Desert Rose

For more than a year now, I’ve been travelling by train to my native on a weekly basis and been crossing the vast expanse of land adjoining the Cochin International Airport. Initially, when I saw people at work and panels, I thought it was some airport extension business but now I know that Cochin was prepping to mark its place in the world history, technically. When stray dogs and their ‘rights’ or freedom to kiss in public or a celebrity’s wedding can take up so much attention and writing space, I thought this definitely deserved a little more attention than just a headline - “India’s Cochin is the World’s First Solar-Powered Airport”. If  humanity is to survive , it's going to have to embrace alternative forms of energy and ditch carbon  at  a real fast pace. India's making a pretty big stride in that direction after declaring Cochin International Airport as the world's first facility of its kind that runs entirely on  solar power . So I am jus...

All that noise. The hassled scenes. So much of dirt and garbage. Unpleasant smell dominating the air. Every face showing different emotions. Every frame giving me ideas of a little tale . Just a whole lot of chaos but that is the world’s largest railway network.  Every time I take a train in India, there is something or someone that gets me thinking. Never the less I always enjoy my dates with the Indian trains. From “this is my seat” arguments, to “may I sit here till the next station” requests. From making acquaintances during long journeys, to being freaked out by drunk locals in a rather empty compartment.  From trying to catch a train that almost started, to jumping out on late  realization  about the destination arrival.  From shifting legs and luggage continuously to escape the cockroaches, to getting used to them moving around.  6 years of living here and travelling around has been much more than just seeing places. A...

For the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks, I felt that shiver down my spine. Even before I got time to take in the Connecticut school massacre , there comes the next – everyone saying ‘gang rape’ but from what I have been reading, this isn’t rape – it’s far worse!  This is not to say that other tragedies have left me untouched . It’s just that what scares me more than anything else is the inhuman face of terror, brutality and cold blooded cruelty. Even I belong to the student community where travelling through different transportation systems, through all kinds of places and most importantly at very odd timings is a necessity . Whenever I step out, I have this feeling – it is cool. . what can happen .. my friends are also there.. I will be fine etc etc. Probably my mother’s sleepless nights in prayers while am travelling has kept me safe so far – I don’t know! She stepped out that day like always.. Am sure she spend some happy time with her ...

I spent my last five months in an architectural firm in ahmedabad and was mainly involved in the upcoming metro rail project of the city . This is when I read more about the transportation network in India and came across a lot of interesting details. In this process, I learnt more about one man who by the virtue of his hard work and dedication brought comfort to Indians – E. Sreedharan – true icon of our times! 56 successive years, in a single job, without a break – but barely anyone talking about him. Is it simply because, Dr Sreedharan, is not a typical Indian Success Story? As in, he is not an IITian nor is he from an IIM. He is not from a minority community. He did not study under street lamps. He did not milk cows to pay for his schooling. He is neither an actor nor a singer. Oh and he is not a cricketer! He was just a simple middle class Indian, who went about his job – the man who probably contributed the most to our infrastructure and that too silen...