Transition of Thoughts

Weaving thoughts into words

Month: September 2009

Dubai Metro – A model which the world deserves to follow!!

dubai-metro

Dubai has always been referred to as the the business hub, the tourist hub, the link of the east to the west and what not. Be it the numerous cities (Dubai Sports City, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai International Academic city, Dubai Media city etc), the humungous number of malls, the biggest and tallest structures and building, one of the largest airports in the world Dubai has been there done that. I admire the vision of the rulers who planned well in advance and thus were able to generate other sources of income like tourism, education, healthcare. But as they say Muscateers (like ME :)) who have stayed for a long time in Muscat dont generally like Dubai too much and vice versa because these two cities are as different as chalk and cheese. If Muscat is serene, quiet and peaceful, Dubai is the exact opposite as its unofficial tagline states “The city that never sleeps”. I personally feel that though they have managed to become a very rapidly growing economy due to their efforts, they have compensated their lack of natural beauty by going on a massive construction drive making it a concrete jungle.

But I really salute each and everyone who worked to make their latest dream – “The Dubai Metro” a reality. It has the distinction of being the world first automated driverless train system. The work for it had begun way back in 2005 when the first contract was given to the Dubai Rail Link Consortium made up of a group of Japanese companies.  4 lines have been proposed – red, green, purple and blue of which red has partially opened. When completed this would include 70 kilometers of lines as well as 47 stations. The Roads and Transport Authority’s masterplan includes 320 km of metro lines and 270 km of tram lines up to 2020 to cater to the expected 3.3 million population of the city. There are plans for 268km of light rail tracks to act as a feeder system for the Metro. The fate of this entire network – which would reportedly be divided into Yellow, Orange, Magenta and Black lines – is now dependent on an economic recovery and private investment.

Now this sounds like something crazy as usual coming out of Dubai. But even though it may be costly, I firmly believe that Dubai has taken a giant step towards reducing the number of cars on their roads and thus helping reduce pollution. People will surely have issues as was already seen from the fact that some didnt like the idea of giving up the comfort of their own cars, some had issues regarding parking at the Mall of the Emirates due to heavy charges while others just had a problem with trying something like this.

But the fact that 40,000 cars were off the roads on a day or two after the Metro shows that its on the right track. It has given people an altogether new way to see Dubai. The first few days would surely be full as was seen from certain minor glitches due to extreme rush. The thrill has spilled over to cyberspace with people discussing about it on Twitter, Orkut, Facebook, blogs everywhere.

The commencement of the Metro on the date fixed 3 years ago, the impeccable interiors and stations, the proper maintainence (some people said that the way it ran on the first day seemed like it had run for years), the subsidized rates (I hope they remain in the reach of the common man) are some of the most amazing features of this intiative.

I hope the other countries would consider try to emulate this model for the bright future of our planet. Hats off to Dubai for creating something which would surely imprint its name in history.

Ranju – This ones an ode to U!!

For the uninitiated, Ranjani Gopal (popularly known as Ranju at least for me – waise toh unke bahut naam hai like Rajjo, Run-Genie, Cracksy and wat not) has been my classmate since 7th std. Yes, our friendship dates back to 1999 (Now thats an amazingly looooooong time). We were together in 7th, 11th (only in Maths), 12th at ISM (Indian School Muscat) and then four amazing yrs at VIT. In 7th we were just like ok friends chalta hai types. Then for 3 years didnt have much contact as such.

When we met in 11th, we had changed a lot obviously in terms of the way we thought about life, friends etc. Basically both of us had become much more mature about life. But this gave a great chance for us to revive our friendship (not that it had died or something…but i guess if you are in one class its very easy to maintain it). Then finally came 12th std when we were back together in one class after 5 years (Now thats a pretty big time!!). But the way we spoke in 12th, it didnt seem like we had been away for loooong. Loads of interesting things happened in that year (some of which obviously shouldnt be spoken in a public forum 😛 cuz I am sure the people who matter know it ;)). All the times during Chitra maam’s and Preetha maam’s tution spent on talking all kinds of things in the world were really amazing.

