Dead Wishes of The Optimist

So... For once in a millennium, Blogger will be graced with a post by yours truly within the promised time frame in the last post. That really does happen very rarely. Almost as rare as the lone Russian guy/girl who stumbled upon this blog at the exact moment I chose to call Putin a "pimmel". At least I hope that you have access to an open internet with multiple sources of verified news, so you are at the very least aware of what is happening and why the situation is critical.

Enough jibber-jabber. This post would also be more of an expressionist kind of deal rather than a tutorial or science thing. When I was traveling during the Omicron wave to India in December, I had thought I would try to vlog Casey Nesitat's style. In retrospect that was too ambitious of a goal. So the only thing that I ended up documenting was the train journey from Delhi railway station to Chandigarh, and even that was not exactly easy because of the timing situation with the flight and the train. Allow me to elaborate.

After waking up at 5am CET, on a foggy rainy cold morning in Aachen, I got on the train to the Frankfurt Flughafen. Excellent service by Deutsche Bahn. From Aachen to Frankfurt in under 2 hours. Please make/ speed up the construction of more HSL corridors. It was all easy-breezy until the waiting area at the gates for the flight. But at the boarding gate at Frankfurt itself, I realized why I secretly did not want to go to India. As soon as the announcement was made that the Gate is open for boarding, every single person queued up, because in their mind, the airplane will leave them behind, or someone will sit at their pre-allotted seat, or god knows what.

I was waiting at a totally different gate at the airport, for a reason.

But that was just a teaser. The flight departed at 1300 CET, and landed, on time, at 0130 IST (the next day). Guess what the passengers did as soon as the plane came to a stop at the arrival gate... Remember that it was peak Omicron time, and the flight crew was in full PPE. But they had to repeatedly make announcements not to get up and stand in the aisles of the airplane. You could actually hear the frustration of the crew when they were trying to make everyone act like a human on the flight. My respect to the crew, and not just the Air India crew, but to all the crew members of all the airlines who had to deal with such idiotic behavior across the globe.

I really hope Tata's refurbish at least their widebody jets with better interiors
It's a solid 3.6 roentgen right now.
Not great, not terrible

Once inside the airport at IGI, the experience was actually much better than I was expecting. I was told by my sister, who traveled one day before me, that the airport can be a bit of a problem, especially at immigration because of the long waiting times. But, as I already mentioned in my last post, it was a breeze. Sure, there was a bit of mismanagement on the COVID test we had to get done at arrival, but it was not too much trouble. And I have to applaud the management again here for the handling of passengers and the COVID testing mechanism in place, at least on the particular day I traveled, because there were reports it broke soon afterward.

Decently spaced arrival area for people waiting to get their test results at the IGI airport.
Probably the first time the massive area of IGI was utilized completely.

The same Immigration area as posted on the last post
I got lucky

Outside the airport, where it starts to hit you

Still, by the time I was actually ready to get out of the airport, it was 0330 IST and the peak sleep time in CET for my body. But my train was at 0740 and there was no place to sleep or even nap. When you finally get onto the airport metro line to get to the railway station, that's when the physical effects of being in India hit you, the polluted warm, damp air, in December nonetheless. And when you actually get out at the New Delhi railway station, the reality of India hits you.

Metro station at the New Delhi railway station
It is this empty because its 5am
Otherwise, it gets pretty rough here

Not bad at all

Irrespective of the time, there will be people everywhere, moving in all directions. Some minding their own business, some forcing their business into others. And it is loud. The Sony XM4s were able to cancel the drone of the GEnX engines of the Dreamliner, but they can't quite cancel out the Indian noises, the dominant Indian noise being of a child who has just been beaten the living shit out for behaving erratically and making too much noise, thus resulting the kid wailing at an ever-higher pitch.

