it’s not they don’t love sport or want their city name to be
put on the world map but why it needs a race to make our roads better as well
the infrastructure, is the point which matters most! If the administration can
make roads of such length in good & perfect condition as well
which can manage the traffic then why doesn't it do it on an everyday
basis where people get stuck for hours in the traffic on the very same roads!
One major aspect about reduction in numbers of cycles on normal days is, road
safety as a cycle doesn’t provide much safety in case of road accident which
are increasing by day due to reckless driving of Pune people which is one more
aspect the govt system must look after! Because, no two minds about benefits of using
a cycle for regular use but what about mine or my kid’s safety while using a
cycle on the city roads, is the question citizens ask, which the system must
answer by action & not mere words! Same is about beautification,
the beautiful flower-pots which were present during race time, were removed
from the roads & chowks, immediately after the race & again these
spaces will be covered by illegal parking or banners or street vendors, why is
this so? Why can’t we have the same beautiful road side views yearlong &
why it's only for the duration of the race (Same happened in G 30 or 32 summit)
& not on other times is what people want to know! At the same time even for
the race the conditions of public toilets along the entire track were pathetic
(sorry but fact) & this is something we must do needfully together as
public toilets on the roads are like mirrors of the city, do I need to
elaborate more! Here, we the citizens are equally responsible as when it comes
to honouring traffic rules, we ourselves never do it on our own & about
civic sense or owning the public spaces, well, lesser we speak is better! For
last eight years, we maintain a public toilet at Nal Stop, Karve road &
every month even the bulbs, not just flower pots, get stolen from there, such
is our attitude towards the public property, so we can’t blame only the
administration, is equally true!
To conclude, all I will say
is, the Grand Cycle race is over & we (read as entire system & society)
have enough time till the next race to retrospect about our attitude towards
our city & not just some sports as that will only decide whether we have
really benefited (read as learned) from such race or its just one more
showpiece event for the city; adios with this note!
-
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/
Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog
links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html
https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
Think Green, Think Life
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