Perceptions

What a paradox! Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Still, supervisor wants to become manager, Manager wants to become General Manager, General Manager wants to become a member of the board of directors. Many are more than happy to crawl if they are asked to just bend to achieve their ambition. The rulers kill their own people to cling on to the chair. They crush their own people under the battle tanks to remain in power.

Secularism in its broad meaning is non patronizing of any religion. Giving equal place to every faith without giving any special consideration to any religion. Still, our scular political parties, while distributing party tickets to the candidates for election consider only caste and religious equations first. Ramesh Chennithala represents Nair community and AK Antony represents the Christian Church! They both drink, eat and sleep secularism everyday! Sadly, they never take any trouble to deny this tag on them and publicly declare that they do not represent any interest group. Church has already thanked Left leaders to allocate tickets to their representatives. http://www.malankaraorthodox.tv/2011_news/election_2011_proposed_candidates.htm

Pakistan’s single point agenda is Kashmir. They keep this issue always alive to keep the already bigoted Pakistani people always focused on only religious issues rather than their basic necessities like food, cloth and shelter. Our PM invites their leader to watch a cricket match in India. He hopes, this will help improve relations between the two countries. Since the birth of Pakistan, our foreign ministers and Foreign secretaries had only one job- talk , talk and again talk with Pak to improve bilateral relations. For everyone’s record, please note, our foreign ministers and foreign secretaries could achieve nothing great for our country since independence. They could not obtain permanent membership for India in UN. In the war against terrorism, Pakistan gets priority. Where do India stand? Just like eating a cake, UN resolutions are passed. Why the voice of the largest democracy is not heard there in the UN assembly?

Those who don’t have to fear police fear them the most. The ones who need to fear them don’t even care for them. Ironically, police fear this section and try their best not to rub them on the wrong side. There are many brave and sincere police officers in our country but they are outnumbered by the bad ones.

Look at the picture on the right side. People carrying their foot wears in their hands. This picture was taken inside the premises of Vaikom Mahadevar temple recently when I visited the temple. Carrying footwers to the temple! Temples, for that matter any other places of worship, is meant for spiritual reformation and eventual attainment of ‘moksha’ from this mortal life. . If the soul cannot even leave a pair of foot wears, then how will it leave the body itself? How can these people achieve ‘moksha’? There are a few famous temples like this in Keralam where we can see such obnoxious scenes. I wish the temple authorities took action to avoid such unsavoury acts by the devotees inside the sacred places.

In 2008, Indian space scientists launched ten satellites in a single launcher.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7370391.stm . GSLVs, Cryogenic theory, Mission Mars…Indian scientists are straining their every nerves to achieve progress in this – to lead the nation forward. On the other side, a caste group is on the streets of Rajastan to force the Government declare them backward!

Appooppanthaadi -10 (Delhi Metro)

21.03.2011
Superb. This single word will tell everything about Delhi Metro in a nut shell. No doubt, this is a world class mass transport system. Delhi metro deserves three cheers. Nothing less than that.


The metro operates in 6 lines. It takes the Delhiites to the length and breadth of the city with ease. Like a breeze, it chugs past Noida City centre and within an hour or so, reaches the other end of the city – Dwarka. The journey is cool. Leterally cool. Air conditioned coaches, superior suspension to avoid jerks, and announcements about the stations makes the metro journey a special experience.

Nevermind if they advise us through the public address system not to play music inside the train and spit inside or outside the train. The trains and the platforms are extremely neat and tidy. There are people who clean the platform at regular intervals.

A journey from Airport to New Delhi Railway station can be on one of best in the world. It is unbelievable. Perhaps, we will, for a while, think that we are in a magical world. Elegantly constructed Airport Express Rail simply blows you away.


Constructed and maintained by Reliance, this line is between Dwarka sector 21 and New Delhi railway station. The cost of journey between the Airport and ND Railway station is Rs80/- Just sit back and enjoy the journey. You will cherish it for long. The tracks are underground for some distance and then comes over ground. Then goes again under ground. Most of the other five lines run or the ground on bridges. Time taken to reach from airport to the railway station is just 15 minutes.

