Chandrayaan-2 mission: My journey to Sriharikota was supposed to start on early morning of 12th July 2019. Sharply about 0415 hrs, our VSSC driver rang me up and informed about his arrival to my apartment. I was almost ready; hurriedly finished my hot tea in one go and boarded the car. He was a known driver and our journey from my home to airport longing for 30 minutes literally finished in a blink of eye while we were chit-chatting, and I was at our Thiruvananthapuram airport by 0445 hrs, certainly well ahead of the actual departure time of Chennai Flight, i.e., 0615 hrs.
As I entered inside the Airport, I was bit surprised to notice that the Check-In counter was not yet opened. I turned back and found a comfortable chair to sit. Some 15 minutes passed and there was still no trace of Check-In. But as time was progressing, my colleagues from VSSC started gathering close to me. Since there was no announcement for delay in Check-In, we were unaware and were merelly speculating the probable reasons. Later, Air India announced that our flight is delayed by 02:15 hrs and now the flight will be taking off at 08:40 am. All said and done, I preferred to have a cup of tea. I was reading a spiritual story to pass the time. As I noticed my colleagues, I found some of them very restless, while some were keeping cool and passing their time on one of the most addictable device, yes – the MOBILES. It was about 07:45 am, when Air India announced that flight is now rescheduled to 11:40 am. It was end to everybody's patience. But nothing was in our hands. It was also the time for breakfast, and as such there was not any solid stuff for eating inside the Airport premises. My friends gathered at one place and decided to go out for having their breakfast. Around 08:45 am, I also was feeling hungry, so I asked my friends to look after my luggage. I stepped out of the entrance gate. Around 150m away, there was an official canteen for airport staff. This canteen was there all through, may be for years, but I never happened to see it. I entered this canteen, and was happy to get a very good quality dosa. Sambhar and Chutney were quite tempting. Filter Coffee also had special aroma. For a reasonable price, this breakfast was superb. On one hand, I was frustrated due to delay in flight, but at the same time, this new discovery of Airport Canteen was giving me enormous satisfaction to me. And I was just wondering, how is it possible that over these many years, I never saw this canteen, or never tried to have any snacks from this canteen. Then I got the answer myself, that in all my trips to airport, I will be rushing to Departure terminal to catch the flight and as soon as I come out from the Arrival terminal, I will be rushing to catch hold of our driver to get back to home. The so-called pre-defined busy schedule at airport never allowed me to explore something which was always there. After having some delicious breakfast, I returned to the airport, but still there was no updates about our Chennai flight. Finally, some good sign came as the Air India opened up the Check-In counters for us at about 09:45 am. Very happily, I handed over my luggage to Air India staff as the Check-In luggage and crossed the Security Check Post. Inside secured premises, AI-968 passengers were offered Coffee and snacks due to delay in arrival of flight. But all our anticipaion came to an end by 1050 am. Officially, Air India announced cancellation of AI968. Oh my god ! Now, what to do ? How can I reach SHAR ? The very next day, there was Launch Authority Board (LAB) meeting, and I can not afford to miss it. I called upon my office and asked them to explore alternate flights. But there was no positive response, as most of the flights were already booked. I was stuck up in a big dilemma. How to overcome this situation ? Finally, I took a Cab and went back to my office, and briefed my director. She understood the situation and asked me to explore all other options. I explored the internet for all possible options, and eventually gave up my hopes, as I was finding it impossible to get an alterante flight before the scheduled LAB meeting. With sad mood, I was thinking – whether I will miss the LAB meeting or I will have to drop my trip to SHAR. Having lost all the hopes, I went to our 70-Acre Canteen for lunch and came back to my room. It was around 