If you haven't been to the Ravindra Sarovar lake recently, well, you should. Just when we had almost grown used the dismal state of the place, it has finally gone in for a much needed makeover.
The water is cleaner than before, there are very few plastic bottles & waste material floating around, though there's still some corners which are far from clean, but it's definitely a change from the way it used to be at one time.
The seats have received fresh coats of paint, new seats have been built. The sidewalks have been repaired & paved in a rather striking manner. There's even a sculpture being built near the safari park side, which seems to be destined to become a fountain. The roads have been repaired its a pleasure to go for an evening walk on a hot day, with the cool breeze coming in from the lake.
There is the usual crowd of people coming in for a walk or jogging, in fact more & more people turn up there these days. On a Sunday, you can find kids riding their bikes, or on roller skates, or just running around while their parents catch up on some exercise or conversation with the other regulars. Dog lovers can sit & admire the several breeds of dogs that are brought for their walks by their trainers or owners, most people don't mind if you take the time to pet their pooches. Couples can find some peace & quiet without much bother, though they often carry the PDA too far. There are fewer hawkers & beggars than there used to be earlier, but there are still some people who think they have some kind of authority to irritate people, there is talk though that this problem might be taken care of soon.
It's best however, to stay near the main lake & avoid the inner circular pond "Pudda Pukur" where, apparently, exercising or walking your pet is illegal, & it's unlikely that you will find a seat or even if you do you'll probably be staring at some couple making out. Also the place is out of limits after dark as there are hardly any lights, & its quite unsafe to even walk down this fringe of Southern Avenue.