Gone in Fifteen Minutes!!!

Courtesy: Theweek.in

Who would have expected to find their life end up in the next 15 minutes? Would you ever dream of it? I guess the reply would be a straight no, be it anyone.

Every one of us wish to live a longer tenure on this earth and exploit it to the highest pinnacle. So with days rolling on pretty fast, we have become more and more selfish towards the way we take forward our life. Of course, every single soul born out of the womb, mushroom's with imponderable dreams. But as elders what we educate them is to study the chapters of history and geography, which is of no use in the real life scenario, and later force him/her to get a remunerative job. Do you think this will help him tackle real life incidents? It is definitely no. He might be a successful earner/breadwinner for the family, but as a human he has lost his trait. And even if some overcome the family pressure to pursue their choice of dream, there are other unexpected roadblocks over the course that are waiting with its iron fist to knock them off the track.

And so was the case of this poor little girl from Chennai, who just tumbled all her hopes and dreams on this fateful morning. She was just 24, progressing well in her life with such a caring parents’ to support her and a lucrative job to raise her self-esteem. But who would have even thought of the fact that all her dream would be shattered down in just a matter of minutes. 

Yes, it is about the demise of the Infosys woman employee who was hacked to death, broad daylight at the Nungambakkam Train station in Chennai, amidst fellow morning office goers. The city that once boasted off with the tag of “Being the safest city in the country” and something that I had even earlier mentioned proudly in one of my post, has now turned out to be a land of soulless folks. Just after the incident, I was little hesitant thinking if this city would be really safe in the years to come, be it any gender? However i do not deny to the fact that every single day some kind of such incident keeps happening throughout the country. And we hardly show signs of coming up with a stern law, just to put an end to all these shitty incidents.

While the most sad part about the incident was that, not even one human stepped forward to either nab the attacker or to help the wounded girl. It wonders me how come people who saw the brutal incident happening right in front of their eyes just walked off, as the train approached on to the station, leaving the girl all bleeding. Has the sense of humanity been devoid out of every individual?

Just think how badly the girl would have called out for help and how badly it would have pained her, more than the wounds, that no one had stepped forward to her help. All her dreams, her parents’ dreams and wishes just crash landed in a blink of the eye. Even the girl wouldn’t have imagined of encountering with such a horrible death.

Only when such incidents occur, it really makes me wonder what has influenced the people’s brain of this highly civilized, technologically progressing generation? Are we just sent down to Earth to act as a slave minding our own businesses and ignore stuffs coming through the way. I believe all those who were present at the train station during her death had some kind of "Blinders" over their head, making them to just focus on their path straight ahead and prevent looking on either side or the rear. If that is so, then what's the big difference between an animal and a human?

One thing is very clear out of her death. It is that with every advancing day, in order to survive on this damn planet, you got to be your own savior. Because no one will be there to help you out in times of need, ever. So stay safe and if possible have a little compassion to your fellow human being. Because someday, one such incident may occur to your near and dear one's too.

It is not a threat but just a warning!!

News Article: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/woman-hacked-to-death-at-suburban-station-in-chennai/article8768787.ece

The Elevated Corridor

Chennai, the capital city of the beautiful Dravidian state Tamil Nadu, lies on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. It is the biggest cultural, economic and educational hub in the whole of South India. And apart from that, to every common man, it is the land of hope and dreams.

Every day thousands of migrants turn up in this beautiful city with dreams, each sky high. The city in turn has never failed fulfilling one, and has always stood in catering the needs of every needy. Being rated as the safest city in the whole of nation, there is nonstop expansion across its horizon as every new soul into the city wishes to be fondly known as “Chennaiite” and retain the title for a longer tenure.

With every progressing day, new innovations are blooming up across the city and the supporting manpower is rising on par to it too. As the city hosts a broad industrial base ranging from automobile, hardware manufacturing, and information technology to healthcare, the diversity of immigrants into the city also vary on a huge scale. And as the immigrant count escalates, so is the nativity factor that decelerates. Hence a transformation in the lifestyle of the inmates is clearly seen almost everywhere. People try to impersonate every other one and end up with a synthetic outlook upon them. Slowly the culture of using cards over cash has started ruling the economy here.

Standing amidst hundreds of synthetic characters around me, my eyes, still tired, tries very hard to get the first few glance of the train entering the station. The terminus where I am waiting is one of the most bustling localities in the city. Over the years, with the boom in Information Technology sector, this region had earned itself the title of being the most densely populated with new residential and office buildings coming up every single day. So commuting by road here is a nightmare and hence I choose the rail.

