Stop

This is it. Today when I am very busy, I will stop suddenly, while the world rushes past. I wish to experience how it feels like to be suspended, temporarily frozen. I will turn round and look at the roads I travelled, the places I went, the people I met, the dreams I fulfilled, the aspirations I gave up and most important of all, where I stand. Should I stand my ground? I decide to stay. There's no turning back, or running away from here. What needs to be done, must be done. What appears unnecessary at the moment, but will be essential in future must not be ignored and work should start on it pronto. Now that I have taken stock of 'it' all, I am ready to run the race. No time to be lost. Have to put in all strength I can muster. My stop ends here.

Delhi Hazed Over - Like every Other Year

Its winter in Delhi and the mist hangs heavy. Travel becomes a daunting task and most dread it. But going places never stops. People have to answer when called. I find it difficult to commute to and from work.

I was reading the TOI and they have a variety of interesting headlines:

Capital blues: Fog disrupts flights, rail traffic
Bright, sunny start to New Year? Fogget it
Flights come a full circle
For most, fog plays party pooper on New Year eve
Planes, trains... nothing moves in fog-hit Delhi
DGCA puts airlines on mat
Woman threatens suicide amid travel chaos
Fog to dog schedules this season too

I am moving to Bangalore on Saturday, the 13th of January. I get nightmares thinking of the D-day. What if my flight doesnt take off? What if it takes off, but never lands (i mean gets lost in the dense fog and loses its way?). I admit, I have pretty far-fetched ideas and never practice restraint, when I begin writing. I will not think of all this now. I will think of it later.

But reading stuff in the newspapers like the following, gives me a hopeless feeling:
1. On second January an Air Deccan flight took 22 hours to reach Chennai.
2. All flights except the CAT III B-enabled Indian flights had to be either rescheduled or cancelled due to the foggy conditions, airport sources revealed.

3. The city woke up to dense fog on New Year day with weak light filtering through the maze of tree branches, virtually leafless in winter, making it a mysteriously romantic morning. But for those catching flights, the erratic winter romance was fast turning into a perfect nightmare. Nothing took off or landed until 8.30 am, and after that, only a few CAT III-B enabled international flights hesitantly took off. All domestic flights — most of them with CAT-ignorant pilots — sat on the tarmac like beached whales.

I was reading up details regarding CAT( It is a four legged small animal.A feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar).

I came across two usages:

One stands for Clear Air turbulence. It is caused when bodies of air moving at very different speeds meet. What results are pockets that cannot be detected without the use of instruments with optical techniques such as scintillometers (I will refrain from writing about it although I did some digging - because I am bored). Even with scintillometers it is very difficult to detect these clear air turbulences and is hazardous for air navigation. There may be some bodies of air that are moving vertically, while some may be moving at a diagonal and others horizontally. This causes the aircraft to accelerate suddenly and may cause injuries when the crew is thrown around over a particularly perilous pocket.

We cannot do much, except do our best at avoiding such unfortunate incidents. When pitched against the powers of the vast skies, we mortals do not stand a chance.

The second is the usage which comes into picture around winters in Delhi:

In case of CAT IIIB operations, we refer to Category IIIB of RVR(Runway Visual Range). The RVR value for CAT IIIB is 150 ft. More details can be found on it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runway_visual_range .

Runway Visual Range (RVR) is an aeronautical term defined as the range over which the pilot of an aircraft on the centre line of a runway can see the runway surface markings or the lights delineating the runway or identifying its centre line.

It is of consequence that people are missing out on commitments because of delayed flights and feel helpless and stranded, but what is of greater consequence is, why is there a dearth of training and CAT III B systems on Indian flights?

Vows, Promises, Resolutions

New year is a time when people take stock of the past and endeavour to make promises to themselves, regarding their conduct,career objectives, and personal obligations for the next year.

It is a time when people seek a get away from the cities and flock around camp fires in quaint places, seek solace in a trekk, wander off to the hills and bird sanctuaries, 'snorkel' for adventure in nature reserves around town. Some sit back in front of the TV, or watch the stars in the sky(they are fortunate if thay can count stars beyond the number of fingers on their hands and more fortunate if they can count upto the number of toes - what with the smog, fog and pollution clouding the skies).

I do not own a TV. My friends live in Bangalore and have plans of going to Pondicherry tomorrow. My parents live in the east of India. Brothers and other associations live in cities far away. So I have decided to stay back, and if the gods in the Noida skies permit, watch the stars for a change. And if I am too sleepy to stay up till the midnight hour, I will doze off with a book to keep me company.

I have resolved yet again to start the new year with no resolutions. Days come and go, its how much I live and make of them that matters.I shield my eyes from the blaze and brilliance.I wish to keep my head firmly on my shoulders. So here's to all the people who have good intentions of changing for the better - Good Luck.

Fasting and Feasting - Mamta ends her Fast

Letters from the Prime Minister and President. I would'nt mind going on a fast if I got a call from the Prez. I admit, I wouldnt like a 25 day fast though for a phone call!

Rediff News 29 Dec 2006
Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee on Thursday night called off her indefinite hunger strike on the Singur issue following personal appeals by President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"I am ending the fast because the country's top leaders, including President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have requested me to do so," she said in a feeble voice at the stroke of midnight after being on hunger strike for the last 25 days.

The PM had talks with Mamta and asked her to discuss all her concerns on this issue with the WB Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharya. Banerjee had started her indefinite hunger strike on December 4 alleging the West Bengal government has been forcibly acquiring multi-crop agricultural land for the Tata Motors' small project at Singur, about 35 km from Kolkata.

Why do people sitting in chairs in airconditioned assemblies, take it upon themselves to decide what should be done with farmlands, and what should not be done? Why were talks held between Tata's and the WB Govt in the first place and why werent people's representatives(No I am not confused - I am talking of representatives sans Govt, sans politicos), asked for their opinion on the issue? Why do we have to start everything on the wrong foot ? There should have been dialogues (rather trialogues, if such a term exists) betwixt Tata motors, the farmers and the WB Govt. How and where did Trinamool congress get into the picture beats me. Anyways if someone has been fasting for this cause, there must be a rhyme and reason to it(I fail to understand what).

But the image of West Bengal will have to change and it will have to become more Investor friendly. It has huge manpower and if big names like Tata's and some Infotech companies arrive in this state phenominal growth will follow.

Smiling without a reason - Encroachments on Human Freedom

India is a free country and all indians have 15 fundamental rights as written down in part III of the Indian Constitution. These include a host of civil liberties. And I being a bonafide citizen of India(by birth, by choice, etc etc) can avail these rights anytime I choose to. It is a punishable offence to deprive anyone of these rights!

At school we were mainly taught of the following 7 fundamental rights:

Right to equality
Right to freedom
Right against exploitation
Right to freedom of religion
Cultural and educational rights
Right to constitutional remedies

Today my colleagues took upon themselves this task of violation of my right to freedom! I was told "this is the first time we see you 'smiling without a reason'. You rarely do so! "
I mean this is a free country and everyone is entitled to smile whenever they please, and not listen once is a while when they are called, when the music is too loud. What's the big deal?