What I said:
Best moment: Early morning 6 o'clock at Mumbai, no, Bombay Central railway station, interacting with a coolie (porter). At first, haggling over his charges; five minutes and almost a kilometer later at the fag end of the platform while waiting for the train, discussing about the positions of coach # 1 of Shatabdis and Rajdhanis.
Worst moment: Same place, same time. In spite of having as many as nine bags, I wasn't stopped or even questioned by any of the security personnel; needless to say, the bags went in unchecked as well. An X-ray baggage-scanning machine at such a premier entry/exit point is the least one can expect, right?
What I meant:
Best moment: Talking with the same coolie, with whom I'd just haggled about ten bucks or so, about the relative positions of the A1 coach of Shatabdi Express and B1 (formerly AS1) coach of Rajdhani Express on adjacent platforms while waiting at Bombay Central on a nippy morning, with him talking in typical Bambaiyya lingo, was an utterly insignificant yet for some reason a very memorable moment.
Worst moment: My nine bags went in unchecked. The presence of a few security personnel and a couple of metal detectors does not assure the travellers - if an X-ray baggage-scanning machine is present at every small airport, such a basic piece of equipment should definitely be a mandatory security check at least at such a premier entry/exit point into the oft-targeted city.
What I definitely did NOT mean:
haha!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust proves how much you can trust the newspapers....
A ditty to editty eh :P
ReplyDeleteEditing?
ReplyDeleteEdirtying, more like.
ROFL
ReplyDeleteYou got to be KIDDING. The Best moment is just the crowning glory =))
I am convinced it is an elaborate form of revenge. The media answers back.
ReplyDeleteHaving written for newspapers for the last four years, I know it is always excruciating when you compare what you actually sent in to what actually gets published- at least at the beginning. But once you're IN the media house and quite a senior in your own right, your writings rarely get edited much.
ReplyDelete