October 24, 2011
School of Arts and Sciences, Kochi
Time is running out, so is fuel …
Why does each metre cost you a litre?
Fuel your thoughts, not your engines …
These were some thought-provoking and catchy slogans displayed on cycle banners as final-year students of Master of Fine Arts (Visual Media) took to the streets to emphasize both conservation of fuel as well as road safety.
Inaugurating the cycle rally, Sri. Adarsh Kumar G. Nair, Motor Vehicle Inspector, Tripunithura reminded the students and everyone assembled, “Our lives are more valuable than the thrill of speed driving and the fun of breaking rules.”
Poojya Swami Purnamritananda Puri further emphasized, “While using roads, rules are necessary. Only when we properly follow rules without misusing our freedom, we will benefit.”
Brahmachari Tapasyamrita Chaitanya also spoke, citing examples from foreign countries where citizens regularly use bicycles to commute short and long distances.
Pamphlets clearly outlining road rules and petrol conservation tips were distributed.
As the students accompanied by their staff members cycled, they passed through Edappally Junction, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Cheranelloor.
Back on campus, the students designed posters to depict the grim fuel crisis and its environmental costs.
The winning poster depicted the present and the future in two frames. In the first, a rich man was being chauffeured through traffic, and was the subject of envy from less fortunate road travellers. In the next frame, the same man was seated in a rickshaw being pulled by the same chauffeur.
Explaining the poster’s caption, Start Saving Petrol Now Before Its Too Late, MFA student Siddharath Kandoth, who designed the winning poster said, “I tried to bring out the situation we may find ourselves in, some twenty years from today.”
All winning posters were displayed at the Brahmasthanam auditorium on campus.
Together, they helped reiterate the message of the cycle rally – If your destination is close, don’t drive, take a bicycle instead.
Even on longer trips, given frequent traffic jams and slow moving cars, bicycles may be a better option than other vehicles.
Besides, cycling is good for our health, our wallet and our planet. At a time when fuel prices are sky high and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise out of control, why not drive less and cycle more?
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