Personal

I had the wonderful witnessing the sun rise at Kanyakumari, the southern most point of India.

The first rays of the sun. There was a huge uproar as soon at it started rising.

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It’s 7:00 PM in Chennai. Normal flight traffic has just resumed after some heavy down-pour in the evening. And here is the scene at the Air India’s control room at the airport-

2 youngsters, in their late 40s, walk into the control room.

Youngster 1: Dude, will Air India fly today? How will they convince the air hostesses that their make-up won’t fade away because of the drizzle and moisture?

Youngster 2: No idea. I suppose they will wait till the drizzle has completely stopped and the humidity level has reached 60%. It’s 95% now.

The big humidity meter, hung on the central wall, was slowly showing signs of a decrease.

Youngster 2: Dude, what time is it?

Youngster 1: Wait, let me ask the Jet Airways gals. We don’t even have watches..hehe

Meanwhile in the Air India air hostess’s (AH) dressing room

AH 1: We just have 1 hour to get our make-ups on. Why can’t they recruit younger air hostesses? I am fed with this long exercise of applying lotions, powders and all this after an hour long facial.

AH 2: And what will you do? Clean plates or replace those dudes at the information desk in the waiting lounge who cannot even afford a wrist watch!

“How long will aunties take to dress up! We have been waiting for more than 3 hours now. This kind of negligence will push us to shun Air India. Even the low cost airlines are punctual about the timings!”

A faint voice from the corridor, just outside the room labelled ‘Girl’s Room (GR)’.

AH 3: Gals. Any idea about the meter reading? I am afraid I have to leave immediately or else the angry crowd will enter our GR and take us away on the flight.

AH 2: Oh my God! It must be terrible for you then. We cannot even venture out of our safe heaven to the control room. These rowdy passengers! I head someone calling us aunty!! It seems like the kingfisher gals have raised the expectation of these passengers.

The loudspeaker at the GR comes to life.

“Ladies be ready for AI 535 departure. We are extremely pressed for its departure and this means you have to venture out at humidity level of 87%. We have taken care of your transit to the plane through the escape route. Please don’t even think of taking the main door.”

Meanwhile at the control room

Youngster 1: Dude. Lets go to the washroom. Do you have a pencil?

Youngster 2: Why?

Youngster 1: Do you have it or not?

The Manager walks in.

Manager: Dudes! What are you doing here! You should be at the information desk in the waiting lounge. Now rush. It’s never too late.

The 2 youngsters leave the control room. Youngster 1 goes to the washroom on the way. The door of the washroom looks something like this-

Few contents have been erased because of the obvious reasons.

And this story repeats each day.

PS- This is just a fictional story based on my ordeal at the Chennai airport. AI staff, please don’t feel offended…we need to laugh to suppress our anger.

This was just waiting to happen. And it was just a matter of time before terror would have shown its ugly face in the national capital. The blasts in Connaught place, Greater Kailash- I, Karol Bagh and Barakhamba road have so far claimed 18 lives and I can only hope that it stays 18. These places have been the heart of Delhi. As a matter of fact my ideal weekend would start in Karol Bagh, afternoon at the M Block market in GK and then evening at CP. Most Delhite would be either of the 3 places on a weekend. And particularly when Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bangalore have been hit, these three places where just waiting for their share.

Even though these places have been so critical from security point of view, the security arrangements at these places have been pathetic. The M block market had no security check points, few shops in CP had their own security guard, Karol bagh never cared about bombs and the Barakhamba road too had no preventive measures at place. The whole demographics of Delhi is such that implementing security at these places is next to impossible. The point is that most blasts took place on the roads, how do you secure your roads in a jam packed market? The high population density makes the task further difficult. As a matter of fact these low density blasts are nearly impossible to control in any place. How on earth do you keep track of all the dust bins and the cars commuting?

Update: Another live bomb has been recovered at the India Gate.
Photo from TOI

I moved to Gurgaon a couple of weeks back. And let me tell you that it has been a huge transition for me. Last year I was a college fresher, just out of college and i needed a place where I can forget about my logistics and concentrate only on work. This is what exactly happened. I was in the company guest house for more than an year and it the most memorable time of my life. I had everything at my disposal-food, conveyance, living etc, etc. I decided to buy a car in Chandigarh because of the smooth traffic. People in Chandigarh are law abiding citizens because of so many factors, money being one of them, and hence driving on the roads is a charm. Where else in this country you will find such magnificent round-abouts, so many traffic lights, greenery and separate track for rickshaw and cycles. The area of south Delhi, near 11 murti, would perhaps be the only competitor to the excellent architecture of Chandigarh.

Before I forget, one incident i would always remember all my life. I was new to driving, it has been just a week into it. Me and my friend decided to go for a ride. Even though I was comfortable with all the gears, starting was a serious issue for me- I would always leave the clutch quickly and the car would stop. So we started with hiccups. We had to stop at the round-about because of the cross traffic. As soon as the traffic stopped, everyone was eager to get past the round-about before the traffic builds up again. I was ahead on everyone and my car wont start. Start….1st gear….leave clutch and stop!! We were stuck for long enough to infuriate the rest of the cars behind me. My friend got so impatient that he suggested-

“Abe uttar jaate hai. Car ko dhakka maar kar side kar lenge. Phir to guest house phone kar ke kisi aise ko bula lena, jisko driving aate ho” (Lets get down here and push the car to the side. We can then call someone to drive the car back)

And I did consider that option! Suddenly the car started moving and I was quick to press the accelerator peddle and race ahead. The cross traffic had to suddenly stop because of seeing my car racing so fast. I didn’t even look back but I am sure there must have been few minor accidents because of my maneuver.

Thankfully I have now learned to start.

Traffic in Gurgaon is exact the opposite. There are no traffic lights even on highways. Everyone is at the mercy of rowdy taxi, truck, tractor, bullock cart, bullocks, cows, auto and tempo wallahs. It’s a complete mayhem.No one follows lane discipline, changing lane on the expressway at will and without signals. The taxi walahs are the biggest culprit-they park and drive at will. And it’s mostly they who are responsible for accidents. But the issues in the city geography has forced the corporates to be slaves of the whims and fancies of these taxi walahs. I hope the metro comes soon and eases life out here. The government here has completely failed, the city is devoid of basic amenities like roads, water and electricity. It’s the private builders who are making money, completely oblivion to the problems being faced by dwellers in their day-to-day traveling.

Moving into an independent flat, arranging for food everyday and having to worry about gas,electricity and telephone bill has been painful for me. Even though I have finally settled, the transition has been extremely difficult. Thankfully I had the cash power or else I would returned to studies once again.

The GPS application of mapmyindia.com has been a great help to me. It has saved me long hours of wandering without directions. It is perhaps my most worthy investment into a software! I would suggest this to anyone who is new in a city and particularly a city as magnificent as Delhi.