13:35 hrs. I thought why not to check IRCTC website once ? To all my surprise, there was one confirmed berth available in AC-1T in Ananthapuri Express. Ufff....can't believe it. I immediately booked this ticket. Train was supposed to leave Thiruvananthapuram station by 16:10 hrs. In no gime, I booked Prayaan for drop to Railway Station. I got introduced to a new colleague enroute my journey to railway station who was also a victim of AI-968 cancellation. He was traveling in another train to Chennai. I gave a serious and philosophical thought – had we both were travelling in morning flight. We would have never talked this much, as we did during our journey to Thampanoor. Had our flight was in time, we would have spent our pleasure time on MOBILE, and sometimes may not even bothered to get introduced to each other. Definitely, cancellation of AI-968 brought me closer to a new friend, which was otherwise not possible, or probable. Finally, I boarded my train at 16:10 hrs. There I met a young girl who was traveling to Trichy for an entrance exam. It reminded me of my college days when I used to visit different places for interviews. We had interesting conversation. I wished her best of luck for her examination. Somehow my health was not OK, so I preferred to sleep. I consumed my dinner in Tirunelveli and went to bed for sleeping. Zzzzzzzz I got up next day at about 06:45 am. Got fresh-up and was planning for my next move. My next train to Sullurpeta was from Chennai Central at sharp 09:35 am. Whereas my present train was running late by about an hour. Ultimately, I reached Chennai Egmore station at 09:10 am. I had literally no time, so I rushed towards the exit and caught an auto rickshaw to Central railway station. Somehow, I made it to Chennai Central by 09:30 hrs, just 5 minutes before departure of Sullurpeta train. However, after seeing the train on Platform, I became relaxed, and took a cup of hot tea. I comfortably boarded train to Sullurpeta. Train started in right time and I reached Sullurpeta by 10:45 am. They respectfully followed me and came to pick me. With them, I followed my journey to SHAR. They had to take permission of their car and laptops, so they completed their formalities at PRO, SHAR Gate 1. I too accompanied them. And I was delighted to see that such a big PRO office exist at Gate-1. I never happened to notice this PRO, as I always will go in a van or car from Chennai Airport, specially arranged for VSSC employees. Eventually, I reached SHAR by 12:10 noon. So many unusual things happened in this trip. But all said and done - happy ending. Momentarily, we may be frustrated due to so many events. But everything happens for a purpose. If the flight was not delayed....I would have not got the opportunity to know about Airport Canteen, where I got delicious breakfast. If the flight was not cancelled, I would have never believed that I can get a confirmed seat in IRCTC, that too in General quota, that too on the same day. Train journey also gave a revisit to my college days. Travelling with NARL friends, I happen to see the PRO, which otherwise was not possible for me. Despite all my efforts to reach SHAR within stipulated time, the launch schedule of Chandrayaan-2 was called off just 56 minutes before the scheduled take-off time. It was certainly disappointing to many of us, but the pleasure of flying it again on 22nd of July was beyond our imagniation. It was one of the fantastic launches I ever witnessed. Appears philosophical, but trust me: EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A PURPOSE. Don't extract conclusions from any event before the real purpose behind that event is unravelled to you by almighty. Many times in life, we start extrapolating the events and end up in negativity. But in reality, all events happen with a purpose, and we can extract positivity from each of the events.
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Life has its own pace, and we call it destined Life. But in the race of Life, are we missing something ? Few days back, I was supposed to give my car to the servicing station for routine service. Fortunately, or Unfortunately my dealer presently do not provide pick-up/drop facility for servicing of car. Hence, I decided to hand over the car in the evening hours after the office hours and take a bus or cab to reach back home.