The other five lines are maintained and operated by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. There, the charges are comparatively less. A journey from New Delhi to Noida will cost us Rs 21. The time taken will be just 45 minutes.

If anyone happened to travel to or from Noida pre-metro days would have sweated it out on the buses. The private bus operators run the busses at dangerously high speeds and they compete with each other. There were a number of accidents too. Now the picture has totally changed. The journey is now in air-conditioned trains. I do not think Delhiites can ask anything more than this. There are lifts and escalators in each station. All are working too. Honestly, I don’t remember to have seen a lift at any of the metro stations in Paris.

At any given time, the trains are jam packed. It looks as if the Delhiites were waiting for something like this. The patronage from the general public is overwhelming. The most incredible thing I could see was at Rajiv Chowk station. Passengers stand in queue to board the trains. They board the trains with uncharacteristic discipline. Hope the Mumbaikars too try to emulate this in their sub-urban train journeys! Courting impossibilities,eh?


Rajiv Chowk is like a junction. We have to change train at this station to reach different locations.

Tickets are sold at counters. We are issued a blue coloured token. This, we have to place on the designated spot at the automated entrance gates. Upon placing the token, the gates are opened. While leaving the platform at the destination, we have to deposit the token at the gate, then the gate opens. This is a paperless system which makes the ticketing eco-friendly.


The only thing that irritates the passengers a little bit is the use of cell phones by some passengers. Some people speak very loudly. In every journey I made in the metro, I could see people talk very loudly over their phones. Most of these people talk either about their patty business dealings or family matters. This is a little irritating for the fellow passengers

Though the metro rail system works like a well oiled machine, the situation in New Delhi metro station looked a little chaotic. People walk along in the station without getting proper directions. I lost count of the number of people who asked me for directions and the number of people whom I saked for direction. Most of the commuters at New Delhi metro station seem to know very little about the direction inside the station. The sign boards are not enough to guide people in proper directions.

As we walk out of a magnificiant world, there awaits the real world. The untidy, dirty streets, indisciplined road users, wayside hawkers who occupies the foot paths and the poor rickshaw pullers who wait for the customers to make both the ends meet. This really ruffles up the happiness of having tavelled in a world class transport system. Be ready to face such inconveniences when you walk out of the metro stations...


For more pictures of Delhi metro, click the link : https://picasaweb.google.com/ppnatesan/DelhiMetro?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7oqvP-pKvl8wE

Let there be development - continued

There is no cause for worry about radiation in water. It is very minute in quantity. Our nuclear reactors are safe. We construct everything following every safety norms. So, our nuclear reactors are superior to Japan’s. They will withstand a quake of even higher magnitude than what happened in Japan. Only environmentalist extremists and non patriotic people will dispute this.

Prime minister of India assured the parliament that there will be an immediate review of safety standards in all our nuclear stations. The outcome is very much predictable. No commission will ever say that our nuclear installations are unsafe.

What if they are unsafe? We have to run our fans and lights. Fans in our office have to run 24x7 even if no one uses them. We cannot switch any of the lights in the office even we leave in the evening. Why should we do this? Fans are passé. Now all our offices have air conditioners. It keeps us cool. Most of the time, air conditioners work even after people leave the office in the evenings. We never take pains to switch them off. Only stingy people wory about electricity bills.

Even if the Nuclear stations in India are unsafe, we cannot stop them. We need power to fuel our development. Radiation is a small price we may have to pay for it. Never mind, most probably, we will not be paying the price. Our children or their children may be paying it. That need not be a cause for worry. And above all, why should we worry about such hypothetical issues?

All of us know, people want development. Big bridges, shopping malls, wide roads, 3G gadgets and industries are the indicator for development. India is aiming at a growth rate of above 10%. Let our country develop to dizzy heights. Let there be development. Let there be more and more nuclear power plants all the way. Minor inconveniences like radiation can be ignored for the larger cause of better living standards.

What if the mind and mindset do not develop in equal proportion? Sowmyas will be brutally killed time and again. As long as it does not affect me or my dear ones, I need not worry about it.