Chennai has a wide rail network, supported by the suburban train's running on EMUs and the metro rail. The MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System), a line of the suburban network, runs across most of the clogged hot-spots of the city, thus commuting around 100,000 happy commuters every single day. It's network spans around 19.34 kms, around the city, covering 17 busy train station. It is the first elevated railway line to be brought to operation in India. One distinguishing fact about this corridor is that the rail line follows the course of Buckingham Canal, which runs in parallel to the Coromandel Coast.

Back at the terminus, dusk had taken charge over the city and with each minute passing by, the train station was filling up. People all around me looked either tired after the day’s work or were adrenaline packed, though I couldn’t guess it out how. Finally the loud horn honked and the train rolled into the terminus, just like a lazy ass. It finally puffed off and halted. 

A myriad of travelers deported madly onto the platform and they hardly showed any mercy to fellow commuters standing there, while making their way out. I had to ditch my head just in time to avoid getting hurt. So as the mad crowd slowly moved off the station, people, who were waiting to get board, were now able to move around the station more freely and find a place in the train.

Moments later the signal turned green, the train drifted off the station and very soon it picked up momentum. Rather than getting myself seated in one of the dumb seats, surrounded completely with dizzy people, I chose to stand by the door and enjoy the evening breeze. With momentum pitching in every second and the train rocking along its rails, I was having a merry time by leaning out of the rake, one hand still clutching tightly to the iron rod that was welded strongly into the frame. Unlike the metro rail, trains running on this line did not have automatic doors, which gave me the privilege to connect with the nature. With every scene unfolding very fast, it was really difficult to choose between what to see and what not to see.

As the rake rolled out of Taramani train station, it made a sharp turn, entering the city’s bustling IT corridor. With high rise building docked on either side of the corridor, innovations were overflowing out of every window there. All the Multi-National Corporation had an offshore centre in one of those buildings, which housed thousands of slaves (IT Professionals) working day in and out, tirelessly, totally forgetting the true meaning of a healthy balanced life. They just had their eyes glued onto the monitors and got their necessities fulfilled, all with just a click of a button and not moving their ass’s even by an inch.

With every passing station, people hopped in and out of the train, while I continued to stay on near the door and watch the events flatten around me. We crossed the famous Rajiv Gandhi IT expressway and the train came to a halt at one of the city’s opulent locality. 

With the Adyar River flowing gracefully around, some of the city’s finest architecture was nestled close by it. Be it the Theosophical Society or the Anna Centenary Library, the largest library in South Asia, or the Leela Palace hotel or the Sun Network Headquarters, every single piece of architecture adorned the beauty of the region. Though the average ridership in these train station were less when compared to the IT corridor, people here still preferred to take the train occasionally.

So as the train moved further, the city was glowing with the evening light. Children were playing merrily everywhere and household women were having their usual evening chat/gossips. Couple of stations passed on meantime and I checked my watch to know how long I have been travelling. To my dismay the watch had stopped working long back. I tried my luck in fixing it, but nothing turned out fruitful.

It was then that something lifted my spirits off, just enough to reroute my senses from the stupid watch. The rich aroma of grounded coffee seeds, the authentic feel of Madras, blew me off the ground. The train was closing into the suburbs of Mylapore, whose townsfolk were a separate caste of people, in the Hindu religion, called the Brahmans. They specialized in authentic South Indian cuisine and the air around Mylapore bore its aroma always, though not now but some 15 years back. All i could see now was that the place has been commercially exploited and naturally lacked its nativity touch. I could sense that very slowly Chennai was losing its true identity. With a jerk once again and bringing me back to my senses, the train departed out of the station and was now rolling along the shores of the Marina Beach, the world’s second longest beach. It is one of the most visited hangout destination for every Chennaiite.

What followed next down the line were some of the iconic buildings. Be it the M.A.Chidambram Cricket Stadium, the state of the art secretariat complex that later turned into Government Hospital, the Ripon building and the Central Railway station, each of them had a glorious history of its own and they all stood as a pride of Chennai. Closing in by the Central Railway Station, the elevated corridor came to end thereby running at grade, parallel to the main Southern Rail Network line. The train decelerated and came to a halt at the Park Town train station, one of the busiest in the entire route.

Most people had just de-boarded and there were only few who carried on with the journey. As the train moved out of the station, what I witnessed out there hit me pretty badly. It was over and all a mismatched scene to what I had witnessed an hour back, all through the way.

