Time Flies by!

Dubai, the land of dreams, has never failed to live up to its name. It is one city wherein you find people from all walks of life. Be it the tourists, who fly in to experience the grandeur of this desert nation or be it the white-collar employees, charting out big dreams for their life, or be it the blue collar employees, in the hope of earning some extra cash (in Dirhams) to support their families, back home. So, everyone whom you meet in this city will have a long story, left behind.

And so is one such story, the story of a young teenager, traveling all the way from India into a foreign country for the first time in his life. Never did he expect that even his passport will be stamped one fine day. Every single event that made his journey to Dubai was totally unplanned. What started off as a commitment to keep his relationship intact, ended up losing both the girl he loved and the anticipated B-School of his choice. But, his parents had always believed in him and they had always trusted his moves. It was they who suggested him to fly to Dubai, even though it meant burning their pockets heavily. But, they did not worry about it, as all that they wished was for him to have a new life, a better life, away from home, away from the losses that he suffered, and away from everything.

Classes went on well and so was his urge to learn. Over the past twenty-five years, it was here wherein the urge to study & learn more hit him like a thunder. Of course, he did it pretty well in comparison to the whole batch. And in the company some great people, his life was progressing fine. Days went by, weeks passed on and years flew by, and suddenly today he is still in Dubai, but not as a student anymore. A nice job at a multinational firm has made his schedule busy and engaged. He did understand that the next phase of his life has begun and it was the time for him to move out of the place, which hosted him for two long years; (i.e.) the college hostel.

No more late night studies, assignments, exams, chatting, fighting, gaming, late night walks and finally, preparing spicy Maggi in the middle of the night to feed the starving stomach. When he recollects those memories, a small smile pops up at the end of his lip. And at the same time thinking that there won’t be any more such moments to cherish upon does make him emotional. It is time for him to step out of academic city perimeter and relocate into some cozy neighborhood.

“It feels like yesterday when I first entered Dubai and now I don’t even remember how each day went by”. Time just swept me off my feet and I don’t know how further it will take me, is what dwells in his mind.

Those small moments, well enough to steer your life forward

With the series of unexpected death in the recent past (Sri Devi and other few Bollywood stars), it is evident that life is unpredictable. And in such a case what is the point of charting out your long-term plans, when you are unsure if you will be alive the next morning.

You may think that I am being pessimistic, but I would call it being “realistic”. Expectation and reality never come together and so I believe that it is better to stay alive and enjoy the very moment of the reality rather than living in the world of expectations. Who knows, if you or I will even get a second chance to live the moment?

And so was one such moment of reality that I shall cherish for the rest of my life. Though I am the only one who knows the true reason for seeking an admission with Institute of Management Technology Dubai, I adapted well early to this place and with my batchmates too. I started liking the place and made it work for me in the way I preferred. Though there were too many cases of back-stabbing and bitching about one another, nothing much happened with me or to me, as I was being fair with everyone (except for a set of students from a region). So, over the two years of MBA, life was pretty good with too many moments to cherish about.

One such incident that will remain close to my heart was this year’s birthday celebration that was planned by my close ones. To be honest, I, after a certain point in my life, felt no interest towards celebrating birthdays. But this birthday was so special, only because of them. I owe a million thanks to my besties (Boss, Rishab, Shivani, Sayani). You made the day and you also made me feel the importance of holding on to certain relationships.

So, a big thank you, to each one of you, who planned and executed it very well. I wish many more such happy moments in all our lives and hopefully, we shall all stay connected over an extended period.

No boundaries to confine you!

It was an overcast day over the island nation and the semi-barren agricultural land, far from the downtown city, was eagerly expecting the first few showers of the season. The weather man had forecasted rain by the dusk, but the usual bustling activity of a busy city did not recede at all. Vehicles kept honking through the streets, hawkers with their shops lying across the footpath and trying to woo in customers, Office goers having a round of their evening cigarette with a hot cup of coffee and school students hurrying off to their houses before the sky opens.

