Let's have a chat

Over the past decade the world has changed a lot, especially in terms of technology. One of the major revolutions has been the internet. My parents hardly use the internet. My grandparents don’t use the computer. But I’m sure that even my unborn child knows the shortcut keys in Microsoft Word.

I’m a big fan of the internet, but one thing I am not a huge fan of is chat. I mean, it’s good to communicate and all, probably one of the best ways to keep in touch, but not much can be expressed through words. They are completely different things – emailing/chatting with your professor and emailing/chatting with your girlfriend. I believe I use the chat messengers and email more than anyone, but I’ve had my share of bad experiences and misunderstandings through them. A while ago, I forwarded an email with included a card with a red rose to around twenty of my friends. A day later, one of the girls emailed me back with the subject – ‘misunderstanding’. I’ve really lost touch with her since then and wonder if it was because of the email. Just words sometimes aren’t enough. No, I don’t mean use emoticons and other symbols. It’s better sometimes to talk, voice-chat. Certain situations and relationships deserve more than just words. I make it a point to voice-chat whenever both parties can, regardless of who I am speaking to. Most of my friends know that about me.

Yesterday, a friend and I decided to voice chat. She had something important to discuss and I postponed it to a time when we both were free to talk. Unfortunately, I didn’t calculate the time difference correctly due to the daylight savings change in my time. I was a little over an hour late and she began with the line, “Heard about being late?” I could tell she was pissed and sounded really low. Luckily, she didn’t yell or hang up. We ended up having a good conversation and spoke about her concerns and discomfort.

I don’t think the conversation would have been as effective as it was if we hadn’t used our vocal cords. I see it as a time saver and an asset.

Fly Super-Economy Class

I feel as if I have gained another hour in my life. Today, the clock was pushed back by one hour for daylight savings. This gives you the idea that winter is around the corner. I am almost a graduate, so I hope I can wrap it up before I have to wrap myself up due to the cold. Flight ticket prices are really rising. About a month ago, the cost of AvGas (Aviation fuel) reduced in Russia and around Europe. I thought this would bring the ticket prices down quite a bit. But, in reality, they haven’t changed much. I wouldn’t mind sitting on the toilet seat, forget window or aisle, if I could fly home for free, who wouldn’t? My seat number on my boarding pass would be written as Toilet-bowl A and I would have to use the tissue paper as my seat belt. On the bright side, going to the loo won’t take time. Before landing and take-off the special instructions for me would be, “Please make sure your tissue is enough, seat is put up and toilet is flushed”. I wonder how much a ticket on board the Concorde would cost at this rate. Thinking one step further would lead me to speculating the price for a ticket on board the space shuttle for space tourism. But that would be worth it, wouldn’t it? No problems with window or aisle seating, no problems with leg room or baggage space and definitely no problems with the airhostess waking you up for duty-free shopping.
Bon Voyage, mon ami! Your transit is on mars and you will be able to collect your checked-in baggage on Jupiter, if your body isn’t incinerated by the heat.

My home away from home

I had a great weekend, full of surprises and excitement. The rugby world cup final was won by South Africa, not England, which was a bit of a surprise and then on Sunday Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was crowned world champion in Formula One, after he won the Brazilian Grand Prix. Even before the race had begun, the only two names on everybody’s lips were Alonso and Hamilton. This, I must say, was the biggest of surprises and one hell of a race. Two of my friends and me actually stayed up till 3 am that night playing the Formula One racing game on our computers through the network. I came second in both races, which disappointed me, considering I rate myself higher. But now that the racing season is over, the hype and fever should stop, at least among us.


In the past week I’ve realized that starting your own blog isn’t all that difficult, maintaining it is. I’ve hardly had any free time on my hands recently, but I’ve been itching to get back to the blog each time I left it. One of the reasons I never started a blog was my laziness to maintain it. But I’ve promised myself that I’ll make an effort. I’ll try and keep things fresh and interesting as much as I can. Maybe 5-6 posts a month should do the trick.




I’ve been in St.Petersburg, Russia for the past five years doing my bachelors in Aerospace Engineering. It’s been a dream-come-true for me to study and live here. The course itself is excellent, but staying in St.Petersburg has been a delightful experience so far. Also known as “The Venice of the North”, “Северная Столица – the northern capital”, this city definitely is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and the easternmost city in Europe. It would always make my top 10. It has over 300 bridges and ranks second in “city with the most bridges in the world” after Venice, Italy. It has white nights during the summer, boasts of one of the best museums in the world – the Hermitage, was the capital of Russia once, is the second largest city in the country(largest – Moscow) and the third largest in Europe(largest – Moscow, second – London). Situated at latitude 59 degrees 57' north, the population of St.Petersburg is around five million as of today, which makes it the northernmost city in the world with a population of more than one million. It is one of the coldest places in Russia, and believe me, it can get really really cold during the winters. The lowest I have ever experienced here would have to be about -32 degrees Celsius back in the winter of 2006. With the heater on, I used to wrap myself in three blankets when I slept in those days. I wonder why so many people still live in Russia even though the weather is such. Take Siberia for example. With temperatures up to -50 degrees Celsius in winter, Siberia has a population of 39 million people. But the truth lies in the facts. And the numbers say that the population of Russia is declining every year. Today, Russia's population of 142,300,000 is only 12.6% that of India and in the next ten years it could drop to
less than 10%.