The Buckingham canal that ran parallel to the rail line had housed thousands of residents on its bank. The BPL (Below Poverty Line) folks had set up their shelter there, irrespective of the risks that they may encounter at any point in time. They knew the canal better than us but since they had no other place to settle in, they chose here, still aware of its dangers. 

Apart from the people over there, the canal itself was in a very bad state. Being polluted from sewage and industrial effluents, it had established itself as a breeding ground for malaria-spreading mosquitoes. As I swiftly day-dreamed on how they survived in the small makeshift there and what their daily life was all about, a scene of compassion stuck me in reality. 

I even heard from my fellow commuters that during the massive flood that stuck the city in 2015, the entire hamlet was washed away, as every river around the city was dangerously overflowing. Visualizing the river taking away the people’s life and belongings, a cold shiver ran down my spine immediately. 

6 months after the massive destruction, people still tend to settle here. They had witnessed the worst days of their life. But still they prefer to return back to the same hell, which once took away their near and dear. It was a blank puzzle for me trying to understand the people's mentality as to why they came back? As I started thinking deep about it, a plethora of question started bombarding within me.

Aren’t they given a proper place to build house? 

Aren’t they employed even to a minor wage? 

Why are they leading such a sinful life? 

Why has not the government taken any counter measure to relocate them from the canal bank? 

When the city is inflating with innovations, why are these people still devoid of the benefits? 

Are they supposed to lead such a desolate life ever?

Are the benefits of the government only to be reaped by those who are elevated in their life, in terms of economy? It makes me wonder if the elevated rail corridor itself exhibits the status of every single Chennaiite, in disguise. You ask me how? Check it out yourself.

Right from the moment the train climbs up the corridor at Taramani, the kind of people over the zone are all cash filled. They are the few who reap more than what they sow. And then half way through the line, a mixed bag of liberty is been relished. They are an assorted group of people, who still stand high in the society. And as the train rolls down at the Park Station, there is almost nothing left out of the bag, for the cash strapped people over there, to taste. This discrimination is unfair as every individual shares equal right in this democratic nation. So how come a discrimination like this rule over the land?

A binding change is vital for the residents along the Buckingham Canal!!! The government has to come up with a plan, somewhere in the near future, right before another devastation shows up its ugly face and carries away innocent lives.

And as I was desolate, thinking hard, about the plight of those underprivileged, the train gave one loud horn, bringing me back to reality and signalling me to get my ass out of the rake, as it had finally docked at the terminus and was getting itself prepared for the journey back. 

A wobbly night; just enough to bring the worst fears out of you.

Courtesy : Youtube.com

The sky was just wrapping up its sheet for the cold night ahead and with the moon, shining lazily over it. The stars had taken its covers already and clouds had dozed off, not moving its ass even by an inch.

Travelling straight down to the earth, it was a divergent scene over and all. Still narrowing down, the coordinate 18.5791° N & 73.9087° E had a really engaged mood. People were busy jotting in and out trying hard not to miss their flight. Endless car and taxi were lining one behind the other, trying to enter and exit the airport, something that is a routine scene there. The only place in the region that was devoid of traffic was the air side, which by time would be crowded too.

The ground staffs of all the airline were working their best to get each aircraft in air, on time. PNQ (IATA code for PUNE Lohegaon airport) experienced mad rush of air traffic right from dusk till midnight. Being a defense airport, rightly under the control of the Indian Air Force, it has an 8329 ft. long primary runway with night landing facility and 7 parking bays, capable of handling single aisle civilian aircraft. Hence during peak hours, getting a parking spot is really tough and aircraft were made to wait on the taxiway.

I was little relaxed as I would not be stuck in the mad rush of traffic at the airport since my flight was scheduled late into the night. My flight SG529 to MAA was to depart around 2315 hours, operated by SpiceJet, one of India’s leading low cost carriers. It was one of the last flight to MAA, though there were other departures scheduled well beyond its time from the airport and every flight in this time period mostly ran full. Credits to the inception of LCC’s in India, making travel affordable to anyone.

Diwali, the festival of lights and happiness has just wrapped up, but the festive mood amidst the local had not settled yet. The air was filled with joy, excitement and happiness all the way to the airport. Fire crackers were still found ornamenting the sky. The rich culture of India, family gathering during celebrations and the bonding that they shared with one another was very well felt in every corner of the city. I wished I just had stayed a few more days there, getting myself involved with the locals and attaining a sense of completeness; deep within me.

