RANDOM THOUGHTS

                           HAPPY NEW YEAR                                            2025                           WELCOME ABOARD  Flight 2025 will depart from Gate 24 of Terminal 02 shortly . All passengers of the Premium , Business or Economy  Class are requested to take particular care of their Baggage . Please ensure that your  Baggages  contain only  the Prized Souvenirs of 2024 and the many before that .  It will be  in your own interest to discard all the trash and accumulated muck of the past years  in the bins provided at various vantage points at the Airport . These  include the memories of the  hardships faced during the recent bout of extremely Heavy Rains in Southern Tamilnadu  ...

MISSING THE TRAIN DOES HELP SOMETIMES  Tirunelveli  : Year 2002 ,13 th May  : My son Haarish and I were on the Nellai Express Train Bound for Chennai . The counselling Session for Admission to the Tamil Nadu Engineering Colleges was Scheduled on May 15 th at 9.00 AM at the Anna University Campus to be precise . As can only be imagined , we were tense , hoping and praying that Haarish would be able to get Admission in the Course that he had in mind and that too at an Engineering College of good repute . Other parents as co passengers with their wards and with anxiety written all over their faces only added more fear and concern on us . My good old friend Dr Bhagirathan was also there on a similar errand accompanying his Daughter but I think for a Medical Seat . This poor Doctor has to this day the dubious distinction of extracting the maximum number of my  Tooth , of course at my request !! We lodged ourselves in my BIL s House at Vadapalani and with more than 24 hrs ...

       DUBAI - TORONTO - REGINA TRAVEL  Emirates Airlines Flight EK 241 from Dubai to Toronto Pearson International Airport left on the 19 th as Scheduled at 3.30 AM and Arrived there at 7.30 Hours Toronto local time .  Flight EK241 is by Airbus 380 Aircraft which covers the distance of 11000 plus kilometers in 14 Hours and 20 Minutes non stop flight .  It is often imagined that Flying is a happy experience . It is anything but that , not when you are travelling with 525 other passengers ,  Severely handicapped with lack of leg space and Toilet and having to put up with it for close to 15 Hours . Airline food is all fine but you do tend to get bored of the same if you are a frequent flyer.  Our flight too was fully booked . The Greek Pilot and the Cabin Crew went out of their way to make us feel Comfortable . Both the Take off and Landing were very smooth and one hardly felt any jerk .  From a high of 26 * C at Dubai to Landing at -3 * C...

  Agasthiarpatty to Regina via Dubai This Time  Over the years I have made any number of visits to TORONTO Canada from India via the FRANKFURT  CALGARY  BRUSSELS PARIS LONDON OR ABU DHABI ROUTE as a stop over point . . These were mostly from Bangalore or Chennai as the Place of departure .  For the first time we took the TRIVANDRUM DUBAI TORONTO ROUTE BY THE EMIRATES AIRLINES  Flight EK521 took off on schedule at 4.30 AM and landed at 6.30 AM at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 almost 30 Minutes before time .  The grandeur and opulence of the Airport had me totally stunned . It is simply put , out of this World .  We had planned a near Two Day  Stay at Dubai and had to get a Visa for the same . Our US Visa made this rather simple . The two of us got our 14 Day Valid Visa for a payment of 240 Dirhams .  Shekar and Anu were there  at the Airport to receive us .  The Pictures and Videos of Dubai will tell their own story....

आप गाड़ी चला रहें हैं और वो भी नेशनल हाईवे पर .  आराम से ७० किमी की रफ़्तार से जाते वक़्त पीछे किसी के हॉर्न बजाने के आवाज़ सुनायी देती है. रियर व्यू मिरर से आपने ऐक आलीशान गाड़ी को ऐक नौजवान को चलाते हुवे देखा.  साफ़ ज़ाहिर हो रहा था कि वो आप से आगे जाना चाहता है. आप को ये बात अच्छी नहीं लग रही थी.  आपने अपनी गाड़ी की रफ़्तार ७० से ८० किमी तक बढ़ायी.  देखते ही देखते वो भी आप की बराबरी में आ गया .  आप भी किसी से कम नही थे, आपने अपनी गाड़ी की रफ़्तार १०० किमी पर पहुँचायी .  इसी बीच मूसलाधार बारिश भी शुरू हो चुकी थी.  नौजवान अपनी गाड़ी को ११० किलोमीटर की रफ़्तार से ऐक मुस्कराहट के साथ आगे निकल गया .  गुस्से के साथ आपने भी अपनी गाड़ी को १२० किलोमीटर की रफ़्तार से जाने कि कोशिश की. धीरे से आपको अपनी नालायकपन समझ आने लगी.  मेरी गाड़ी को मैं नहीं पर वो चला रहा था .  लोग अक्सर अपनी ज़िंदगी इसी तरह गुज़ारते हैं , अपनी ख़ुद की जरूरतों को छोड़ कर दूसरों की ज़िंदगी की तरह जीना चाहते हैं.  इस से कई जीती हुई चीज़ों को भी हार मानकर हाथ से निकलते ...

              Trying Something Different  Time is an entity which fortunately with Gods Blessings I have in plenty . What I do not however have with any degree of comfort is a  Artistic bent of mind .  In fact Dubey Sir , wielding the much dreaded Stick for a none too impressive Amoeba on the Classroom Blackboard way back in my 5 th Standard at the  Bhilai School comes to mind in a flash . While packing the Clay  Idols after the recently concluded Golu and Navaraatri Celebrations,  I noticed that most  of them were badly damaged due to the wear and tear and chipping off of the paint at many places . Many of the Idols were even older than me and had been passed on in the family hierarchy . Despite being a novice,  I decided to try my hand at Repainting the Clay Dolls .  A search in the Net provided a lot of useful information.  I learnt that  Acrylic Paints were the Best for Clay Dolls .  I got...