तेजस्वी Pune

Last week I came across a post by PMC. It was about the progress they made for a "flex free" Pune city. That post encouraged me to write about my some things that have been hovering in my mind since I moved back from London. Let me warn you though, I am no writer. This blog is an attempt to get a few topics started, to understand if there are more like me who feel similarly.

Pune is blessed with tekdis and waterbodies accessible for everyone in very close proximity of their homes. When we think of tekdis and our river curving through the city, we are reminded of morning climbs, evening walks, quarry katta, romantic date nights on the bridge (I never understood why that particular spot, perhaps it is the breeze), walking pets, tree plantation (Tekdis are primarily grasslands, so is it right to plant trees? - well, more on that later) - it is indeed a never ending list.

But what tops the list is definitely watching sunrise and sunsets at the tekdi and the

glistening reflections on the surface of water. It is not only watching but silently observing change in the surrounding colour and temperature. It is that natural light I feel my eyes enjoy the most. It is bright, yet not so bright.

Now imagine you have just climbed down the tekdi, having enjoyed the most beautiful sunset and now have to drive through JM road to get home. Or if you miss the tekdi sunset like I do and cheat by watching it from the balcony of your 7th floor office, it still brings joy. But that pain of driving through - I am not referring to the pain caused by traffic or the high beams of fellow drivers but to the signages in our city. Especially after having seen the screen all day, my exhausted eyes are trying to find the beauty of JM road in the crowd of brightest signages staring at me or shall I say screaming at me! Is it the intensity - the wattage, the colour temperature - their Kelvin value, the size of the boards or just all of these that hurt my eyes I wonder. Do they hurt yours too?

We can't bring the beauty of Pataleshwer lit with oil diyas on our streets, but we sure can have some control on our streetscapes - the light pollution in Pune. Do we have a standard for signage sizes - yes we do but do we have enough details about allowance of light intensities? Do we need to update this document? Will we collectively follow them?