[Reader-list] Delhi Critical Mass Ride

[gautam bhan]

Dear All,

 While I think its great to have Critical Mass in Delhi, as someone who
currently
finds himself in a city where it has a long tradition [San Francisco], a few
thoughts.

 In the US, critical mass has become, I would argue, an elite practice, for
one, and an
event rather than a movement. This is partly because cycling in the US has a
very different
user profile than in a city like Delhi -- a lot of bikes cost a lot of
money, and the bike lobby
tends to represent middle class and higher riders and users, many of them
white and male.
This couldn't be further from the reality of Delhi where riding a cycle is a
question of necessity
for the vast majority of daily users, and is heavily gendered.

 My intention in writing today is simple: It would be wonderful if we could
think about how to
incorporate both cyclists who are commuters and those who are leisure users.

There are those who will read this email and hence would be the handful of
those
wanting to expand cycling space in the city while not needing to commute
long distances
on their cycles everyday. But how can Critical Mass find ways to bring in
the needs of daily commuters, who
are dominantly the working poor of the city, not on this e-list [though not
necessarily not online]?
How will they relate to critical mass? Will their needs as commuter-cyclists
and not leisure-cyclists
be part of the Critical Mass movement? Will they be part of organising, of
forming Critical Mass as
a space?

 Critical Mass began as a political movement in the US. I have to say that
it has lost some
of that here in the US. I would love for it, in India, to return to that
moment of origin and to
critically look at its own so that it becomes, or at least tries to be,
inclusive, challenging,
and political.

 One simple example: post the car owners screaming in the early days of the
BRT in Delhi, the
government has already said that it will not have a separate cycle lane in
the new BRT
corridors coming up -- this is ridiculous and it represents a perfect case
where the needs
of cyclists on the corridor were sacrificed in an instant when car owners
made their voices
loud, and without any debate. Organising around the need for a separate lane
on the corridor is a practical, tangible
and excellent point around which to organise cycle users that are both
commuters and
leisure cyclists. Could this become part of the Critical Mass agenda?

 I wish I could be part of it and wasn't so far away.

 - gautam

On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 10:21 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
<shuddha at sarai.net>wrote:

>
> Delhi Critical Mass Ride
> Friday, September 26, 2008
> 6:00pm - 7:00pm
> Vijay Chowk, Near Parliament House, New Delhi
>
> Dear All, (Especially those who live in Delhi)
>
> Please join the first ever Delhi Critical Mass cycling event.
> 'Critical Mass' Cyclists will assemble at Vijay Chowk ( between 6:00
> and 6:30 and ride through streets of Delhi for about 45 minutes. The
> idea is to make a statement that cyclists should be given their due
> respect by other road users.
>
> Critical Mass is an event held in almost all major cities of the
> world, usually on the last Friday of every month, wherein a mass of
> cyclists ride through the streets of the city. The peak hour bicycle
> ride gives the subtle message to  fellow road users that cyclists too
> exist.
>
> Please give this event the maximum publicity and make it a success by
> ensuring maximum participation. Show the city that cyclists of Delhi
> will demand their rightful place on the streets of Delhi.
>
> Celebrate cycling!
>
> For More Details - See -
> http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=38702900238&ref=nf
>
> -------------
>
>
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