Then again for the next four years we ended up being together (After this I was sure that god surely wanted us to be friends for as looooong as we can be). At VIT we had the most amazing times together be it good times, bad times, funny times, sweet times doing wat not. We really lived a lyf together (here we were in the same dept and also used to be together around campus till 7-8pm unlike in ISM wherein we met only at school or tutions).

Roaming around campus doing nothing discussing abt issues ranging from which relationship has bloomed to which went bust, having gobi 65 at FC or canteen (god i still remember that frenzy in the last few days of college of her having it so frequently :P), the times spent with Padhee (oh god wat bad luck or whatever u may call it he had that he used to get injured so often :P) and Anish (i surely cannot forget our beautiful times together) , spending time at FC, QB, going to Aahar Dhaba so often (ahaaa i still remember that day how i ate whatever she ate!!..lol god i was gone mad ;)), watching movies in Raghavendra for just 30-40 bucks…maan that was so bloody cheap, she getting pissed off at me most of the times because of not coming on time during project and also otherwise cuz of my sleep as she had to literally wake up the whole hostel, she having to wait for me (obviously again due to my sleeping habits) maaan i can go on and on but all these times were and will be the most precious ones of my life.

I seriously admire her the way she is. Her being helpful to anyone and everyone, her amazing ability to initiate a conversation with anyone, the lengths she can go to care about any person she loves, her dedication to achieve and do what she likes are some of the few qualities which I have tried to imbibe in my life. She has been the backbone of my life. From helping me in love to making friends to helping me become a much more dynamic person in life to always being there for me whenever I needed her, she has played an amazing role in my life which I know no one can replace.

When we parted on 17th May 2009 at around 4pm, i felt a really big hole inside me as to how life would be like without having her as my support system. But as they say the show must go on and it does with her in Dubai searching for a job and me at SIBM Pune doing MBA.

I would just like to end by saying that  I am really proud to have a friend like Ranjani and the ten years we have been together have been one of my most beautiful years. I am sure we will meet soon, because I really believe that we are meant to be friends for life.

Three Cheers to our friendship!!!!

PS :- Padhee and Anish – You guys will surely be covered in the next few posts coming up!!!..I have loads to tell 😛

Love – What it is really??? (Even I am trying to know after all these years :P)

Crush, Infatuation, Liking someone, Love – all different words used to describe one particular feeling. The urge to be with that special someone, the necessity to make that one person happy whether others maybe happy or not, the smile one gets on his / her voice at just hearing that one person’s voice, the eagerness to just get a glimpse of that person, the ability to sing the most amazing luv songs  (ok i guess i should stop here or ill keep going on and on and bore you) are few of the “N” number of signs i can give about a person falling in love. Obviously I myself am no guru to give so much gyaan on it.

But yeah love does change a person’s personality a lot (whether in a good or bad way toh depends on person to person :P). It changed me in a number of ways (obviously good ones!!!). I started becoming much more patient (yeah I know me and patient are like poles apart, but I think I have improved somewhat), much more daring (:P), much more caring (I am sure the people who matter know how), singing amazingly and that too in front of big crowds (ok my parents got the biggest shock when that happened) and basically doing things one wouldn’t do under normal conditions.

Even though the feeling of love has remained same over the decades, many things have changed. Today relationships change as fast as people change their shirts and also its really becoming easy to move in and out of relationships (yeah I guess time time ki baat hoti hai).

But I can say one thing for sure despite so much happening in my life I am still confused about so many things. Even today there are hundreds of questions in my mind about love, commitment, how to understand girls and what not. So in the end humme yeh seekh milti hai ki LOVE IS SOMETHING WHICH IS TOUGHER TO UNDERSTAND THAN EVEN OPERATIONS (ok I am saying operations because I cant understand how to do anything in it :P)

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