From the Half Record Entry of 3rd January 2007. …
Getting up early in the morning was not easy and the thought of being left behind was not that pleasing... So I decided to not sleep at all the entire night and watch movies. I must confess that I got silos of movies, all thanks to my friend who left his flat under my supervision while he's away in UK working on software systems there. He obviously is good at burning CD's. So here I was going through the movies that I had, a wide range to choose from. Finally I decided to start with the coca-cola kid, followed by Bloody Sunday (Irish: Domhnach Na Fola), an Irish Movie, More of a documentary. Both of them were good to watch as they kept me up. Coca-Cola kid was just farce but then there was something in the Bloody Sunday that moved me.
It reminded me of the Jalianwala Bagh tragedy that struck Indian Freedom Movement where a peaceful procession was rounded and slaughtered by the Brits. It was all about the civil rights, the scene is setup in the Londonderry area of the Northern Ireland. The local MP organizes a peaceful march, it seems all well until a bunch of youngsters start pelting stone at the forces that were deployed all along the march path. Army was sure of hitting people with all their force. This film is a perfect example of how Army can turn brutal, which still happens, which is still overseen by the number of enquiry commissions that are setup repeatedly. British army no doubt was brutal to the people. Firing continued even when people waved white flags, crying out for a ceasefire.
To cover up for the rest of the hours I watched two other movies, viz Analyze that and the Coca Cola Kid. Again, good enough pictures to keep me up till 4:30 in the morning. Taking bath early in the morning even in a city like Chennai can freeze one to death. I never believed that watching movies can be tiresome, but then yes it indeed is tiresome especially when you watch them out of sheer boredom.
My friends from the hostel asked me if I would like to go with them, but then I turned down the proposal. I looked for a cab service number, but then got none. I suddenly wanted some taxi visiting card on my table, searched my entire flat, but got none. Anyways, I weighed all the options and finally decided to make a move, thinking of getting an auto or a taxi at 4.30 in the morning. While moving towards the main roar, I heard some bus approaching me, I shrugged the thought that it was the public transport bus, but whoa, there was I was flagging 17D, which was to take me to Chennai Central. Chennai gets up early, I realised this when I got a bus full of passengers at 4.30 in the morning. Not bad, I thought to myself, I’ve never been happy with the Chennai Transport in all the 6 months that I’ve spent here.
Finally, here I was waiting in front of the Higginbotham’s (the book shop) for my group. Waiting there, I looked around and realised that I was standing at one of the most commercialised railway stations in the country. The sight was impressive, the waiting lounge was better than what they have at the International Airport with Flat Screen 42” Plasmas installed in every nook and corner of the waiting lounge. The place has coffee shops, internet café, restaurants and a double story book shop. What else can one ask for at a railway station?
I decided to spend some time in the internet café, While I wrote a mail to my landlord about my week long trip, I looked around to see the people who were busy surfing the net, Most of them were busy scrapping people on Orkut. Orkut seems to have taken people with all its might. It’s hard to avoid it, but then I think I am mastering the art of ignoring it. I got no space to move my arms, every time I tried typing a little bit faster, I ended up hitting the kid sitting next to me, I felt frustrated initially but then I thought it was the way systems were fitted in that hub was the only way out. After all what can we expect out of a place like a Railway station, at least I was getting to surf the net.
I kept looking around, studying people; the station was full of restless souls, waiting for their delayed trains. A group of foreigners with the new found love for the land in their eyes. They looked spiritually inclined, may be they were just high on dopes. Getting high on dopes is another way of connecting to God, that’s what people say. Stood in front of me, someone with an IIM T-shirt, well I must say it’s a style statement to wear a T-Shirt from an elite institution, especially in India. That’s a silent declaration of what you are and where you belong. While I was still studying this guy, I heard someone calling me, here was our college hero, Sriram Iyer. Iyer is what everybody calls him. While I thanked God for some company, I looked around for the IIM guy and he was nowhere in sight. Shrugging the thought, we started talking about the mode of transport that we used on our way to station, while he used the local train, I used the bus. We kept wondering about the efficiency of the public transport system in Chennai. Slowly the entire group of 21 students turned up, 5 from Radio, 6 from the New Media and 10 from the Print. Our mentor Mr. V. Krisha Anantha too arrived in a while. Finally the long wait was over; we got our seats and fitted our bags in the slots. As the train chugged out of Chennai Central, I dreamt of Coimbatore and the lush green Western Ghats mountain ranges. I knew the trip will be an adventure full of blast with VKA accompanying us.
