I am sorry’, ‘We are sorry’. These are the words I heard very frequently, while travelling in public transport during my short stay in London with my daughter’s family’.
These words came out from youngsters who were occupying seats reserved for disabled people or the people with special needs, travelling in buses. They are called “priority seats”.
These youngsters exclaimed these words through some sort of guilty conscience when I entered the bus with my walking stick in hand.
While uttering these words they promptly moved to other seats allowing me to sit on any seat, according to my wish. They were very happy when I replied them ‘Thank You’ with a smile.
With these words I remember the smiling faces of British people moving freely in the society with a high sense of discipline and no haste or stress.
They worry for the least inconvenience done by them and say ‘thank you’ for the minor help given by the other party. These are the signs of a cultured society.
Courtesy
In London, the bus service is very efficient. Drivers are very courteous. They come in time and leave in time. If there is a delay, it is only for a few minutes. Usually, buses are not crowded in London. Drivers do not want to overtake another vehicle unless the vehicle in front is stopped.
There is no horn tooting except in an emergency. According to my daughter, the bus service is maintained not to make profits but to provide a good service to the people in the city.
The bus has only the driver and no conductor and there is no cash transaction too.
The commuter has to touch his pre paid ticket (oyster card) or bank card on the card reader near the driver while boarding the bus. The same card is valid for London trains too. The driver could monitor the two decks through C.C.T.V cameras and mirrors from the driver’s seat.
Public transport and road facilities have been improved and maintained by devoted employees.
When speaking of road facilities, I have to mention that all roads in London are designed for the convenience of the disabled people who use wheelchairs or any other walking aid.
Special designs are built for them at pedestrian crossings. They are called Guide Strips.
Guide Strips should be constructed to indicate the position of pedestrian crossings for the benefit of sightless pedestrians.
A Guide Strip should lead to pedestrian light poles with push buttons for the benefit of the visually disabled. In buses especially designed to accommodate wheelchair users and wheelchairs can be pushed into the bus directly from the bus halt.
When the bus driver sees that a wheelchair user is waitng to board the bus, he stops the bus and opens the rear end big door just in front of the wheelchair and extends its iron plate to touch the floor which allows the wheelchair to enter into the bus with ease. In the meantime, ladies, children and elders are given the first chance to enter the bus.
Being a septuagenarian using a walking stick, I have daunting experiences with public transport in Sri Lanka.
I was intimidated several times by young bus conductors asking me either to get in or to get out from the bus quicker, which is impossible at my age.
Because of that, I am unable to travel without someone to accompany me and as a result, I am very much confined to my home.
I know this is the story of many senior citizens in Sri Lanka. On the contrary, in the UK, bus and train fare is free for people over 60 years, and their disabilities are accepted with respect.
As far as I know, in every town, there are places for elders to entertain themselves and spend their leisure meaningfully, at no cost. Elders visit these places to read, chat and play indoor and outdoor games.
Cultural activities and education
I was fortunate to visit world famous theatres such as, Royal Albert Hall and Royal Opera House. I first visited Royal Festival Hall in South Bank and saw how free classes were being conducted on Music, Dance and Ballet.
I got the chance of viewing a ballet lesson for all ages and observed youngsters participating enthusiastically.
My wife who is a dance teacher got the chance to participate in one of the dance classes with other students from various countries, and from all ages.
There were a few young women participating in the class along with their children.
In the Music section I saw how teenagers participated enthusiastically in an Orchestral Music item which included all major instruments such as, Violins, Cellos, Guitars, Double Bass and Drums to the signals of the conductor.
The composer was present during the rehearsal. The participants of this item were boys and girls in their late teens.
When I questioned one of the girls, she replied that they were in A/L classes, some following the Math stream along with Music as a subject in their formal education.
Even my grandson studying in a university in London offers Arts with Mathematics. The system of Education that deprives Science and Maths students from Arts subjects is not there.
Students can select subjects according to their discretion. No parent or teacher insists them to select subjects other than the student himself.
I saw no advertisements, billboards by the road side of private tutories or tuition masters. Children have no competition in anything other than sports. Every school has a playground.
Children in U.K. engage in sport and games and visit the cinema and the theatre freely and actively while studying for major exams like A/L or O/L.
But in Sri Lanka, children attend private tuition classes from dawn to dusk. Because of this reason there is no advancement in various other fields including Performing Arts which need lifetime devotion.
Even the T.V. channels in Sri Lanka promote only singers in various programs, but not the composers and lyric writers in the country.
On the other hand, U.K. is interested to bring out the best personalities such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Robert Frost.
There is a place called the ‘Shakespeare Globe’ near which is Shakespeare’s Old Theatre where he presented Othello, Macbeth and Merchant of Venice, and it has been preserved up to date.
Even today, the performances of Shakespeare Dramas go on boards at the same venue.
We were able to see a rehearsal of one of the dramas in the morning, when we visited the ‘Globe’.
At the Shakespeare Museum we could see the same old Music instruments and costumes and to my amazement the sound of the musical instruments one by one.
All these were on display and millions of Pounds spent annually, only to boost one man who brought the entire nation up to the pinnacle of world history, the doyen of English Drama – William Shakespeare.
Kalabooshna Upali.R.Gunawardena