Wednesday 5 October 2011

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Bah to the Auto

Toronto, Ontario

Something seemed unpleasant on Mount Pleasant Avenue. It was traffic.

I was trekking on it and these mean machines were whoozing by. By that I refer to the regular very ordinary automobiles - all of them. Usually I am numbed by traffic. It is an accepted part of urban life, yet it comes to me in spurts of annoyance when I think, "I don't need this assault." The sounds of engines were never attractive to me, nor the shape of design of them, not even in the best of days when those souped-up fifties and sixties models conquered roads in days gone by. I never cared for carbon-monoxide nor the space a car greedily occupies nor the fact that they kill animals, birds, and humans. Their roads ravage nature and have caused a major shift in the negative layout of people dispersement, bluntly called 'burbs'. Cars are shiny coffins, boxes of impersonalism and have taken the lead at concerns over energy supply. The list goes on.

I snarled within, feeling knots or cramps inside just thinking about the hazardous lifestyle the automobile has created. It was thought that a car would eliminate horse dung issues plus noise of the horses hooves clomping on the concrete or cobblestone but it wasn't a good substitute, not in the least.

Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, said, "In human society the normal way to travel is by foot, horse, bullock-cart, camel or elephant. Those modes of transportation have been around since time immemorial. Only in Kali-yuga do we have motorcars, and this motor car will not last very long. When the petrol dries up, what use are your motorcars?"

I believe there is a whole lot of people that are on that page of thinking. Perhaps it's a minority that will be like a moon's waxing. I also believe in tolerance, but not when the damage is so astronomical. Only my chanting wile walking offers personal damage control - my grumbling.

11 Km

No comments: