Resurgence

‘Do you have the Window seat with you?’ I asked the personnel manning the airline counter at the airport. ‘Sorry sir. We do not have any window seats with us now.’ He expressed his helplessness. I was at Patna airport and was returning to Delhi after celebrating Holi. I looked at the Boarding number – 63 it said. It seemed unlikely that a flight with 48 window seats in ‘Economy’ class would have all the window seats reserved at number 63. I do not have any fascination of occupying the window seat of an aircraft. It is only at the time of taking off or landing that the child within me becomes curious for watching the expanse of the city. And watching a beautifully lit city from the sky has its own charm – it adds aura to that city. I have flied to and from Patna before as well - but this was my first opportunity of watching the ‘revived’ city in its full glory from the sky in night. Having seen cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai etc. from sky in night I was loo...

‘Hey, where are you going?’ Rahul asked his alter ego Shanu as he found him packing bags. ‘I am going out in search of Soul of India.’ ‘Soul of India!! Why?’ ‘Well!! I have always wanted to meet her. Have only heard about her, felt her presence but never actually met her so…’ ‘Dude, even I would want to meet her.’ ‘Join me then.’ Rahul was elated. ‘Give me some time to pack my things.’ ‘Of course.’ ‘So, where shall we go to look for her?’ asked Rahul. ‘That’s the problem. I do not have any idea. Have you noticed that of late there has been no reference of her in the media? I was uncomfortable with this absence – precisely the reason why I thought of undertaking this journey.’ ‘Well!! Had never thought about it but now that you say I realize she is actually absent from public sphere for quite some time. But there needs to be a logical starting point – we cannot just go on looking arbitrarily for her in this vast nation.’ ‘Right’ ‘Shall we start from ‘Villages’? It is said ...

Winter had set its foot on the accelerator. The roads wore deserted look even at 8 in the evening (quite uncharacteristic for the metropolis the city was). He checked his watch again. The radium lit dial showed that it was close to midnight. He was sitting in a park. Fog had taken reign of the entire area. The night was eerie aided by the absence of functioning street lights. He whispered something under his breath, waited and tried to look through the dark. If he was counting to keep impatience in check then probably the trick was failing him. The lone functioning light in the park flickered and went off. He suddenly felt a further dip in the temperature. Though he was well guarded, he had not expected such harshness from the weather. And then suddenly he heard a faint giggle. “You are late.” he said. “And what makes you think so?” came a female voice. The voice had a certain enchanting quality in it. “Ah!! Now you would not accept that you are late. I am sitting in this cold fo...

As I write the last article of the series I realize that I have been fairly erratic with my timings. Despite my desire to complete the series at the earliest, I could not do so due to unavoidable situations. In the last two articles, I have tried to suggest a few measures which would help in developing the two gateways of Patna – Patna Junction and Patna Airport in a passenger centric manner. This article would try to explore possibilities of improving the facilities at third important gateway – Bus Terminuses. A few months back I had to visit the ISBT at Kashmiri Gate in New Delhi. It was in deplorable condition with crumbling infrastructure, leaking lavatories and small enquiry cum ticket cabins devoid of the relevant personnel. The unsheltered area was either flooded (I went during the peak of Monsoon season) or strewn with filth. I wondered how this important landmark was left behind of the beautification drive led by the various authorities of Delhi in the run up to the Comm...

In the previous article I had tried to put forth my vision for upgrading the neighbouring areas of Patna Junction – this article would concentrate on Patna Airport. In recent times, Patna Airport has always been in news both for good and bad reasons. Good because it ranks high among those airports which are registering maximum traffic growth; Bad because it is considered as one of the riskiest in the country because of the short length of its runway. Patna’s Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport has a peculiar location – it is surrounded by the botanical garden on one side and railway tracks give it company on other. Bounded by the city on other sides, there is little scope for the expansion in its current location. Also, the presence of tall trees (of botanical garden) on one side, historic clock tower of old secretariat and railway cabin on others affects the approach funnel resulting in further reduction of effective runway length available for the aircrafts. This not onl...

I think many of you would agree that the gateways to any city hold extreme importance in building the image of that city. This is the primary reason why I would like to take this particular aspect of our beloved city in this article. Patna as we all know have three important gateways – Patna Junction, Airport and the Bus Stand at Mithapur. The first one in this series would focus on Patna Junction. Step out of the Patna junction and you would have a glimpse of the chaotic life of this city. While the Mahavir Mandir stands tall in harmony with the neighbouring Jama Masjid and the newly built Buddha Park has added its own flavour to the surroundings, one can’t help but wish for a little more of order in that place. Rickshaws, Autos and Buses jostle for space and compete for every potential customer in a manner which would not leave a good taste to many. To complicate the matter, encroachments on the station road does not leave much space for the vehicular traffic to move swiftly leading...

Yesterday, had a talk with few Anna enthusiasts, kept a tab on social network (Facebook primarily) and watched news channels – Few things were evident to me: Many either could not offer a definition to corruption or had set a very restrictive scope for it – Ideally one should know what he / she is fighting against. Self-introspection and improvement are down the list of many in this fight against corruption – or to put it more bluntly people are using different lenses to judge acts by different parties. I just wish now that Anna has awakened them from slumber, he would also aid in developing an instinct of self-improvement and check. To some it is not fight of principles – it has turned into a slugfest against individuals. Fight against corruption and its protector. History has shown that once people start getting personal they lose focus of things to achieve. Media has showed immaturity in the way it has handled the coverage of this episode. It appears that the coverage is biased....

‘Stop being a glutton. How much would you eat? At least pay heed to the emergency call from your waistline.’ I cautioned him. ‘Are!! Do not stop me from eating, at least not today. I am in preparation mode.’ ‘Preparation for what?’ ‘I am going for fast unto death from tomorrow morning. This is my last meal before the fast. So let me have it in peace.’ ‘Well, if it is fast unto death then I think this is probably your last meal.’ I winked at him. ‘Well, maybe. But, if the government agrees to the demands then I would be spared of an untimely death while the society would benefit a lot.’ I had never known him to have a strong viewpoint on anything except of course on food. Probably, he had been influenced by the recent emergence of a strong and vocal civil society. Anyways, the crusade against corruption has caught the imagination of millions in this once sacred land. ‘So, now we would watch you on national television making a case for bringing back black money to the coun...

As I came out of the plane, a sudden chill in the air welcomed me to the capital of the country. I enjoyed this reception by the weather – here in Calcutta (as I maintain I still prefer it over Kolkata) the weather does not allow one to indulge with the winter. It was still January and I was expecting this encounter with ‘cold’. The mobile phone had finally succeeded in reestablishing the communication with one of the leading telecom networks in India. I dialed the number – ‘The flight has arrived. Where shall I meet you?’ ‘I know, I know. First catch hold of your friend and then tell me your location. I will be there within no time.’ I was in Delhi for the wedding of a very dear friend. Many of the college friends were supposed to attend the wedding – it was meant to be a small get together for us. One of them was scheduled to arrive just before me and I had asked him to wait for me – we met outside the terminal. He had not changed at all in th...