Station to Airport
Travelling by flight in India is so affordable these days. Good for millions of Indians who thought, not long ago, that flying is a previlege that comes only to the rich and super rich.
Yet, it doesn t really replace the antique mode of travel - the train. There was a bit of charm and a laid back feeling about a train journey that used to fascinate me. A journey from Chennai to Delhi, usually during vacations was a two day sojourn in the train. Often, food was packed for the entire journey and formed a substantial portion of the luggage. The waiting at the station, anticipating the train, was fun and so was the awe at which I looked at the trolleys and coolies . I used to looked forward to the journey, specially for tasting snacks and tea that is sold inside the train. A trip in the train opened new doors of friendship and often proved to be the idle time for family members to gossip. What a lovely way to spend a day - no deadlines, no phone calls from Boss, no emails -just plain relaxing and watching at moving fields, mountains, rivers, bridges.....
Train journey was the time I could play with my brothers or with my mom,without worrying about being told to open my text book. The Ticket Inspector was the one my mom turned to subdue my pranks . He would throw me out of the train if I didn t behave, she would warn. When the train stopped in a station and did so adjancent to another, I knew my assignment that was waiting - When one of the two trains moved, my challenge was to decipher which one actually moved without looking at our own coach.
Enter the low cost airlines, who could fly you in two hours to a destination that took two days in train. Nowadays, the airlines are careful to say this is the 'flying time' and not the travel time(that includes the take off, landing, checkin and check out times). At the same cost, they take one tenth of the time and that did change the way the average Indian travelled. Airports in India nowadays look more like railway stations minus the passengers relieving themselves in the open. The ground staff move around with a walkie talkie as if there was no tomorrow and the cabin crew is busy exchanging jokes ( i hope !!) with their colleagues of the opposite gender. Very often, there is no empty seat in the waiting lounge and I have to get into the aircraft to get a place to sit. I speak on the phone till the announcement is made to switch off mobiles and all electronic equipments. Within a couple of hours, I have landed and rushing to the taxi stand in the arrivals section, answering calls on my mobile the minute I step out of the aircraft.
Nothing picturizes the shift from a slow, laid back ,happy Indian to a fast and stressed global executive than the mode of travel. Trains are out and planes are in. Landlines are out and mobile phones are in. Somewhere along the shift, the charm and the romance of being laidback has been lost forever.
Yet, it doesn t really replace the antique mode of travel - the train. There was a bit of charm and a laid back feeling about a train journey that used to fascinate me. A journey from Chennai to Delhi, usually during vacations was a two day sojourn in the train. Often, food was packed for the entire journey and formed a substantial portion of the luggage. The waiting at the station, anticipating the train, was fun and so was the awe at which I looked at the trolleys and coolies . I used to looked forward to the journey, specially for tasting snacks and tea that is sold inside the train. A trip in the train opened new doors of friendship and often proved to be the idle time for family members to gossip. What a lovely way to spend a day - no deadlines, no phone calls from Boss, no emails -just plain relaxing and watching at moving fields, mountains, rivers, bridges.....
Train journey was the time I could play with my brothers or with my mom,without worrying about being told to open my text book. The Ticket Inspector was the one my mom turned to subdue my pranks . He would throw me out of the train if I didn t behave, she would warn. When the train stopped in a station and did so adjancent to another, I knew my assignment that was waiting - When one of the two trains moved, my challenge was to decipher which one actually moved without looking at our own coach.
Enter the low cost airlines, who could fly you in two hours to a destination that took two days in train. Nowadays, the airlines are careful to say this is the 'flying time' and not the travel time(that includes the take off, landing, checkin and check out times). At the same cost, they take one tenth of the time and that did change the way the average Indian travelled. Airports in India nowadays look more like railway stations minus the passengers relieving themselves in the open. The ground staff move around with a walkie talkie as if there was no tomorrow and the cabin crew is busy exchanging jokes ( i hope !!) with their colleagues of the opposite gender. Very often, there is no empty seat in the waiting lounge and I have to get into the aircraft to get a place to sit. I speak on the phone till the announcement is made to switch off mobiles and all electronic equipments. Within a couple of hours, I have landed and rushing to the taxi stand in the arrivals section, answering calls on my mobile the minute I step out of the aircraft.
Nothing picturizes the shift from a slow, laid back ,happy Indian to a fast and stressed global executive than the mode of travel. Trains are out and planes are in. Landlines are out and mobile phones are in. Somewhere along the shift, the charm and the romance of being laidback has been lost forever.
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