In the next few minutes, the initial few drops had hit the ground, thereby emulating the romantic scent of the barren earth, and kicking off the momentum among the city dwellers. Everyone wanted to get themselves covered under a shelter before the huge roar of the mighty sky take control over the exploited planet. And moments later, every pothole of city road was filled with water and those few surviving trees on either side of the road were taking some splashing shower, as the sky had finally taken its momentum. 

Standing behind the grilled bars of the verandah of her third-floor apartment, Priya was one among the thousand silent spectators of the city who enjoyed the thunderous downpour. The city was getting itself refreshed with the outburst and so was Priya. Extending her arm through the small gap in between the grills, she was enjoying the soft touch of the rain drops caressing her palm. With every single drop flowing out of her extended palm, she was feeling the joy of unboundedness, which the rain drops had privileged with.

Being brought up in a highly conservative society, Priya was mentally intoxicated with the repeated ritual of her parent, asking her to take forward the traditional values of the family. Though everything around her was technologically fast advancing, she wondered many a time as to what holds back her parent’s mindset from evolving. Why do they still stick to the meaningless customs of the ancient era? Instances like forbidding her from wearing skin-tight dress or mingling with the opposite gender had made her feel like an alien every single time when she tries overruling her parent’s ideologies. And when she tries to express her feelings to her parents about how wrong they are about the worldly perception, it usually ended up with her getting harsh abuses.

The age-old perception of the worldly matters doesn’t have an effect anymore. With every passing day bringing in some advancement in the field of science, why is not the human brain advancing, which was also evolved out of science? Why can’t everyone see what the truth is and what is their surroundings like and act accordingly! Just because some age old customized creature is still practicing and imposing his/her practice on his/her descendants, people like Priya, who wish to breakdown the barrier and lead the life as it is meant to be, are highly stressed out and traumatized.

“Is this how girls are treated in this modern society”? And what does everyone mean to be modern, when one does not even have the right to express one’s own feelings. Thinking deeply about how miserable her life was, she was brought back to her sense with few rain drops hitting her face. With solitary confinement in her case for the rest of the life, she envied the rain drops, which in turn had no boundaries to be confined within and was free to flow anywhere.

Birth of a new Salesman

Dubai, the dream destination for many travelers became a home to me, not before I chose to pursue my higher studies here. But right from the day I stepped in on this miracle land, where anything could rise out of the sand and touching the sky, money was concurrently out flowing from me. Ten months already flew with no opportunity to find a way of sourcing cash inflow. Too many pleas, requests and false guarantee of the close circle went useless, all through these months.

Finally came in an opportunity via a man whom I had always trusted (so far he hasn’t broken it). It was a four day assignment with Videocon mobile on a festival promotion activity. The company had come up with new range of mobiles and they were looking out for promoters for the same. I grabbed the opportunity and was offered a store in the farthest of the location, Al Quoz. Though it is considered to be a close proximity to the main business center of the New Dubai, yet it was far from IMT. A solid two hour travel will take me to this highly populated labor camp, mostly filled with Indians and Pakistanis.

There was no hesitation from my end, as I considered this as an opportunity to explore the beautiful city. Actually speaking, these locality project the other set of Dubai population, the working and labor class, who equally contribute to the economic fluctuations of the nation and less exposed on the media.

Occupied with mile long warehouses and labor camps on either side of the road, the way to my destination was entirely different than what I had witnessed with the other half of Dubai. The hypermarket was positioned in a prime location and with heavy footfall, throughout the day. To assist me at the store was a wonderful person, who could not be matched with anyone I had met at Dubai, so far. He was so supportive and encouraging, though knowing that this was my first attempt with sales. His encouragement and strong belief raised my spirit and together made us achieve a huge target sale of 71 mobiles, over the four day period. It was even the highest number achieved across locations, where similar promotion was happening.

