Sunday, March 30, 2003
Why I don't like commuting to work in Bangalore
Several reasons why:
A one-way ride to ITPL (27.8km from home) takes one hour. That's two hours lost to the commute.
In the mornings, I have to ride a 10km stretch straight eastwards, into the glare of the rising sun. In the evenings, another 10km stretch into the glare of the setting sun.
There's a flyover under construction at the Outer Ring road and Hosur road crossing. Crowded roads, flying dust.
There is no lane discipline before the Hosur road crossing. Every second of the ride requires me to watch every vehicle around me: The guy in front in case he decides to slow down too quickly, the guys to the left and right in case they decide the guy in front of them is going too slow, and the guy behind, in case he decides I'm going too slow at the same time I decide the guy in front of me is too slow. Every second of the half hour it takes to get to the Hosur road crossing (except when waiting at a traffic light, of course).
Most of the ride is spent swearing silently at all the rash drivers who narrowly missed me. I refuse to inflict road rage on anyone, but there's no denying that at the end of each ride, I have to make an effort to quell that rage and think about my work instead. I experimented with piping music into my ears for a while and it made the ride a lot more tolerable, but when you can't hear the guy behind honk before he overtakes, you're now asking for trouble.
About 17km of the total 27.8km ride is a truck route. That means my competitors for road space are really big, really noisy, and with very little control over inertia. Plus their drivers have reputations needing to be maintained.
And all the simple things that add to the experience: Bangalore summers are hot and getting hotter every year. Most of Bangalore's roads are designed for light traffic at very low speeds. Riding with trucks means their exhaust pipes are blowing into my face. The city's rapid growth rate means there are more vehicles on the roads every day, and the roads are not getting any wider. The rapid growth rate also means there is construction work happening everywhere, and this means there is dust flying into my face whenever I'm on the roads.
The alternative? Work from home. Convert ideas into code and thoughts into words as soon they occur because the equipment for the purpose is always just a few feet away. Wake up fresh and inspired each morning and get to work right away without a stressful ride in between to take all the enthusiasm away. Work through the day and through the night too if the enthusiasm keeps up. No having to take another stressful ride home. Sweaty on a hot afternoon? Take a shower, get back to work cooler. How many workplaces come with a bathroom? Back hurting? Get into bed, back horizontal, knees bent, laptop on lap (notice, laptop), and get back to work again.
There is only one thing I don't like about working from home: email, instant messengers and phone calls are not a substitute for face to face interaction. But given the horror that Bangalore traffic is these days, I'll live with those alternatives quite happily.
A one-way ride to ITPL (27.8km from home) takes one hour. That's two hours lost to the commute.
In the mornings, I have to ride a 10km stretch straight eastwards, into the glare of the rising sun. In the evenings, another 10km stretch into the glare of the setting sun.
There's a flyover under construction at the Outer Ring road and Hosur road crossing. Crowded roads, flying dust.
There is no lane discipline before the Hosur road crossing. Every second of the ride requires me to watch every vehicle around me: The guy in front in case he decides to slow down too quickly, the guys to the left and right in case they decide the guy in front of them is going too slow, and the guy behind, in case he decides I'm going too slow at the same time I decide the guy in front of me is too slow. Every second of the half hour it takes to get to the Hosur road crossing (except when waiting at a traffic light, of course).
Most of the ride is spent swearing silently at all the rash drivers who narrowly missed me. I refuse to inflict road rage on anyone, but there's no denying that at the end of each ride, I have to make an effort to quell that rage and think about my work instead. I experimented with piping music into my ears for a while and it made the ride a lot more tolerable, but when you can't hear the guy behind honk before he overtakes, you're now asking for trouble.
About 17km of the total 27.8km ride is a truck route. That means my competitors for road space are really big, really noisy, and with very little control over inertia. Plus their drivers have reputations needing to be maintained.
And all the simple things that add to the experience: Bangalore summers are hot and getting hotter every year. Most of Bangalore's roads are designed for light traffic at very low speeds. Riding with trucks means their exhaust pipes are blowing into my face. The city's rapid growth rate means there are more vehicles on the roads every day, and the roads are not getting any wider. The rapid growth rate also means there is construction work happening everywhere, and this means there is dust flying into my face whenever I'm on the roads.
The alternative? Work from home. Convert ideas into code and thoughts into words as soon they occur because the equipment for the purpose is always just a few feet away. Wake up fresh and inspired each morning and get to work right away without a stressful ride in between to take all the enthusiasm away. Work through the day and through the night too if the enthusiasm keeps up. No having to take another stressful ride home. Sweaty on a hot afternoon? Take a shower, get back to work cooler. How many workplaces come with a bathroom? Back hurting? Get into bed, back horizontal, knees bent, laptop on lap (notice, laptop), and get back to work again.
There is only one thing I don't like about working from home: email, instant messengers and phone calls are not a substitute for face to face interaction. But given the horror that Bangalore traffic is these days, I'll live with those alternatives quite happily.
birdonthewire — Mar 30, 2003 3:13:07 PM — # ↩
jessyleen — Mar 31, 2003 4:25:36 AM — # ↩
Hope we'r e not too far away from the work-from-home culture here in Bangalore... would definitely solve a *lot* of issues! Couldn't have complained better myself :)
Anonymous — Mar 31, 2003 3:28:28 PM — # ↩
Aren't you using a helmet?!
Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 31, 2003 3:34:24 PM — # ↩