They have managed to clean up the tracks at the platforms by quite a lot
It used to be so much worse than this
Oh and Europeans, we do not travel on the roofs of trains, as much as Google would like you to believe, and our trains are about twice as long as yours, in case you are wondering

Not that you would want to wear noise-canceling headphones at the railway station, because then you would almost certainly lose whatever you have in your pockets, and/or get hit by something you would least expect to get hit by, like a wheelbarrow. Or by the many people who are just inside their smartphones, trying to document every single living moment for the world to see, while being excessively conscious about their hairstyle, while not even being educated enough to correctly pronounce the name of the train, or identify correctly where they are supposed to sit on the train they are so intently taking selfies with to post on Snapchat and Instagram. Yes, I'm looking at you, you tiny Gardner with skin-tight jeans and spiked hairstyle which you changed 3 times in 2 hours on the station platform itself while posing with different trains.

Believe it or not, this is the main building of the main railway station in the capital of India

And then the train arrived, and we were ready to board. Note that this is where I made notes to keep myself awake on the train because at this point I had not slept properly on a bed for 23 hours. And the 250km journey to Chandigarh takes 3 hours, and I would arrive home at 1200 noon, so no chance of sleeping then as well. I digress. 

• The first thing that caught, or I should rather say, stole my attention, was just how prominently our supreme leader was present, almost omnipresent. On every possible newspaper, billboard, metro station, the metro itself, long-distance trains, and even the -ve covid test certificates along with vaccination proofs.
• The second observation was already mentioned. Disorderly and impatient little kids making a scene at almost every place imaginable and then getting spanked by their almost equally loud parents, thus making them even more angsty and screamy.
• Probably the most disturbing thing was the degradation of the quality of service offered by the railways. The particular train that I took, the Shatabdi, is technically a premium train with a luxury offering. In a country where I can do the same journey for 120 rupees, (1.5 Euros), I was paying ~ 800 rupees (10 Euros).
  What you get in return for spending 10 times more money, is air conditioning, which honestly is not really required in December except for blocking the "rustic" aroma of the countryside, and slightly nicer seats, which because they were not properly maintained, are not that comfortable at all. The cabins are dark and gloomy, the NVH is terrible, and the cleanliness, although they are trying, still leaves a lot to be desired, with chips and other random shit just lying between the seats of the cabin.

The seat covers were loose, the armrests are painted (?), the holding nets are loose or torn, the lighting is meh and who approved the overall color scheme anyway?

• The part that really hurts is that it was not like this when first introduced. I distinctly remember much better cabin quality, proper catering service, with a full meal, soup, newspaper, ice cream, and snacks included in the fare itself. The seats were clean and maintained, the lights and the power sockets worked, the luggage racks did not rattle, the staff was courteous, the blinds were not torn and actually working properly. Now, the food is not included in the ticket, and when you buy it, it is basically off-the-shelf reheated ready-to-eat stuff, and not a proper meal. You could argue that it's COVID times, and I would probably agree with you until you realize that the mask rules and social distancing laws were left behind at the airport itself, and rarely would you see a person with a properly fitting mask on the railway station or the train itself. Medical n95 masks were nowhere to be found.
• Speaking of the train, a message to Indian rail. Who thought that having a screw-thread joint between the passenger compartments was a good idea? Please fire them, both from the job and from a gun. You feel every single jerk from the engine and the track because there is literally no damping provided by that coupling. How were you guys able to go back 20 years, when the rest of the world moved ahead by the same time? I was more physically drained from that 3-hour journey in a supposedly premium train versus an 8-hour flight on economy class of Air India. And don't even get me started on the "Semi High Speed" nonsense. Your average speed for passenger rail service is a hilariously pathetic 44 kmph. The Shatabdi, which is classified as an express train barely touches 100 kmph. Horrible.

Old photo from 2017. They have mounted quite a lot of solar panels on the roofs here now, So that is great!