Till that day I never realized that I could convince someone so well to take up a product, amidst heavy competition from competitor brands. And adding to my credit was the use of language. I had to keep switching my language between Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English spontaneously, as people of different region visited the stall one at a time. Speaking fluently without stammering and conveying the information in a short span of time, it was such a daunting task, which was eventually done with ease.

In total, I would have spent close to 28 hours at the store, but the number of people who became my friends were innumerable. The store staffs were too friendly and the best part of this whole new experience was sharing the Iftar dinner with them. Never in my life had I ever witnessed such a mass dinner. Though the food was light, it was delicious and enjoyable when sharing it with everyone around you. I realized the real sense of togetherness and the motive of Ramadan, then. Over and all, I would say these four days to be highly productive days of my life.

Though on one side I feel happy about my new capability, on the other side I feel sad for making 71 people purchase a product, which I myself am pretty sure will not last longer. A kind of guilt crept within me as every single time when a mobile gets sold, since these people are not those few who purchase it for a passion. But, these are people who hesitate and think hundred times before investing their hard earned money on a product, which will not reap value, as it is conversely claimed to be.

God save them!

And thank you almighty for bringing out the “Salesman” out of me.

The biggest question of my life: Why MBA?

Seriously!

Yes, it was, until the moment I started my journey towards pursuing an MBA degree.

As your eyes linger over the bold text above, I believe the same question would have hit your brain too when you decided of taking up a management degree. If so, then consider you are lucky, since you are not blindly stepping into an unknown track, rather trying to form a track for yourself to race upon it, until the checkered flag of your destiny is waved.

So, how did it all began and most importantly, why did it begin with me?

As any other young and energetic teenager, I was also into engineering. Once graduated, the glitz and glamor of the Software Industry fascinated me towards it and so I kick-started my career as a software engineer. 3 years down the line, every ins and outs of the industry were very evident before me. The work that I was doing was easy enough to position me at the mid-managerial position and then on stagnant my growth once forever. Therefore, considering my long-term goal, I decided it was the time for the next big breakthrough. I decided to pursue my master’s degree in management.

Now as the decision was made, the next in line in the roadmap was to get constructive feedback and suggestions on my decision. As one of my cousins was an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIMA), I had no trouble in seeking his feedback. After listening to my conversation about the decision to take an MBA, he, in a very subtle way, put forward a question to me.

Why MBA?

Believe me or not, this was the greatest life changing question that I had faced till date. Though I started listing him with few reasons then, I steadily started feeling that maybe I haven’t done my homework well. Gradually I also understood the seriousness behind those two words and started self-assessing over the question, “why should I do an MBA?”

Answering to it are few points listed below that I considered were some of the benefits or the fruit that one would reap out of the MBA course.

Expanding your knowledge horizon

One of the primary benefits of doing a management degree is that it opens the scope of your knowledge by bringing in the concepts of the business world and thereby implanting the roots of the essential business skills within you. In the future, one might pursue to become an entrepreneur or find a role as a middle manager, but with no right business knowledge and skill, it might turn out to be a highly turbulent journey.

Streamlining your Career

You might be an expertise in your field of work and feel happy that you are doing good in your career and progressing well too. However, it is virtually impossible to achieve the highest role with just your expertise in one area. As you climb up the ladder of responsibility, you need to have a broader picture of the rough sea ahead, else you might end up on a sinking ship. And this is where the business degree comes in rescue. The course is designed and formulated in a manner to give you a broad and encompassing 360-degree view of the business, thereby helping you to focus on the areas that will help you sail smoothly.