Remember Sowmya? A young lady of 23 years, who was killed by a single handed man after pushing her out of a running train and then sexually assaulting her and hit her with a stone? She is not my relative. So, I shall light a candle, if anyone organizes a candle light vigil. What more I am expected to do?

Remember the incident that happened recently in 24 Parganas in West Bengal? A teen aged boy was killed when he tried to prevent molestation of her sister by a few assailants. These two incidents happened in to most educated and culturally superior states of India.

Radhika was shot by a stalker in Delhi – the capital of India. Salker? What does this mean? Look, there are so many words in the dictionary like stalking, voyeurism, molestation. We need not know of the meanings of all these words. There are so many other words and phrases like gross domestic product, reverse repo rate, industrial revelution, economic liberalization, . Try to find out the meanings of such phrases. Progress has to be made in these fronts. Development must take place.

Mind and mindset can wait for its turn to develop. If you are afraid of law, you may desist from committing crime on women. You may desist from ‘developing’ yourselves.

Let there be development

There lived a few trees on the side of the roads in the place where I live in Chennai.

Famous landmarks of Chennai like Ashok Pillar, Kasi theatre and Udayam Theatre are situated in this area. Roads were too small for the ever increasing vehicle population of the city. Every day one new model of car is rolled out by the Car manufacturers. From Tata to Ford to Fiat to Suzuki, everyone has a new car to offer every day. The middle class of this rich country is confused. Which car to buy?

At the end of the process of pick and choose and trial runs they buy a car- a luxurious head turner. No one wants that tiny Nano. It is poor man’s car. What about owning a bicycle? You will be looked down upon derisively by even the poorest of the poor then.

Swelling of vehicle population in our city made the authorities to think of more and more infrastructure development. They thought of fly overs. Metro rail.At last if metro has arrived Delhi, can Chennai be left behind? Thus, metro work had started. The progress of the work is phenomenal. The targeted date of completion is 2013. The only hindrance the authorities faced was the number of trees living on the road sides.

The problem is solved. We have wide roads and in the middle of these roads, there comes up the metro rail. When the development is at its peak, what business do these trees have? What business do those hundreds of birds who make their houses on these trees? They must understand one thing. They are living in a civilized society. Without development, this world cannot progress.

In Bangalore too, development has touched its crescendo. Recently I traveled on the roads of Bangalore. Metro rail at many parts are almost completed. In other parts, work is on war footing. On the Magadi road, the development is in the form of widening the road. For this, a number of trees were already removed. All these trees had a minimum diameter of one meter.

Madiwala in Bangalore had a good cover of greenery just one year back. There is an Ayyappan temple closer to the bus stop at Madiwala. Just in six months, all the big trees were removed and even an underpass has been constructed there. In several other parts too, hundreds of trees were removed and wide roads are laid. Now vehicles can fly on the roads, without even bothering much about the green-amber-red signals. Zebra cross? what's that?

There is no basis in the claim that trees are essential to maintain Eco-system. I have lived in the deserts of Syria, for six months. I never found any shortage of clean air there. The air had sufficient amount of oxygen too. We received abundant quantity of water, that had been transported from somewhere by tankers. Just open the tap, water gushes out. We could use water for use and no use also. It rained many times in those deserts. There were no trees in those deserts, still all was well there. In deep sea too rain occurs.

For more photos of Development, please click the link : https://picasaweb.google.com/ppnatesan/TheDevelopment?authkey=Gv1sRgCMOUyJHrw67kXQ&feat=email#

I strongly advocate development. I am convinced beyond any doubt that development is directly proportional to the number of trees cut.

Appooppanthaadi -9

30.11.2010 : Let me start the German sojourn with a funny story. It was the lunch break for us and we went to a nearby restaurant. We were four in total. The other three were from the main vendor’s and their sub-vendor’s side. The purpose of my visit to the Electrical control Panel manufacturer was to witness acceptance tests on the panel on behalf of our client. (By the way, so far I have not told about the purpose of my visit to Europe. My employer, Tata Projects Limited, have earned a contract with Eskom Holdings, London to carry out third party inspections all over the globe on the products related to the Power Projects they build in South Africa).