Rajiv Chowk, one of the busiest metro stations
Again, 2017
But probably looks about the same now as well

• The free internet access provided by the likes of Jio and the smartphone penetration is also just sad. I think the best way to summarize the situation is a Neil DeGrasse Tyson quote. “The internet landed in our laps without creating a curriculum that empowers you to know when someone online is full of shit.” or in this case, also without creating a curriculum for the users on how to use the internet, what to use it for. Every single person in India has been provided easy access to the internet, but nobody has thought if they even should be allowed that access. Everyone seems to think that universal internet access is a good thing, but I respectfully disagree. It is probably the same with public transport. India is making trains and flights cheaper and more widely accessible to the average Indian. No one is really thinking if they should. And ultimately, you are getting a public transport system that is much worse in almost every metric than it was 15 years ago or so.
• Part of the problem also lies in the lack of incentive for people to take public transport. For the same 250km journey, a private cab ride takes about the same time (because of the shit average speed) but adds the convenience of door-to-door service. Anyone who can take the cab takes the cab, anyone who can take a flight, takes a flight. And yes, there are MULTIPLE flights a day to cover a distance of 250km. 250KM! Even a flight takes 55 minutes for this distance, not including the airport check-in procedures. And this distance would literally take less than 45 minutes on a proper high-speed train like the ICE.
• After making so much noise on Swacch Bharat or Clean India, you still see plastic bags littered without a care along the tracks, graffiti which was painted 4-5 years ago, meant to hide the bad state of buildings are now in exactly the same state as they buildings they were meant to hide. The massive slum area as you approach/leave the railway station on the sides of the track is stuck in time, with no visible changes in the last 5 years. You still see people taking a dump by the walls by the sides of the track. And cows roaming about exploring the plastic bags dumped.

This dude, who is locally called a "coolie", straight-up dumped my 25 kg suitcase on his head and essentially started jogging towards the platform where my train was supposed to arrive. About 750m from the metro station.

What virus?

The train was in fact, moving. Not too fast, but still moving.

Anyhow, that is enough rant for now. To end this section on a positive note, I was very happy with the tracking done by the Chandigarh Administration in particular. There was a police officer within 4 hours of my arrival at home who checked my report of the -ve test at the airport, and gave orders for a 1-week quarantine at home, with possible spot checks, and on the 7th day, I was tested again free of charge by the Chandigarh admin. I am not aware of any other cities doing this, so, good job Chandigarh. I guess that is the kind of difference you expect from one of the richest and the most educated cities in India.

Sector 17 Market Plaza
It used to be a great spot, but because of various reasons felt a bit neglected
Still always a nice place for an evening stroll

Sensible parking, open spaces, walkable public area
Le Corbusier did plan ahead of the time
Too bad India adopts the US model of city planning more than the EU one

Typical sweet shop

Consider this as a permanent flea market
Such spots are scattered throughout the city

India, in one picture

Rose garden, the largest of its kind in India
Yes I know there are no roses in the picture

The city/town where I was originally manufactured

Another flea market, with anything you might want, on the streets

We do have some decently spaced parks

Another thing I would briefly like to talk about was a visit to my school. Yes, I actually did that despite the unending hatred for my school and all the places of education I have been a part of. In fairness, it was very nice to meet all my former teachers, who for some reason did remember me and my sister like it was yesterday. And it was great to talk to them about various things, sharing our experiences of living outside India, getting their views on teaching during Covid times, online classes, interaction with the students or the lack thereof, and how they adapted to the changes.

I have been told that having multilingual road signs are interesting

Chandigarh has about 1300 cars per 1000 citizens, so this makes sense
Still, get a damn metro and improve your bus services, Chandigarh!

One of the oldest landmarks of Chandigarh

What was not so great was the state of the school. I still hate it, but it was sad to see that it has not changed. Like nothing at all. It felt like the school has not even received a new paint job since I left the school. Same small stupid benches, same wobbly ceiling fans, same leaky wet walls, smelly bathrooms, and dark classrooms. To support the "digital" learning efforts, routers and fiber connections were basically stapled onto the walls, but it was clear that no real thought (or money) has gone into the building maintenance itself.

Does not look too exciting, does it?

After 12 years in this very school, still not a fan

Shopping, anyone?

In general, it was very nice to meet all of our former teachers, and we were surprised by just how many of them are still working there. And then we met that one teacher, who shall not be named here, who single-handedly managed to spoil the entire mood and also managed to scold us within a span of 10 minutes. I hope you get yourself looked at by a trained professional, ma'am. Even I am not that depressed, especially when I meet people. You were, as Stephen Fry likes to put it, the unexpected worm in the otherwise beautiful salad of interaction with our teachers at the school.