Skill Development

Highly ambitious and self-focused candidates not just exist with one or two skills, but are always on the lookout for enhancing their skills. Because, they understand the importance of skill building and the effect it will have on their career, especially in this fast-paced competitive environment. Possessing diverse skill-set can help one choose his/her career accordingly since the market will be wide open to them and not constrained as of those with limited skill-set. Thus,

• ·         Business degree program augments the candidate’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills in tougher and short-deadline situations
• ·         Fine tune in-depth analysis of the market scenario, since business is not just about the exchange of goods, but it involves knowing the right economic formulas, the demand-supply pattern, production of goods, making financial decisions, etc.
• ·         People skills, negotiating skill, soft skills and effective communication are an essential part of running a smooth business

Broadening your network

Your knowledge should not be confined within a box. As you open up to the world, it cultivates new thoughts, when you come in contact with like-minded people. A business degree thus helps in broadening your network with like-minded people across oceans. It aids you in connecting with the right people, thereby increasing your profile’s credibility, and who can also be a greater asset to you and your organization’s growth. When these right group of people joins hands together, it unlocks the door to millions of ideas and opportunities.

Roadmap to become an effective Leader

People still confuse a lot between a leader and a manager. A leader is someone who sticks by his team, guide them in the right direction and offers timely support, whereas a manager just sticks to his orders and expects his team to get the job done. Everyone wishes to be the former and not the later. So, what makes you a good leader and not a manager. Well, every business degree curriculum is framed in a manner that right from day one, you are being molded accordingly to the art of leadership. Bright candidates figure it out soon and display their skills over their stay at the B-school. Might you well think that don’t organizations develop great leaders? Yes, they do. But, what is unique about a business degree is that it makes an individual in understanding his role of acting as an organization’s Anchorage every single day. It also makes you an aristocrat of integrity, which is something that is expected out of a good leader.

All eyes upon you!!!

At the very moment, you step into DXB, you could hear people calling out the city as the land of Arabs or even as the land of expats. However, as I stepped out, to me it was the land of wonders.

Every single step astonished me in this scintillating city. It was really a great feat achieved by the nation, in such a short span of time, transfiguring the desert into one of the world’s most acclaimed city. Be it the downtown or the outskirts, everything is as per the books and hardly one could come out with any concern.

Amidst the chaos of this busy city and shifting population, there, at a distance, she stood majestically that I stumbled upon the very first look.

Wrapped up elegantly as in a wedding gown with tiny beads, shimmering to the sun’s departure, she was bewitching.

And as the blanket of dusk wrapped its cover across the sky, her charm was intensifying slowly and gently.

Within minutes she was radiant, right from her head to toe, raising a jealousy eye among the other hotties of the region. Well, I could not lift my eyes off her and neither were anyone across the city. Her curves ran down flawlessly. Every other second she was draped in prodigious colors and livery, elevating the euphoria within me.

The moment I saw her first, I thought that she had just overstepped the clouds, growing beyond her limit. However later did I convince me that she grew infinitely high just to hold a bird’s eye view of her admirers. For a stardom of her stature, she needs to have her eyes wide open as the chances of her diadem (“world’s tallest building”) might shift hands.

Well as all know, the Burj Khalifa stands at a height of 829.8m from the ground. The visibility radius of it spans across 98 kilometers over the Persian Gulf, making it unquestionably visible to any eye, no matter when or where.

Wait a minute… Wait a minute!!!

I seriously doubt if it is we who have an eye with her always?

Or maybe it’s just the other way round. I feel like she holds a constant vigil upon all us thereby, reminding every single time that “you are being watched”. She ensures that the city and the Persian Gulf expand in all the horizons and the people are focused towards achieving it.

Well, that is something remarkable of its stature. So as I kept thinking of it, there was a loud bang behind me. And as I turned around, the fountains at the base of Burj Khalifa were ready for yet another elevated performance.

Enjoying the fountain show and being mesmerized by the great LED illumination on the building’s façade, I could hardly make a move. I wished I sat there all night just gazing at the aesthetic beauty across me. However, it didn’t last long as the reminders and agendas in my cell phone started snoozing.

So with one last look, I just turned back and walked away controlling my desire. Later, as I stepped onto the metro, this particular thought kept hitting my brains.

        “You are being watched!!”

Thousands of reasons to dislike; just one reason to like, it's LOVE!!!

