RANDOM THOUGHTS

              RAILWAY PLATFORMS AND ME  It might almost sound crazy but i do seem to be having almost an equally crazy connect with the Railways and Railway Platforms in particular , no matter which part of the country or world  , I have had the good fortune to set my foot on . As a Child, I have happy memories of walking along with my father on the Platform at Kharagpur which was at that time having the longest platform in India at 1.1 Kms . Two long distance trains of 24 coaches could stand one behind the other on the same platform . The unique flavour of the Chai on the earthenware cups and Singaras will stay on for ever . Having also stayed at Kolkata during my early childhood , the teeming crowd at the largest Railway Station in India with its 23 platforms , the Howrah Station and the Majestic Howrah Bridge next to it are fresh in my mind . I will make just a passing mention of other places . Victoria Terminus in the present day Mumbai has seen my umpteen footfalls as i d

I am sure many amongst us would have heard of IKEA , the Swedish Ready To Assemble Furniture Makers . They are  the largest Furniture providers in the world for the middle class . This may or may not be the choice for  the fancy and  classy upscale varieties where price is not an issue. They currently have business interests in 70 countries across the world . Its first sales outlet in India was inaugurated just recently in Hyderabad . 25 other facilities are to be opened in a phased manner across  other major cities of India . I had a peek at the services they provided and the value they provided to their customers at their operations in Toronto Canada last year. The complex itself is so huge  and spread over such a large space that it would put a small sized airport to shame . Furniture of all kinds and varieties are on display with their  storage points marked clearly  at the warehouse from where the selected article could be picked up for billing . The huge children s play

  ETIHAD NEED TO BE APPRECIATED My son and family were returning to Toronto after attending his Brother In Laws Marriage at Coimbatore from Chennai on the 27 th of June  by the Lufthansa flight starting at 1.15 AM and reaching Toronto at 4.oo PM Toronto local time after a 4 hour transit at Frankfurt  on the same day that is the 27 th of June . With my daughter also settled in Canada and my son s Formal New House Grehapravesam fixed on the 13 th of July , self and wife made a rather late decision to accompany them and spend time with our children in Canada . The hitch was that there was no seats available in the Economy Class and the Business Class rates were forbiddingly high . We booked our tickets by the Etihad Airways for the same day the 27 th of June , starting from Chennai at 4.55 AM and reaching Toronto at 4.15 PM local time with a much shorter transit time at Abu Dhabi . We had envisaged that we would be reaching Toronto almost at the same time with a gap of just 15 minu