I cannot remember when I traveled in a train for the first time but my mother tells me it must have been when I was a couple of months old. My father, a bank officer, would get transferred every few years and we would set off, discovering new parts of India. And wherever we were, thrice a year we would be on a train to my grandparents' house in Rajahmundry, on the banks of River Godavari.
My affair with trains intensified when I joined boarding school in Bangalore for my 11th and 12th standard. Every term break, I would take a night train to Madras (as it was called then, and still is, in my memories) and change to the Coromandel Express the next morning to Vijayawada. I loved traveling alone, charting out what I would do next. I'd spend most of the eight hours standing or sitting at the door, taking in the beautiful sights of Indian countryside. Filmfare, CineBlitz and other assorted magazines would be devoured alongwith samosas, coffee, dal-vadas and soan papdi.
My English text had Ruskin Bond's Eyes Have It as one of twelve short stories; I had also read his Night Train at Deoli. I dreamt of such romantic encounters on my journeys too, but alas, that wasn't to be. Perhaps I didn't have the finesse of Bond or maybe Dehra and Mussourie were where the action was!
For eight years during my hostel life, I must have made countless journeys. From Bangalore to Vijayawada, Surat and Ahmedabad to Mumbai, Surat to Tirupati and Ahmedabad to Cochin, each was a thrilling adventure. I was a romantic poet in one, I broke a foot in another, I ran barefoot on a platform at midnight looking for chai during a third, I slept under a berth in one other...
As I make this twenty hour journey with my wife and two daughters in the comfort of an AC First Class compartment, in the company of Ruskin Bond's Short Stories, I cannot but feel nostalgic about the journeys that shaped my youth.
NOTE: This is an update to my previous post on 3 Idiots. This one, after seeing the movie today.
Follow your dreams.
That's the key message of 3I (and countless other stories)... and obviously, there's nothing wrong with that message.
But what if you cannot follow your dreams. Circumstances don't let you. What does one do? There are few in this world who are like Rancho (not Aamir Khan, mind you) - inherently brilliant, good-natured and attractive - who are also provided the opportunity to follow their dreams. Remember, it is Mr. Shyamaldas Chanjad who sees Rancho through school and college for his own selfish motive. And unlike Raju Rastogi, Rancho does not have a family of three, surviving on Rs 2500 per month, hoping that their son will get a job and sustain the family's livelihood.
Every dream clashes with reality, in some way, else it wouldn't be a "dream". Everyone has to make choices, day in and day out, about balancing the two. And given the ephemeral nature of dreams, they can change from time to time, just like reality will. Are we awake to such shifts, are we flexible to adapt to circumstances?
The flaw with 3I (amongst many others that I will not get into here because this is not a movie review) is that it seeks to use a broad brush in favour of the dream-way. With Aamir-can-do-no-wrong-Khan in the lead, all others are reduced to being caricatures. And eventually, all of them bow to the only way of the only master.
Jahapanaah, Tussi Great Ho!
PS: I was shocked at the 'pissing on a live wire' episodes, presented as cool stunts! This used to be a popular ragging sequence in medical colleges, with very dangerous consequences. I just hope that some stupid kids don't try this out for fun!
I spent the entire Oh-Ohs (00's) decade working on telecom. NTP '99 heralded the real opening up of the Indian telecom sector and every spare hand was diverted to telecom... and boy, has it been an exciting ride! More than 500million subscribers were added during this period; we have seen tariffs hit all-time lows; 8 new submarine cables connected India to the rest of the world... the achievements are endless to recount here.
However, I am saddened by the manner this decade ended. 2009 has to count as the year that promised so much but delivered almost nothing. The most talked about disappointment, of course, was the postponement of the 3G & BWA spectrum auctions. What is more disconcerting was that major decisions that would have created true customer choice - Number Portability, MVNO and Internet Telephony - were put off, on some pretext or the other. Even the one decision (this year) on Calling Cards could not be implemented because the terms and procedures are yet to be finalized.
Most people are happy about the entry of new (mobile) operators and consequent reduction in tariffs. I am not so sure, though. Adding new (facilities-based) players to a reasonably crowded market is not necessarily in the best interest of the industry or the customers. While it does result in some short-term pricing benefits, the common resource used by all of them is scarce spectrum -- the more fragmented it gets, poorer the quality of service. So while we have so-called lowest tariffs, we also have poor service levels. Instead, the Government had the opportunity to introduce new forms of competition (& customer choice) through MVNO and Internet Telephony, but dragged its feet on those decisions.
2009 saw Bharti losing out an opportunity to become a global leader in the mobile business; in fact, none of the Indian companies could capitalize on the recession (& low valuations) in developed markets to make any large, bold moves/acquisitions. Intense tariff pressures in the domestic market dented their valuations - most analysts reacted with a Sell on the Indian telecom sector, probably for the first time in the last 5-8 years.
Will 2010 be different? I do not see much cause for cheer: the fundamental problem around policy-making is not likely to go away in a hurry. 3G & BWA auctions might happen in early 2010 (only because the Government is counting on the auction money in this financial year!), but networks/services would be available only towards the end of the year, in a limited manner. The camps on both sides of MNP, MVNO and Internet Telephony are strong and therefore, I expect status quo will prevail - for all practical purposes.
It will feel good to be proven wrong.
Enjoy the holiday season!!!