So as I said before, since most flights departed out of the airport post 2100 hours, I had a long queue ahead of me almost everywhere inside the airport, though luckily not outside. Be it the baggage screening or the airlines counter or the security hold, everywhere it was packed with people. Crossing each one was a triumph of its own and the airport was handling passengers beyond its capacity. Even the waiting lounge close to the gates were full, making it difficult to find a space. Time rolled out and I was finally boarded. As it was a small airport, we did not have the trouble of waiting for the shuttle to transport us to the aircraft. We could just walk past series of aircraft standing in the tarmac, to board ours..

Seated comfortably beside the window, the aircraft was slowly filling up. A kid of 10 years old sat beside me shortly, accompanied by his father. The plane was full rather fast and pushed back well ahead of its time. The cabin crew had their safety demonstration done and the fight was airborne very soon.

As it was a red eye flight, the chances of finding people moving around the aircraft was less. But my misconception was broken by an interestingly large crowd of passengers. A whole lot of South Indians, all of a single group had come on a pilgrimage trip and were returning home that night. The whole aircraft was filled with their chit chats and it gave everyone such a lively feel to be seated there, except for the flight crew, who were having a really bad time controlling the crowd. The sense of exasperation was clearly found on each flight steward’s face.

The weather was pretty good as we departed out of PNQ. However 100 nautical miles from MAA, the captain announced of bad weather and requested the passengers to stay seated with their seat belts around. Slowly the aircraft descended into MAA airspace and as announced it was a rough patch of weather outside our windows. Sparse lightning was visible and the clouds were thick, ready to shower over the city anytime.

Getting past those clouds seemed difficult but the cockpit crew was trained to handle such situation and they justified their actions. Though the aircraft was under their control, frequent violent turbulence was felt. The whole scene within the aircraft was entirely different to what it was sometime back. A dead pitch silence was felt across the aisle and everyone had a tight grip over the hand rest.

As we were going through a roller coaster ride, a mighty blow hit us all ultimately. The aircraft, which was flying steadily till then suddenly lost altitude. We could literally sense the contents of the stomach pitching up the food pipe and also a sudden loss of pressure within the cabin blowing the air out of our ears. A sudden explosion of fear burst out of everyone as if some kind of deadly spell had hit us all. Kids and women started screaming out of fear. Holy mantras started flowing out of every direction. Prayers were heard loud, pleading god not to end their life today. I believed the same amount of pressure was felt at the cockpit too. However the pilots were efficiently skilled that they brought the situation under control within seconds.

The flight had regained its stability and was descending at a slow and normal pace. Cabin crew pitched in to comfort fear stuck passengers who almost had a small panic attack. Later the captain spoke out and apologized for the series of mishap due to dirty weather outside and assured that he shall get everyone home safely. I was taken deeply by his gratitude and envied him, thinking how patiently he had handled the situation though undergoing a ton of pressure and taking decisions swiftly.

Few thousand feet’s above the ground the captain announced of the landing clearance. As I looked out through the window, the city of Chennai was sparkling beautifully and looked even fresher after the rain thus lifting my spirits higher. The aircraft made a city side entry and touched down smoothly on runway 07 very soon. Taxiing lazily around the airport, the aircraft finally came to a halt. The aerobridge was docked in and we were informed of the baggage belt.

The long line of people deplaning took a dead pace initially. Everyone were scrambling here and there looking out for their bags in the overhead compartment. The cockpit door opened suddenly and the captain was out. He went straight to one of the flight steward to have a word. Everyone who were moving out noticed the presence of captain and they stopped all of a sudden. With such happy eyes, a loud round of applause suddenly filled the air as everyone were cheering him, who had skillfully brought the aircraft on ground amidst all the chaos. The Captain was so humble in thanking everyone back that he stood there till the last passenger de-boarded.

Very soon at the terminal, people were stuffing their bags on to the cart and finding their way out. Slowly as everyone started regrouping with their loved ones outside the airport, no one seemed to remember of the shaky incident that just unfolded minutes back in the air. Everyone just moved ahead feeling relieved to be back home, but back in the aircraft the crew had a flight ahead of them still not knowing what is waiting for them up in the air. Their life may look glamorous but the hardship they face is something that we miss to notice and appreciate. Envying their lifestyle, I just moved out trying to find the vehicle that has come to pick me up taking me back into my stereotypical life at Chennai.