I ordered vegetable salad and a vegetable soup. Food is a major worry here in Eurpoe (as I told earlier)if you cannot spot an Indian restaurant. I had to settle with raw vegetables and half cooked Cauliflower pieces for lunch most of the times. There is a vegetarian restaurant in Manheim-where I spent most of my stay in Germany- that serves only vegetarian food items. I visited this restaurant several times.

The other three men with me ordered something of their taste. I do not know what they ate. As we were waiting for the food to be served, a lady of around 35 years old, came to the person who represented the sub vendor and started talking. She was sobbing while talking. This man had been consoling her. Since he was a regular visitor to this restaurant, as he had to accompany the guests to his factory for lunch.


After a brief impromptu melodrama on the spot, she walked away. As she left, the man told us that her father-in-law had passed away. A big hiccup welcomed this news. She was sad at the demise of her father-in-law! First time I saw a sad lady with such a reason – that too in a western country! I wish she was sincere in her grief. Dear ‘bahus’ of Bharat, here is a German “naari” for you all to emulate.


Bad Durkheim was my first halt in Germany. I still wonder how I reached this hitherto unknown place. It is hard to even spot this place in the map. But then, as I told, it is so simple here. We can easily travel. Trains, buses, trams and above all taxis are there at our service always. The only thing we must have is money. I had no worry about it as I possessed a pre-loaded Euro card that carried 2000 euros at that moment and around 1000 euros on hand.

On the first day of my arrival, the temperature was -7 degree celcius at Bad Durkhiem. There was heavy snowfall on the previous night and the entire area was covered with snow. The white canopy was so beautiful that it took my breath away for a while. Bad Durkheim is not bad at all It is, in my view, is one of the most beautiful places I had so far seen besides our Mahan Bharat...

Like a bride, the little town - good Bad Durkheim looked so enchanting and shy. I should use a few more adjectives- enticing, fabulous, marvelous, mesmerising - to describe her. The single and double storied houses that were thatched with Kerala style tiles, the hill behind the village, leafless as well as the leafy trees wearing snow all over and the gentle smoke emanating from the chimneys of the houses …if I had a poet’s heart, I would have certainly relinquished this kite like job and settled down here. But then who can’t become a poet in an ambiance like this? Only requirement is a heart, per se!



On the first day of my arrival in Germany, I simply sat in the room. The room was facing the hill. The entire forest and the hill wore only white and the houses in the valley had their roofs covered with snow. Lazily sitting in the room, I was just wondering how I reached here! I had passively sat in the bed like in a trance for hours together. The mesmerizing beauty of the nature in Bad Durkheim guarantees to lighten our hearts by tons together.

Those who are tired and worn out running after ‘Gandhis’ and dollars, listen to me. Come to Bad Durkheim, and just spend two days here. You will be a rejuvenated person, raring to run after the big bucks with never before energy. The entire landscape looked as if the Almighty himself had designed it so that he can take a break from his grueling busy schedules and settle down here for a while. The serene valley and the white canopy gave an impression nothing less than this.

For more photos of Bad Durkheim, click the link : https://picasaweb.google.com/ppnatesan/BadDurkheim?authkey=Gv1sRgCPHw4urq74CMXQ&feat=email#

Appooppanthaadi 8

24.12.2010 : Curtains to my third visit to Europe. Got up at 5 in the morning. Got ready by 6 in the morning and walked down to Gere d’ el est railway station in Paris. As the weather was bad and there was no let up to snow fall, I did not venture into a plane journey from Paris to Frankfurt. My flight to Chennai was booked from Frankfurt. So, I had to reach Frankfurt to catch the Emirate flight at 1425 hours. The first train from Paris to Frankfurt starts at 0645 hours and scheduled to reach Frankfurt at 1045hrs.

