Travel

I attended a workshop conducted by the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA) last Saturday. We were asked to define success. I said it is the achievement or development of skills required to reach pre-set goals in order to set further goals better suited to these new and developed skills. My ‘definition’ implies non-contentment. It has an inherent property of never stopping and, to quote Meet the Robinsons (does anyone remember that movie?), keep moving forward.

I’m writing this article from Pune. That’s right, I’m back home. I came back as usual by a Shivneri. Generally, it is a solitary journey but this time, I was accompanied by a friend. The travel takes a bit more than 4 hours. I am an introvert, so you can guess what I might be doing – listening to songs (on the radio), laptop-based entertainment or sometimes even studying. This friend of mine is an extrovert. I can’t even start to imagine thinking how bored he must have been. Half an hour into the journey, which is like reaching Chembur from Dadar, he was already bored.

One interesting thing about a Pune-Mumbai bus journey is that it takes approximately equal intervals of time to get out of Mumbai and to go to Pune from there. So, you start from Dadar, travel for an hour or so, and you’re still in Mumbai! It’s interesting in its own way. Some people (hmm) find it boring.

The only time I’m bored on the journey is if I don’t have enough charge on my laptop (or phone) and we are near Lonavala. I always drink coffee at Lonavala, so sleep is off the table. The radio connectivity is no good. One might think that being in the middle of two Indian megacities (Pune and Mumbai), such a problem should not occur. It is quite the opposite – the problem occurs due to this fact. The radio alternates between the Mumbai and Pune stations, with a lot of noise too!

Now, just a concluding random thought – one of our professors. He is well-known for his surprise CATs (continuous assessment tests) and he declares the result within 90 minutes, as in e-mails it to you within 90 minutes! Same with the mid-semester examinations – result delivery in an unimaginably small timescale. As a professor, too, he is very good, not unlike ICT faculty. In fact, I sometimes say that he’s so awesome, he might be from Pune!

#justpunethings