It reminded me of the Jalianwala Bagh tragedy that struck Indian Freedom Movement where a peaceful procession was rounded and slaughtered by the Brits. It was all about the civil rights, the scene is setup in the Londonderry area of the Northern Ireland. The local MP organizes a peaceful march, it seems all well until a bunch of youngsters start pelting stone at the forces that were deployed all along the march path. Army was sure of hitting people with all their force. This film is a perfect example of how Army can turn brutal, which still happens, which is still overseen by the number of enquiry commissions that are setup repeatedly. British army no doubt was brutal to the people. Firing continued even when people waved white flags, crying out for a ceasefire.
To cover up for the rest of the hours I watched two other movies, viz Analyze that and the Coca Cola Kid. Again, good enough pictures to keep me up till 4:30 in the morning. Taking bath early in the morning even in a city like Chennai can freeze one to death. I never believed that watching movies can be tiresome, but then yes it indeed is tiresome especially when you watch them out of sheer boredom.
My friends from the hostel asked me if I would like to go with them, but then I turned down the proposal. I looked for a cab service number, but then got none. I suddenly wanted some taxi visiting card on my table, searched my entire flat, but got none. Anyways, I weighed all the options and finally decided to make a move, thinking of getting an auto or a taxi at 4.30 in the morning. While moving towards the main roar, I heard some bus approaching me, I shrugged the thought that it was the public transport bus, but whoa, there was I was flagging 17D, which was to take me to Chennai Central. Chennai gets up early, I realised this when I got a bus full of passengers at 4.30 in the morning. Not bad, I thought to myself, I’ve never been happy with the Chennai Transport in all the 6 months that I’ve spent here.
Finally, here I was waiting in front of the Higginbotham’s (the book shop) for my group. Waiting there, I looked around and realised that I was standing at one of the most commercialised railway stations in the country. The sight was impressive, the waiting lounge was better than what they have at the International Airport with Flat Screen 42” Plasmas installed in every nook and corner of the waiting lounge. The place has coffee shops, internet café, restaurants and a double story book shop. What else can one ask for at a railway station?
I decided to spend some time in the internet café, While I wrote a mail to my landlord about my week long trip, I looked around to see the people who were busy surfing the net, Most of them were busy scrapping people on Orkut. Orkut seems to have taken people with all its might. It’s hard to avoid it, but then I think I am mastering the art of ignoring it. I got no space to move my arms, every time I tried typing a little bit faster, I ended up hitting the kid sitting next to me, I felt frustrated initially but then I thought it was the way systems were fitted in that hub was the only way out. After all what can we expect out of a place like a Railway station, at least I was getting to surf the net.
I kept looking around, studying people; the station was full of restless souls, waiting for their delayed trains. A group of foreigners with the new found love for the land in their eyes. They looked spiritually inclined, may be they were just high on dopes. Getting high on dopes is another way of connecting to God, that’s what people say. Stood in front of me, someone with an IIM T-shirt, well I must say it’s a style statement to wear a T-Shirt from an elite institution, especially in India. That’s a silent declaration of what you are and where you belong. While I was still studying this guy, I heard someone calling me, here was our college hero, Sriram Iyer. Iyer is what everybody calls him. While I thanked God for some company, I looked around for the IIM guy and he was nowhere in sight. Shrugging the thought, we started talking about the mode of transport that we used on our way to station, while he used the local train, I used the bus. We kept wondering about the efficiency of the public transport system in Chennai. Slowly the entire group of 21 students turned up, 5 from Radio, 6 from the New Media and 10 from the Print. Our mentor Mr. V. Krisha Anantha too arrived in a while. Finally the long wait was over; we got our seats and fitted our bags in the slots. As the train chugged out of Chennai Central, I dreamt of Coimbatore and the lush green Western Ghats mountain ranges. I knew the trip will be an adventure full of blast with VKA accompanying us.
To be Continued....
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posted by pukhraj @ 4:53 AM
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