Frozen Grand Central NYC

I came across this video when I was watching one of the shows (Listening Post) on Al Jazeera News Channel. Then ofcourse I went on the internet and found it on Youtube. The group responsible for the event in the video is called 'Improv Everywhere'. I also visited their official website. Anyways the video which really impressed me was one of their mission called 'Frozen Time at Grand Central'. This took place in New York City at the Grand Central Station by the Improv Everywhere group based in New York where 207 agents participated. At exactly 2:30 pm all the agents froze in the main concourse (Lobby area) of the Station. All the agents stopped exactly at the same time, doing whatever they were doing. Example, one lady was eating, one guy was tying his shoe lace, even one person dropped his papers from a briefcase and was in the process of collecting them when he froze, one couple froze kissing each other. This lasted for exactly 5 minutes after which everyone went their way. This caused normal people passing through the concourse to stop and think what was happening. They could not understand the reason for so many people being frozen at the same time and then unfreezing and going on their own way as if nothing ever happened. This is a must see video which lasts for 2 min and 15 seconds. You can also check for the video on the main site by clicking HERE which also contains some of the still photos of the event and a high resolution video. Based on this particular frozen time, other Improv Everywhere groups based in London and Toronto have executed the Frozen time. On 16th February 2008, more than 1000 people participated in London's Frozen Trafalgar Square.

The Go Air experience

I was travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai by Go Air as its flight timings are in the evening and suite my needs. Their boarding and processing of passengers were done as per schedule but ofcourse being Bangalore HAL airport, the flight took off 30 minutes late due to traffic congestion. We reached Mumbai airspace on time as the pilot had increase the speed of the flight to 810km/hr, which he announced before reaching Mumbai on time. But as one has it, we circled around Mumbai for 20 minutes till we got clearance to land. I dozed off in the flight as nothing much was their to do, but enjoyed my leg space as I was seated at the emergency exit doors. Ofcourse I was given instructions by the cabin crew twice in English and Hindi, that in case of emergency I may have to open that door which by the way weighs 15 kgs which also brought the next question whether I could lift that much. The cabin crew were so thoughtful ;) that they woke me up for refreshments and snacks. The first thing I came up was with the answer a bottle of water. After I had a sip of it, they asked me for Rs 10 for the bottle. I was slightly shocked but thankful that it was 500 ml not a 200 ml bottle otherwise it would have been baffling (fyi --> Rs 50 is charged for a bottle of 1 litre drinking/mineral water at 4-Star hotels in India).

An encounter

The other day when I was at Mumbai Domestic Arrival terminal, I got to see Rahul Gandhi passing by. Not much security except for 2 cops which were part of the airport security force and were keeping their distance from him (around 15 metres). Also 2 bodyguards were with him, who were dressed like businessmen, but I guess the give away was the ear pieces they had in their left ears. Though Rahul Gandhi sat for 10 minutes at the baggage collection area, not many people realised his presence in the area. In one such case, two youth most probably some MNC professionals with their laptops hanging on their sides sat next to Rahul Gandhi and his friend. They didnot realise until Rahul got up and left with his baggages which were brought to him by his bodyguards. I guess people are generally busy collecting their baggages and making their way to the arrival terminal. I am told that if someone spends couple of hours at the Mumbai arrival terminal, you will get to see many celebs, politicians and businessmen. That could be really true, but I am not sure whether these stats are hard proof.