Envy me if you can !

My commute to work nowadays is a delightful experience, especially when the weather is gracious. Riding through the greenest parts of Paris on my bike, I feel incredibly lucky. There are so many lush green spots (and quite a few green bucks around too) that it’s hard not to appreciate the beauty.

I’ll leave you to explore the rest via Google Maps. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Compared to those commuting in the Bay Area (CA), New York, or Bangalore, Delhi, I think many might envy me.

Let me elaborate on the word envy and why I chose it. In the first version of this post, I didn’t explain it well. If you grew up with the green devil with a tail and a broken TV advertisement, you know what I’m talking about.

Yes, the famous ONIDA advertisement that stirred the Indian middle class. Before that, advertisement agencies didn’t dare to cross any taboo that could be controversial and backfire on them. Later, thanks to Pooja Bedi, we Indians gained some maturity in advertisements.

The ONIDA advertisement was simple: it showcased a TV so good that a neighbor, out of sheer envy, would throw a stone to break it. The message was to get a unique TV and show it off. In the Indian middle class, everyone wanted to be different, and many got ONIDA TVs, making them all live in similar glass houses. To me, it was as good as any other mid-range TV for that price. But those proud ONIDA owners found themselves unable to brag over a cup of tea about their 30 channels when all they watched was DD1 (Indian National TV Network). Those are stories of the 80s, but the ONIDA campaign remains the same today. You can read more about it and check out the latest ONIDA advertisement on their website.

I’m not sure who is envying whom. Is it me envying those who pass me with whooping speed in their big fat German SUVs, or someone reading this finding my commute a cool ride to work?

I’ve tried my best to add this route from Google Maps. You can check Google Maps. I’ll try to post some nice pictures along the route in a few days.