I got a ticket in the first class compartment for 73 euros. It was a special price that included complimentary breakfast also. Normal charge in first class is anything in the range of 150 euros. Bahn service offers a lot of concessional journeys, especially if we plan our travel well in advance

Anything that can go wrong will certainly go wrong. That is what Murphy ’s Law claims. True to this claim, things started going terribly wrong on this journey. The much touted, adored and awed German technology came to a screeching halt at a railway station after around two hours of journey. Announcement came from the train’s public address system. “There is a technical problem with the engine and is being attended to by the technical department.” Snowfall outside the train was like a moderate shower then. We mulled over dashing off to the Frankfurt airport by car. (By the way, this time, I was not alone in my journey. I got one of my colleagues on board today) But the climate was too bad for it. There were thick layers of snow all over the route. There was no guarantee that car could run smoothly on the road. So, we abandoned that option. As the seconds in the watch ticked by, the speed of the heart beat was increasing, slowly by surely.



Flight will never wait for a simple human being like me. Finally, after 2 hours, the famed German Technology was brought back to life. Train again started moving. Still there was hope to catch up with the flight. As mentioned in my earlier posts, these trains can run at a speed as high as 315Kmph. I was sure, German technology can take the rabbit out of the magic wand.


But, the luck was not with me today. The train, after running for a while again stopped at another station. This time the train’s captain informed that there was an accident and the route is closed for traffic. The wait was for two more hours. By this time, it was sure that I will miss the flight. At last, the train rolled over to Frankfurt Main railway station at 1445hrs, 30 minutes after the scheduled departure of my flight. The total delay of the train was 4 hours by that time.


The railway officials were s apologetic about the delay. Usually, if the train is delayed for more than 30 minutes, the crew members distribute an application form to all the passengers. We may fill it up and then produce at the ticket counter when we go to take ticket for a future journey. There will be a discount of 50% of the ticket cost then. I got a few of such forms during my travels. Sad thing is that, everything in that application form is written in German. So, I considered it as a Greek and Latin leaflet and kept as a souvenir in my bag. By the time we got down at the Frankfurt Main station, there were staff members standing at the exit point of the platform holding glasses filled with champagne. Look, they felt so sorry about troubling the passengers. Anyway, I gracefully declined the offer.


Though the heart beat was rising initially, I could gain control over it when I realized that I will not reach on time to catch the flight. Luckily, my colleague had a wi-fi connection. He could access our head office in India through internet and inform them to reschedule our flight. Though both of us had German sim cards in our mobile phones, we did not have enough balance to make a call. Calling charges are too unaffordable. A topup of 25 Euros will simply disappear into thin air if we make just a few calls. With the help of our head office personnel, my flight was rescheduled for the night flight and my colleague had to spend another night in a Frankfurt hotel before he returned to India next morning.


On another occasion, I have been waiting for the train from Frankfurt to Zurich. The train was about to leave Frankfurt at 2005 hours. At 2000 Hours, there appeared a scrolling message on the board. The train to Zurich has been canceled. Suddenly a chilling impulse passed through the spine. What could I do if the train was canceled at the last minute? After recovering for a few moments of numbness, I straight away approached the service point of the railway station. The lady at the counter informed that the train had not be canceled exactly, instead, it will be starting from Frankfurt Sud (Frankfurt South) station that night. I took a local train and reached the station. There I had to stand in the chilled weather condition out in the open platform for more than 45 minutes


Though most of the time, when I am faced with such uncomfortable situations, I become a bundle of nerves, at times, my nerves keep cool. I could remain calm and think of an alternate solution to a crisis situation when I could gain control of the nerves. Thought, it happens very rarely, it does happen. The main purpose of narrating these incidents here was to underscore the fact that there are no problems in the world that do not have a solution. Keep your composure and leave the rest to your brain.

Appooppanthaadi -7

20.12.2011 : It was time for another train journey to another city in France. Before telling about it, let me tell about a minor incident too. As I was coming out of the hotel room in Paris to leave for the new place, a young lady at the lobby was waiting for somebody. She was holding a cigarette in her hand. Upon sighting me, she asked me if I had a lighter. I had to cut a sorry figure there. I just gave an embarrassed smile and walked away. There fell flat my chauvinistic false pride

Rouen is a city located around 140 kilometers North West of Paris-another nicely constructed and maintained city. Cities in Europe as a whole can never match our cities in terms of size and population. They call it a city based on the number of people living there. This number may not even match with the population of my village Olavaipe sometimes!

