Travelling Alone...

How open are you to a job that would involve travel?

If someone would have asked me this question about a year back I would jump and say "I would love a job that has a lot of travelling!!" Well if someone asks me that now, I would take a moment, lean back and ask, "Now what kind of travelling are we talking about?"How, how often and where?"

In a month, 15-20 days are spent travelling on an average in my current job. And mind you, this is not the flight hopping, AC taxis kind of travel. This is the very down to earth, state transport bus, shared overloaded taxi/auto  kind of travel. The nearest railway station is more than 50 kms away from the village where I work, thus it is easier and more convenient to hope on to a bus directly to my destination. The whimsical, ever changing schedules of the Maharashtra State Transport buses are now routine to me. Sometimes an equal or even more amount of time is spent waiting for the the bus, than it takes to actually reach from point A to B. The travel kit is always ready; a bottle of water, Britannia Marie biscuits and toothbrush (in case I need to stay the night!). Thus you can say it has become a way of life, you may say.

While travelling in these areas, one of the main issues faced is the availability of toilets. Sure, every major bus stand a 'toilet' but beware of the condition that it might be in. And that is a really sad truth. Even in major cities like Pune, one can only lament at the condition of the public toilet in the bus stand. A safe,clean and functional public toilet in these areas is still a luxury that very few places offer. It is hardly a wonder where the officially the coverage of toilets is about 40-60% and we all know how authentic these figures are! Thus when the journey is about 4-5 hours long and you know there are no toilets, the only thing you can do is restrict intake of fluids or water. But this is also not possible during hot summer days...

Well that seems to be a question that does not have a solution that I can offer.. another issue is that of safety. Due to the whimsical timing of the State transport buses, it becomes important to plan my visits to the villages and the travel in such a way that I am back home or at the place am staying before its late night. When I had to travel after nine thirty due to lack of buses earlier, I found myself to be almost alone in a bus full of men. If am lucky, there would be a woman or two, but that would be rare exception. It is not that any untoward incident happened to me during these occasions but it goes without saying how vulnerable I felt during the whole journey, with lewd stares from some men, some questioning stares and more. A single woman traveling at that hour is not acceptable in these areas.

But then work is work and I have to do it. Thus the travels continue....


This post has been published at http://missionsharingknowledge.com/traveling-alone-how-open-are-you/ also....

First Immpressions: Mumbai!

Mumbai - The city of dreams... the city that never sleeps... etc etc.

Well I had once said I would never prefer to live in Mumbai... But now I cannot wait to get there! There is a mix of apprehension and curiosity about how it will be to live and learn in such a big metro city!

So I have got selected into my dream institution - Tata Institute of Social Sciences and I had to go to complete my admission formalities.

The first thing I noticed and got scared about is the traffic and how dangerously close and fast the vehicles ply!! In the days I was there itself, there was a report of a gruesome accident as a result of over speeding and recklessness!

Then I had the luck to experience the Mumbai Local... and thankfully the first few experiences were wonderful... nothing to complain about.

Another interesting visit was to this  'hep' side of Mumbai - a mall called Palladium. It was as if I was in another part of the world... it did also kind of remind me of Delhi but not so much. It was different. And yeah lots of legs (well toned) and bellies (flat)!! All of this kind of made me conscious of my own not so perfect appearance!! So much so that I did not feel like shopping even!! :O

Yeah and how can I miss the TISS campus... I do not know whether to classify it as chilled out, helpful, endearing, etc etc... But it was awesome and I so look forward to the learning experience of two more years.

I know I haven't even seen one percent of this great city which is truly the commercial capital of India. But definitely it is the hard work of the people here and the endless pursuit of their dreams (small or big) that keeps the city ticking and moving onwards even in the face of adversities and disasters. So fingers crossed and lot of excitement!!

I wait.....

The morning swim!!

I got up early that day.The last day of my blissful holiday! It was over too quickly... two beautiful days...passed by as if in a few moments! My friends were still sleeping and didn't seem to keen to leave the world of their dreams either! I decided that a few moments of solitude would do me good!

Walking by the beach just as the warm rays of the sun touched the sands... and the sea silently receded after a night of fun. Heavenly was the only word to describe it! The air as fresh as it gets nowadays and the serenity of the place makes one free from all worries and calms down the nerves... 'Om Shanti!' The tourists here also are the calm and peaceful lots... greetings and smiles all around! The fresh morning breeze and the scintillating waves beckoned me into the sea!