I’ve always seen Russia as the European version of the USA, only colder and with people speaking a different language around you. Other than that, there are hardly any differences. I’ve heard a lot about the USA over the years through family and friends, who have travelled there. But one thing I’m certain about is this, Russia has preserved it’s cultural integrity and has the capability to operate without interferance from the world. Russian technology is a great example of this. They have their own brand of cars – Lada, etc, aircraft - Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Tupolev, etc and spacecraft – Soyuz, Buran, Vostok, etc.


I haven’t mentioned all the interesting facts about St.Petersburg above, but if I do then I could go on and on. Some, that deserve mention here and make me proud, are the underground railway metro system, the city’s only football(soccer) team – Zenit St.Petersburg, the fact that a part of the film “Goldeneye” was filmed in this city and that it is one of the end-points of the longest railroads in the world – the Trans-Siberian railway.



Russia has given me the opportunity to take my career ahead and to learn a new language while doing so. I’ve made countless friends, had tubs of fun, grown and learnt a lot in these five years. I can comfortably call Russia, especially St.Petersburg, my home away from home.


CHEERS!!!

Check-in with kick-off

Hello. It's been a while now and I've been back and forth many times about starting my own blog. I always knew I would, it was just a matter of time. The main question in my mind was, 'should I reveal my identity or no?' I still don't have the answer to that question, which is why I'll try and mix things up in here. I don't think I should be writing anything personal, so people won't throw eggs and tomatoes at me on the street. My posts will be more of a general nature, stuff that people speculate about, stuff that goes on everywhere, from football to dating, from shopping to leisure, from travel to psychology.

Final Approach is an unsual title, most would think. Not to me though. Aviation is, and will always be, something close to my heart.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank one of my very good friends, Pragni, who is also a blogger. Check out http://pragsdreamz.blogspot.com/
She's been an inspiration to me from the start and this blog wouldn't exist if she wouldn't have believed that I could do it.

Being a football fan isn't easy. But then, it isn't difficult as well. I've been a childhood England fan. That's mainly because my favourite club, Manchester United FC, hails from England. Yesterday, England visited Moscow, a place not too far from where I am at the moment, to play Russia. The game was a qualifier for the European Championships in 2008, what everybody calls EURO 2008. I can't imagine how homo sapiens can play in temperature close to 0 C. According to me, they are nuts. They even played on an artificial surface, as the sub-zero temperatures affect grassy pitches. So, as a result, if you fall awkwardly, that could be it for your career. I remember playing football a year ago when it was +15 C outside. I had to wear a jacket over my jersey and two sets of gloves and still wasn't comfortable. But I guess this is what playing for your country does to you. England scored in the 29th minute, but in the second half, Russia came back to score twice in four minutes. Russia 2 England 1. My russian friends really got me. It was like ten against one. I guess that's what you get when you dare to support the away team. My frustration was building up, and ultimately I decided to take it out here, in writing.

The thought of international football always makes me wonder if India will ever make an impact ever. I don't think it will happen in my lifetime. It isn't that we don't have talent. The problem lies within. No academies. No big tournaments. No promotions. I would like to see my country in the World Cup someday, I would. But it's hard to keep your hopes alive when they can't even qualify for the Asian Cup most of the time. Even today, I would love to play for India, but honestly, would rather play for a lowly third-division football club in England. Not because of the salary, but because of the conditions and facilities the club will provide you and more importantly, because of the place football holds in that country. Indians are bound to choose cricket over football any day of the week. Being the second largest population in the world, I think India should realize that priority can't be given to one sport all the time. For the people who don't follow Indian football, India were trounced 7-0 in Japan by the Japanese during the world cup qualifications for 2006. I thought India might at least salvage a draw on home soil. Yes, that's what it is soil, not grass, on football pitches in India. But a few months later, when Japan visited, they won 4-0. That tells you the whole story. But, if compared, the scene in Indian football is much better than it was five or ten years ago. There is improvement, but there isn't enough. Maybe one or two million rupees can be used to rebuild the infrastructure, instead of using billions for cricket. Agian, just a personal opinion, always open for speculation.