I reached the Servicing Center at Muttathara at about 1730 hrs. The service engineer examined my car and completed the formalities and asked me to take bake the car the very next day. It was about 1745 hrs, and I came out of the servicing center and was just thinking - what to do ? Should I call a cab and go back home or should I take a bus and go back. But near to Muttathara, presently we don't get any buses due to some roadwork. But, then a unnatural thought came in my mind. Why not to walk ? After all, weather appears fine. So I decided to keep my mobile inside my bag. Let me stay away from mobile, and walk. I started walking towards Chackai junction [or to be more precise, Mall of Travancore (MoT)]. It is about 4 kms or so. I started walking slowly towards MoT. Within a few minutes, I started feeling the pleasure of nature, the greenery. Stay away from Mobile, and you start watching the green trees, the large hoardings, the small T-stall, and so on. May be around 1 km away from my servicing centre, I happen to see a small T-stall. It was already evening hours, so I thought of having a cup of Tea, road-stall Tea. The little old man, the owner of that Tea shop saw me and with huge respect, prepared a special cup of Tea. There were many more bypassers, who were having Tea in the same stall. That Uncle offered to take some snacks, but I just wanted to have Tea. I was enjoying the conversation of other Tea takers. Some were discussing about politics, some were arguing on some past event. Some were very restless, and in every 5 seconds, they were gazing at their mobiles. But I kept away from my mobile. I was enjoying the natural appearance of the shop. The little old man was cleaning the small Tea desk with a wet cloth, and was trying to keep it as clean as possible. Now and then, he was paying attention to the needs of his customers. He was doing all possible movements to ensure that he catches attention of Tea takers and he is able to see more products to them. Then, a wild thought came in my mind. This T-Stall was there all through. I might have crossed that shop several times in my car, but never happen to see that. How is it possible that, such a beautiful T-Shop is missed in my car journeys ? Few yards away from the Tea-Shop, there was a very very old Tyre shop. A few two-wheeler and some old tyres were lying here and there. As I was walking through, I halted for sometime and examined how that mechanic was changing the tyres at a very rapid pace. Appeared quite normal, but I never happen to see this shop when crossing that road in car. Apparently, removal of a wheel from two wheeler looks quite easy, but it has so much of technicalities. One has to do it repeatedly to learn properly. For an amateur person like me, it may take years to attain experience in changing a wheel and replacing the tyre. For a while, I thought - what if I get stuck in a deserted place in my two wheeler and I am forced to change my tyre. Will I be able to do so ? The two to three minutes as I crossed this shop, my mind was appreciating the technical skills of that mechanic. At that moment, he was a genius and was doing the task at a very rapid pace. As I further walked, I came across a small passage of road which was literally blocked with water. Cars were crossing this small passage very fast, but a few pedestrians were very carefully crossing this channel step by step ensuring that their legs don't fall in the water. I too followed the same path. It involved small calculation that you must cross before a car fellow smashes muddy water on your dress. Till I crossed this small channel, I never knew that such a small channel exist enroute. Just few hundreds of meters away, there was a crowded junction with traffic signals. There were many immigrants who were selling some toys and umbrellas. The moment the signal turns to red, these immigrant sellers would rush to all the cars and gently knocking all the windows with an anticipation that some of them would open up the window and purchase their items. These sellers have enormous selling skills, they would grasp the mind set up of the car driver in one go, and would not waste time on the wrong cars. After multiple attempts, they may get a genuine buyer. And the moment the signal turns back to green, these sellers will come back to the corner of the road. As a car driver, I would always be willing the signals to turn green so that I can rush through, but as a needy seller, these people pray for the red signals, so that they get some genuine buyer. So much difference in the same signal. One expects the signal to become green, and the other expects it to turn red. Same signal, but two different expectations. How is it possible that, I never thought a similar possibility in happening of events. Many events appear troublesome to us, but it may be blessings to others, and vice versa. Some moments may look quite pleasing to us, but we do not know that it may be tough moment for others. But that is what the life is... Still keeping my mobile inside my bag, I continued my exploration and walking step-by-step. All the distance I traveled by walk. I continued my walk up to MoT. In the small journey of few kms, I realized that there were so many unseen stops which never bothered me in car. The distance traveled by me in one to two hours may be just a few kms, but I experienced a very different world, where there was no mobile. There was no hurry. There was no botheration about the speeding cars, the autos, and so on. I was just witnessing a slow part of life, which many of us do not bother to see around. And at the end of day, I converted my thoughts to a philosophical life. A day of 24 hrs remain always the same. The time taken by me to cross few kms was large. In my car, it may hardly take a few minutes, but there was a lot of difference between the two modes of journey. Life spreads many interesting, thought provoking events all around. Life never attach any clock with these animate and inanimate events, but allows us to decide. Some times, we choose to bypass all irrelevant type of stops and approach towards our destiny. But in this fast journey, our destiny keep changing. Home, Office, Shopping, Movies, Trains, Flights, Deadlines, Work Load, so so and so. We keep running behind them, and forget to realize that there are so many interesting things around. From that small walk, I realized that - we must not rush our life by missing some very important stops. In real life, these "stops" do not mean any Tea-Shop, Tyre shop, or water-filled canel. But it means - talking to our friends. Spending time with our friends, family. Mobiles take away these timings. The more attention we can give to these stops, more enjoyments comes in life. It was really amazing. Sometimes, Life does not give a second chance. So please re-visit the most important stops, before you cross those stops. Who knows, some treasure of happiness may be awaiting for your arrival. Enjoy each bit of life. |
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