“Millions of people with Zeta byte of dreams try very hard to set up a mark for themselves, while there are very few who turn their faces down and walk away.”

It might sound vague, to any onlookers, with no clue as to what I am referring to. Well as a teenager what else could I be more engaged with and be referring to?  

The answer is very straight, it’s LOVE!!! “What is more divine than it?” apart from God.

I never believed in destiny; not so long until I was uplifted by her charisma. Destiny brought me in touch with her and from then on it had been a smooth sail. Getting to know her was one of the best things happened in my life.

Well, wait a minute. Why don’t I just reveal something more about her? It would be unwise to keep it up to myself. Anyways, please don’t panic as I shall be very elegant with my description.

So here it goes.

The long strands of her hair flow gently over her face, acting as a topping over the ever glowing scintillating face. Every little smile that she draws, easily draws people towards her. Natural beauty has abode onto her right from inception. Her curves flush unwrinkled all the way to the bottom, personifying her as an embodiment of faultlessness. On top of these features, there is a perennial source of LOVE, overflowing out of her soul, making all those who had experienced it, indebted to her heavily.

So with such a beauty around you, I bet no one can stay away from her charm and neither was I, an exception to it.

I fell for her instantly and naturally the relationship blossomed flawlessly over the years. Bruises and rough patches did turn up sporadically over the years, however they were all well sorted out and never a time had I thought of moving away from her. Such was the love and affection that I had towards her.

Hmm…Wait a minute,

I sense couple of my well-wishers, who by now, would have read the above few lines with awe as to how openly I had revealed about my relationship into this cosmic e-world.

So, to all those humble souls who had spent their last few valuable minutes, trying to know more about the relationship, kindly pardon me as the text’s to follow is gone disappoint you heavily.

To be honest with you all, yes I was in a relationship. But, as you think so she is not yet another girl out of my college or a close colleague of mine at the office.

Rather she embraces thousands and thousands of modest soul every day with open arms, standing strong as an embodiment of optimism, as always. Enough of twist and turns as let me break the nutshell open and reveal my heart grabber.

I am in LOVE!!!

I am in love with this beautiful city CHENNAI, the land of hope. All the above words that I had crafted were a metaphor to this city.

Travelling back into the history…(not like the one as in the movie "24")

It was exactly 8 years ago that I first came to know her. The moment I landed here, the kind of feeling that I felt was something quirky, which is hard to describe through words and can be only felt personally.

A word of caution: I don’t thrust it upon you to feel the same as it was my DNA which reacted like that. It’s all left to one’s discretion as to how you reacted when you first landed at Chennai.

And so the bonding grew over the years. There were too many rough patches and brooding days over the tenure, but never a time had I thought of stepping out of Chennai.

I had always believed that this city will certainly set up a right course for my life one day, as it does to the whole world that comes in seek of her help. Eventually life was all set up and I was running non-stop in the race for survival. And thus everything went right.

Naturally time flew off expeditiously. Now I am here counting my final few days, as the relationship is about to wrap up and get chained in the hanger once for all.

It’s time for me to set foot upon a new geographical coordinate and start exploring it. Guess what, if I am lucky, I may be able to fall in love once again over there. However the first love will remain immortal within me, something that is universally known, till I rise up in the air as ashes.

“There is never a moment for goodbye. It is all about moving ahead and still staying connected.”

So with a heavy heart I move forward and wish I gain success in my new endeavors. Someday in the future I may me back here, cherishing all those delightful memories that this city gave me.

Thank you for the wonderful stay, the magnificent moments experienced, the appetizing food that kept me alive over the years, the incredible people whom I connected with, the lovely friends who made my days amusing and last of all couple of crushes and heart breaking moments.

Thank you CHENNAI!!! I love you a lot…

P.S. All the above words are copyrighted to me. It is what I experienced here and I do know that there are many who never had a chance to witness the best days of their life here. To all those folks, I feel really sorry. And to myself, I feel very lucky.

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.