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Of air show and other things

When i was a school kid, i remember my dad, taking me to watch Republic day parade in Marina. He used to be very enthused about the military parade that they show on TV, for that would be the only program for the whole day which would be telecasted Live. Except for knowing about new missiles and their replicas, it never felt much exciting, but for the fly past. The fighter jets and those magnificent flying machines never fails to impress and becoming a pilot would be the dream job for many school going kids. When the jets began their practice fly pasts since last week, for the air show in chennai, it was quite exciting to say the least. Having been at a touching distance of old airport in Bangalore, the noise of airplanes, especially the air force fighter jets are nothing new for me. But looking at those stunts from the terrace of our house was quite something. We decided to visit our relatives place, who stay very close to the beach to have a clear view of the whole show. But much to our dismay, there were quite some high rises, taller than their apartment which blocked our view. Nevertheless, there were several bravehearts, who didn't just brave the 200 degree weather, but also such risky places to stand at such heights, kept the crowd at lower levels informed of approaching jets by clapping. We would all look up in search of the direction from where the roar of the jets could be heard and by the time we realise, they would've whizzed past over our heads. Unable to stand in the merciless sun, which seems to be stretching its presence for almost 10 months this year, we all retired in front of TV only to realize the lakhs and lakhs of people who had thronged the beach to witness the event!!! While the pre-event traffic was more of a hurry to reach the venue and a vantage point, the post event traffic was a snarl to say the least. Our railways department, decided to forgo additional revenue of a month's target in a single day, by deciding to reduce the already lean service and unless the airforce took pity and gave a lift, no other road transport was possible on that day!! The stunning part of it all was when we came back home to find out next apartment neighbours, talking excitedly about the show. Primarily they weren't aware of the show and were actually frightened out of their wits to see so many planes flying over head and with all the news media covering middle east and other wars, they were literally scared that we were either at war or something is about to happen!!! Even though it was quite funny, for a moment, it shooked me to realize what if their fear been real! What was a show of might and skill for us to watch and clap, is what the people on other side of the continent witness day in and day out with actual bombardment and kill happening!! We couldn't even stand to watch this as a show, but for those people, it is a question of survival!!! Wish we never ever get to see such things happen in real and hope it ends soon wherever it is happening now!! 

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Comments

Ramesh said…
The concluding part of your post is so so true. Its very sad that these engineering marvels, that even humans from 150 years ago would have believed impossible, are actually weapons of war. Mankind is a strange species.

Increasingly Madras is unlivable with the heat. Especially for people like me who have been spoilt by Bangalore.

What was Junior's reaction ?
Thursday, October 10, 2024
gils said…
junior was at the terrace for close to an hour and after that came down along with me unable to bear the heat..He is tanned beyond belief and we both were super tired. watched the rest of the show on tv even though he was itching to go back to terrace. Summer seems to be making the long standing joke a reality here..its almost 9 months of summer this year and makes me shiver ( in fear) thinking of next year!!
Thursday, October 10, 2024
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