A lot of space is allocated to public transportation, parking and pedestrians. No big buildings are built but whatever built are built beautifully. I could hardly see high rise buildings in the cities I have so far visited except in Frankfurt. In Frankfurt city we can see so many high rise buildings and sky scrapers. In the cities like Paris, Amsterdam or Vienna, I could not see any tall buildings that may have more than 10 or 15 stories. In Zurich also, there are restrictions on height of buildings. Of course there are two or three high rise buildings in Zurich, one among them is Swissotel, a 32 storied luxury hotel.

I stayed at the 25th floor of this hotel for two nights. I had to pay around 520 Swiss francs ie, equivalent to around 390 Euros to spend two nights there. When I entered the room, there was a nicely printed slip waiting for me in the room. It was a left by the hotel management promising me to spoil me in comforts. But the experience was not so comforting. All through my stay there I was feeling breathlessness inside the room as it was almost filled with cigarette smoke- the smoke that gained entry to my room through the gap at the bottom of the door.
The positive thing of my stay there was that, I could see the ice covered Alps from my room, a beautiful scene that hangs like a Ravi Verma painting at one of the corners of my heart. A bird’s eye view of the city of Zurich was so amazing from the windows of the room.

The highlight of the Rouen city is that, river seine is flowing through it. In Paris too Seine flows all along many monuments like Eiffel Tower, Norte Dame, Orsay Museum and so on. In Paris, there are many tourist boat operators that take us around in the river. During this journey; we can see all major monuments of Paris. The tour operators charge something around 50 euros for the trip. There are tourist bus operators too. One day city round trip also costs between 40 and 50 Euros.

In Rouen, I took a stroll along the Christmas market. During the Christmas season, we can see so many Christmas markets in every cities, towns and villages. These markets sell from winter wears to curios to red wines to food items. These temporarily built shops are nicely decorated that gives enchanting looks to the markets. One interesting thing I could observe in Europe was that, during Christmas, no houses were decorated with a star hanging at the courtyard. Their decoration is mainly using the Christmas trees inside the houses.

All along my journey from Paris to Rouen by train, I could see a number of villages. Villages are also nicely built. Houses in the villages are built just like that in cities. Single and double storied houses with slanted roofs thatched with tiles are seen all over. A village may consist of a few tens to maximum of hundred houses. As the train runs, these villages pass by at irregular intervals. I had opportunity to visit a few villages in Germany during my stay there.

In Rouen, I could visit a house – a European house. There live a young man and a young woman. They are yet to get married. They are just friends for now. After living for some time (perhaps for a few years), they may decide if they need to get married or not. This, as all of us know, is a usual practice in western countries, which we abhor vehemently. The house was an apartment in a large building. So, it was not a traditional European house as such. The interior of the house also were just like what we see in a posh apartment in our country. I could not see any difference. The ‘friends’ live happily in the house owned by the girl.

There was some plumbing work going on in the house and a few men were working inside. The young woman was alone in the house as the man was with me on official duty. As is wont in many European families, here too I found a pet dog. They look after pets like their children.

In many countries, pets are allowed in restaurants, hotel rooms shopping malls and so on. In trains, pet dogs can travel. The master has to take ticket for the pet’s journey. The pets walk on the roads in the chilling climate without wearing any winter clothing! Forget about winter cloths, they were nothing. Still, I have not come across any news about sex related crimes among these animals!!! The probable reason behind this is that there are no news reporters and media personnel among the animal communities to report any incidents of violence in their society.

From Rouen, I travelled to Dieppe to see the English Channel. Dieppe is another town around seventy kilometers away from Rouen. While standing on the shores of the English Channel, images of the brave people who swam across it flashed though my mind. So far around thousand people had crossed the Channel by swimming. I too wished, I could do it, so that I could meet my long lost friends in England. I almost forgot their names as we do not have any contact for long. Half a dozen friends are living in England. They sat with me in the same classroom twenty years back. From Dieppe, there are ferry services to England. Cars and other vehicles are also transported in this ferry. It takes 4 to 5 hours to cross the Channel to reach England from Dieppe

“The English Channel, often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest, to only 34 km in the Strait of Dover. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2”