As the water touched me, engulfed my body in a cool embrace... all the laziness drained off! I wanted more of the sea as she seduced me out of my sleep into her fresh arms...Swimming in the deep blue sea with the light blue sky above and the warmth of the sun on my skin, only one thought pervaded my thoughts...I wish I could be here like this forever, no worries, nothing just living each day as it comes...

That is when I saw another sight, which I believe is a rare one.... A big wave was coming my way and I could clearly see an orange fish swim along with the wave till it broke about a few feet away from me! Amazed for the few seconds I stood there in a reverie till another wave pushed me down and brought me back to reality!

It was time to go wake up my friends and get ready to leave this beautiful place which gave me memories to remember for a lifetime!

Traffic Woes!!

What are the uses of roads?

1. It is an obstacle course intended to test the skills?

2. It is a rain water drain?

3. Garbage disposal unit?

4. Who cares!!!!

Well the the people in charge of the maintenance/construction of road in Kochi would definitely select the fourth option I guess!! I say 'people' because even that is a question that I don't have a proper answer to!!! Public Works Department? National Highways Authority of India? The Corporation??

Lot of confusion...so I am not getting into that.

I, like many other Kochiites, need to travel to reach my office every morning and come back in the evening. Now what is supposed to be a very simple 5 to 8 km distance to be covered has been made more interesting with a well designed obstacle course, with puddles or stones to be avoided, streams of water and other miscellaneous stuff to make the ride more interesting! You know in case we get bored! Whichever route you take, the road provide you ample entertainment, thrills and a very slow tour of the city for those of you tourists!

Kochi is growing. Yes, it definitely is! But good roads are substantially important for any city, growing or not! After all transport of men and material is important for any commercial activity. Accidents are just one of the hazards. Imagine after paying hefty road taxes, the long term impacts on our body by travelling on these disgracefully bumpy paths, that are supposed to be called 'roads'! I think we should sue the authorities for the irreparable physical damage to our bodies!!!

Everyday morning, I get up, the thought of going to office scares me. It puts me off because of these dreadful paths... All I want is the right (luxury?) of being able to ride/drive to office in reasonably good roads, without having to dodge the puddles or holes, water streams etc... Is that too much to ask????

Places and fond memories!!

Being an army officer's daughter, we had to travel a lot. Sometimes within a year, six months or even within two months!! As a result I have been to 14 different schools from lower kindergarten onwards till the XIIth Standard. Sometimes used to find it quite tough, moving on, leaving friends!!! But then the thrill of shifting to a new place, meeting new people, making new friends also was there. Each place has given new experiences and learning, some fond memories, some sad moments and really great friends!! Every city, town or village has something unique to it and something endearing. Either the people there, the climate, the teachers, friends, the freedom or some other factor which makes it unforgettable and memorable. After the initial adjustment issues, I always got emotionally attached to the place, only to move again. May be that is the reason that I don't have the particular attachment to any place. Home is where I am, where my family is. Whichever be that city, town or village.

Worst Journey of my life!!(till now)

Bangalore to Ernakulam(Cochin)...A normal train journey in Kochuvelli Express which started at 5.15 pm and was supposed to reach at Ernakulam at 04.50 am all was fine...but God had something else planned for me I guess.

Today train services in Kerala were hit when the heavy rains washed away the earth beneath the track at a place called Chirangara between Karukutty and Chalakkudy in Thrissur district.So the train I was travelling in was stuck at a remote station near Chalakudy. We waited till 07.00 am but since me and my colleague had to attend an important meeting at Ernakulam at 1030 am we had to eventually had to set out on our own. We thought we could get a cab to Ernakulam...But then think again...

We walked about half a mile ( yeah luggage, me and my sore back!!). Gave on getting a taxi..boarded a bus to Chalakudy...which took about 45 minutes. At Chalakudy transport station, to our dismay there was not a single cab available. The buses were running totally crammed as many other passengers also had started towards Ernakulam. Hmmm so now what?!

We hired an auto rickshaw and told the guy to take at the nearest taxi stand.....

Hmmm so it turned out that all the taxi guys had chosen this particular day to disappear into oblivion!! And the couple of taxi drivers we did chance upon were not interested (guess they did not like our appearance!!)

So we had to go all the way to Angamali in the auto ( what with the terrible traffic and potholes, my back is certainly not better than worse) and fortunately we were able to get a taxi!!

And so in about another 45 minutes we were at my office in Ernakulam! This small trip took us three hours including the burden of rain, my luggage, bad roads and even worse traffic). A memorable experience which could have been better shared if I had some photos which off course I was not in a mood to capture!!