This leads me to a very intriguing conversation that I had a few days ago about the different types of creativity and how having an open mind to all the domains in life is essential. I have been very much at fault for having a pinhole vision for the world, but since 2017, that has thankfully expanded a lot, and I plan to keep working on it. I now tend to think of creativity as something that you are either born with, in a certain domain or get from practical working experience in that area. That small chat made me think about creativity not just in the traditional sense of performing arts, but also of creativity inside a specific field, z.B. engineering. 

[For any Germans reading - please start saying z.B as "zey-bey" in normal conversations instead of the full zum Beispiel. You guys already use HDGDL, this should be a piece of kuchen.]

There are usually multiple ways, possibly also equally good ways, to solve a given problem, but those possibilities can only be discovered, explored, and implemented if you have a creative outlook. If you cant think about a certain challenge from multiple viewpoints, you are confining yourself to a box from which there might not be a good way to get out. Anyone can learn how to draw a line and a circle and stuff, but it's your creativity that turns a blank canvas into a Monet or Van Gogh, and you can't really teach that. Or in music, anyone can learn how to play a song, but to create a new song that connects to the audience, the song needs to make you feel something inside, and the instrument is just a tool to express what the musician is feeling. That's also why I don't like theoretical knowledge sharing, because more often than not, it ends up putting you in a box and giving you the key to getting out of the box, without promoting the exploration of possibilities. It might be different for other domains of life, but it feels pretty accurate for what I do.

What's also important is to have different thinking humans. Imagine a world where there's no great music, no good art, no comedic legends, and theater work, boxy boring buildings instead of monumental infrastructure. That would be too drab of a society to live in. The world, in general, does not value an artist's mindset or viewpoint, but it is in fact a very critical part of modern society. The sad truth is we only value something when it is in short supply, like essential workers and doctors during the pandemic. Although it is unlikely that there would be a shortage of creative minds and artists, especially in the age of social media and the internet, it is 2022, and the probability of any event is never zero. So, that might be something you can look forward to, Frau Blens.

In other tech news, the YuMi robot broke down because of a dead battery inside keeping track of hall effect sensors for joints, so now we are supposed to get a proprietary battery and replace a battery inside a 26,000 Euro robot. It's also surprising because the robot shows a manufacturing date of 2018, and 4 years seems like a short duration for an industrial robot component to go bad, especially when it is not being used continuously. Maybe that is why it went bad since it's not being used constantly. But I digress again.

As usual, or as per the tradition, for the end of this post, my music recommendation would be Chris Cornell's Higher Truth album, on which one of the songs is called Dead Wishes. And the second music recommendation would be basically any of Cory Wong's live albums. The problem with good musicians, as I think I have mentioned before, is that there are so many variations of the same song on different albums, that it's hard to keep track of your favorite version. I don't even know which album "The Optimist" belongs to originally, but you can probably listen to any variant and still enjoy it. I was lucky enough to travel to listen to Cory Wong live in Roermond at the JazzOut 2022 festival, which also happened to be the first-ever live music concert that I paid money to attend. Needless to say, It was a great experience and worth every cent. Shoutout to the wonderfully international ensemble of the Maastricht Conservatorium group and the Brazilian (I think) group of Roda da Holanda. 10/10 would attend again if possible.

The band sure had its chops
Special mention to Kevin G on the keyboard, your solos were amazing

When the venue is an old factory, it is already nice.

This was like NPR's Tiny desk thing. Quite fun!

I think this post's title, made by the fusion of two different songs, makes perfect sense. As an optimist, I've always wanted to see the world make progress towards a better future, but the state of affairs and decisions made in general by humanity at the large turn that optimism into dead wishes. Hopefully, we can change course before it is too late, and hopefully and more importantly, you also enjoyed reading about a part of my travel experience and thoughts on random things.

No "proper" photos this time since this post is already too long.

Also, I think I am out of topics, so no further update posts promised or planned as of right now. Feedback thoughts and opinions are again welcome, as usual. I wish you the best, and I will see you soon, dear reader. Peace out.