DOES DELHI HAVE SOMETHING TO LEARN FROM QUITO?

A view of Quito with Andes mountains in the backdrop

When I mention the name ‘Quito’ few of my students and friends can tell whether I am talking about a person, place or thing. Many of my younger friends have heard of Ecuador, though, but mostly because of their prominence in football and of course because of Julian Assange, the Swede of the Wikileaks fame who has been given asylum at the Ecuador embassy in London. For the others who may not be quite as sports or leak minded Quito is the capital of Ecuador, a country located in the north-western tip of South America which I had the good fortune of visiting last winter, officially to attend an international conference of academics but in reality just lured by the attraction of a chance to see a Latin American country.

We (my friend, his wife and me) arrived in Quito late in the night on a flight from Atlanta (USA) and it was well past midnight that we were able to complete the airport and visa formalities. We hired a taxi and as we drove in the night the people on the roads and the houses made me feel as if I was home in Delhi. The same haphazard off-white and white buildings with flat concrete roofs and dark windows staring at us through the darkness. When we were close to the hotel where we had booked our stay, the taxi driver wanted to take a turn that we thought was an attempt to fleece us (like taxi and auto drivers often do in Delhi). But later we discovered that the driver was right and we had entered the street to our hotel (Sol De Quito or the ‘Soul of Quito’) driving the wrong way on a one-way-street.

We stayed in Quito for just under ten days but during the entire period I could not but help compare the city with our own capital Delhi. Unlike Delhi which is just 500 feet above sea level, Quito is at an elevation of a good 9000 feet. So when I was planning my trip, I had expected that Quito would be very cold. At comparable heights in the Himalayas in India, (say Harsil near Badrinath) it is much colder even during the summer months. And I was visiting Quito during only the beginning of summer there. But to my surprise I found the weather to be very comfortable even at that height possibly because it was located right on the equator. In fact, the zero degree line is a major selling point for tourism, a big business in Ecuador. If you look at the photograph of the city, you will find that it resembles any large Indian hill town - the same somewhat haphazard arrangement of houses painted in myriad colours.   

Another view of Quito 

A STUDY IN CONTRAST

But coming back to comparing the capital of Ecuador with Delhi, the most noticeable thing is that it is much cleaner. Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from the people of this small South American country who put their best foot forward to welcome tourists, one of their major foreign currency earners. Ecuadorians seem to have learnt the self-discipline of not littering. Unlike Indians they do not consider the whole outdoors as their toilet. So one is not overpowered by the stench of urine at crowded street corners. Clean toilets are provided the city’s main business and shopping areas unlike the ones provided by the municipal authorities that are simply unusable as they are never cleaned. To make matters worse, Delhi’s municipal toilets are covered so that anyone wanting to use them need clothesline clips on their noses. Much like tourists in Bikaner who are forced to tie up their noses with a scarf while going on the heritage walk of havelis (traditional houses of the wealthy) to keep out the stink from open sewers!! Someone said during preparations for the Beijing Olympics that the champion spitters of the world were the Chinese. I think it’s hard to beat pan (betel leaf) chewing Indians who leave no public wall or staircase unscathed from red stains. People sticking their heads out of luxury cars to spew out betel. By contrast, in Quito they paint graffiti on public walls. In fact the BMX tracks on which youngsters perform acrobatic stunts on special bicycles are also covered with spray painted graffiti. (photo attached). For the uninitiated, BMX stands for Bike Motor Cross.

Karol Bagh? No, a middle class neighbourhood in Quito

If some figures are compared the contrast becomes starker. Quito’s population is more than 2.5 million, not small for a town situated among high mountains. While the per capita income or gdp of Ecuador is double that of India (12000 dollars as against 6000 dollars), our country is not only much bigger but has an economy and society with a much larger variety. Petroleum, bananas and cocoa are its major dollar earners in addition to tourism. Many expatriate Ecuadorians also send remittances from the US and Spain. Ecuador has no manufacturing or services sector to speak of. It got out of monster inflation about a decade-and-a-half back by making the US dollar its official currency. But overall the position of Ecuador in the world can be said to be much humbler than that of India in terms of numbers, area and complexity of every nature.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The other remarkable feature of Quito is its most efficient public transport system consisting of trolley buses and bus rapid transport, the famous BRT which received an unceremonious kick from Delhi. Like I mentioned before, the people of Ecuador are more disciplined and have better self-control than the people of India. What is more, the staff that manage the bus system are also way more efficient and are not prone to skipping the rules. So the BRT buses only stop at the stops meant for them unlike in India where drivers have no qualms about opening the hydraulic doors to let passengers board buses or alight from them at any old place including traffic lights. Though the car population of Quito is not small, automobiles usually leave the BRT corridors alone for the buses. Not so in Delhi where these corridors are the preferred routes for the VIP minded Indian car drivers who feel that their prestige has been shattered just by waiting their turn in the traffic.

These observations I made by actually using the BRT services in Quito. They are as crowded as in Delhi but in our capital I am really scared to use buses mostly because of the free-for-all that one cannot avoid while boarding even though the vehicle might be completely empty. And of course they are much cheaper than taxis. A dollar will carry you a long way. And let me tell you there is no better way of getting to know a city than by travelling by its public transport. The Delhi metro rail will prove my point. And by the way, to strike a positive note, there is nothing like the Delhi metro in Quito!! But in any case I think Delhi has given up a good thing by discontinuing the BRT.

Quito also has trolley buses which is a cross between a tram and a bus. Simply speaking it is a bus which runs on rubber wheels but is powered by overhead wires. It has a larger carrying capacity since it is two buses joined in the centre which consists of flexible bellows. Such buses are known as articulated buses. 

However, I am convinced that India and particularly Delhi has a lot to learn from Ecuador. And of course, I dare say Indians will find South American countries way more interesting than the United States. And therefore a must visit.