India is known for many wonders and paradoxes. There is an uncommon tale of two Indian families which are progressive and unique in their own ways. One is officially recognized for its caste-and-religion less identity, and the other is ISO Certified. Based in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, both the families are the first and only to have been certified for their exemplary distinctions.

We at Travel Beats, an overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle Travel, explored what make these two families an absolute departure from a typical Indian family.

Indian Family with Official ‘No Caste, No Religion’ Certificate

In India, M. A. Sneha and her family is the first and only to have neither any religion nor any caste. Earlier this year, 35-year-old M. A. Sneha, an advocate by profession, was issued a formal ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate by the government of Tamil Nadu. Her family – parents, siblings, husband and children – has not been using any religion or caste as either a prefix or suffix to their name or identity.

Her 9-year-long fight to obtain an official ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate was finally rewarded with recognition to the way he was brought up in a secular environment. Her parents never mentioned any caste or religion in her birth and academic certificates. Even her wedding was solemnized in a non-religious manner devoid of age-old traditions and customs.

Following the ideals of her parents, M. A. Sneha has named her three daughters showing no attachment or affiliation to any caste or religion. She even never fills in the caste and religion blanks in her daughters’ application forms for school and extracurricular activities. Like her parents, she continues to fight casteism and communalism in India.

“When the government can issue community certificates, why not I get a ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate,” was the revolutionary thought that pushed this progressive Indian to continue her efforts to be officially known only for her individuality and nationality after the initial rejection of her letters to the government authorities in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Her family and she believe in supporting the communities oppressed in the name of caste and religion.

Indian Family with ISO 9000 Certification

The Surana family in Chennai is the first and only Indian household to have received an ISO certification and held it for the past 18 years. If you ever happen to visit the ISO 9000 Certified Surana household in Chennai, you will be treated as more than a guest to not only have a cup of tea with snacks but rate your experience of their hospitality, based on a set of parameters including quality of food served to you, in a feedback form.

Actually, every visitor or guest to India’s first and only ISO Certified Surana family is a ‘temporary customer.’ Not only outsiders, but also each member of Chennai’s Surana family has a designation and a definite role to play in the day-to-day household affairs, in compliance with the ISO guidelines. 68-year-old Surana is the Household Head, and his 63-year-old wife Leela is the Household Representative. Their daughter-in-law Rashmi is the Management Representative, while their son is a loyal customer of the family. Interestingly, each of them has been given an individual manual of work instructions in keeping with their designations.

Like ISO certified companies or organizations in manufacturing and services industries, the Surana & Surana Household in Chennai is committed to deliver on quality management and quality assurance of international standards in personal hygiene, housekeeping, food catering, guest management and facility management. India’s ISO Certified Surana family makes on-demand purchases at equal intervals. They buy perishable things like fruits and vegetables every other day from certified vendors having a good rating on quality and hygiene. Their three domestic helps strictly follow a checklist of daily cleaning and maintenance tasks.

A typical Indian household spends over 160 hours a year on discussing the daily menu, as per the stats available. But the Surana family revises the menu once in a month to save time. Every item from the kitchen to the storeroom is properly labeled leaving no chance for ambiguity and kept in an order, as per the ISO guidelines. The pictorial labels on the periodically cleaned containers serve the motto, “Everything in its place and a place for everything.” Any food containing preservatives or having a chemical coating is banned in Chennai’s ISO Certified Surana household. Even the meals are served with inimitable clockwork precision.

In addition to periodic internal audits, two BIS audits are annually conducted to make sure that the Surana family abides by the ISO guidelines on quality and management to continue to hold the prestigious ISO Certification. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the nodal agency for the certification. Notably, the audits cost India’s first ISO Certified Surana household Rs 90,000 a year.

Travel Beats, a subsidiary of Indian Eagle, publishes latest visa, immigration, passport, aviation and Indian diaspora news stories. A leading travel booking partner of Indians in USA, Indian Eagle not only guarantees lowest airfares for flights to India but also strives to promote achievements of overseas Indian communities. 

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No other Indian food has as many stories to tell as biryani does. Rosogolla surfaces to public notice once in a while due to the age-old contention over its origin between two neighboring states: Bengal and Odisha, while biryani is the only food to enjoy pan-India attention throughout the year. The stories of biryani are as varied as the taste and flavor of the dish across the country. If lots of conversation or discussion happens over tea in India, many incidents occur over biryani. Biryani is not just a delightful treat but a bribe, bait and gift. It puts smiles on withered cheeks, brings a ray of hope amidst adverse circumstances, pushes campaigns forward, stimulates arguments and unites people.

Travel Beats, a community portal for Indian Diaspora by IndianEagle.com, curated the most interesting biryani stories from across India and abroad to make you understand the unbeatable power and popularity of biryani.

Biryani was a Silver Lining amidst Dark Clouds during Chennai Floods     

Biryani is no compromise under any circumstance! It was evident from the disappointment of some people for being served sambar rice not biryani during the Chennai floods 2015. When a group of volunteers reached out with packets of sambar rice and other relief materials to the people stuck amidst flood waters, braving the pouring rain and shoulder-leveled standing water, they met with disappointment for not serving biryani. Paradise Biryani, a most popular Hyderabadi biryani brand, sent the dish for them.

Actor’s Love for Biryani Inspired the Name of a Tamil Film    

One of the interesting biryani stories is sourced from the Tamil film industry. Among Tamil film stars, Ajith is so fond of biryani that he loves cooking it for everyone on the shooting spot. He has cooked biryani for the filming crew multiple times. It bears out to not only his penchant for biryani but his simplicity and down to earth nature. Moved by Ajith’s unfathomable love for biryani, director Venkat Prabhu named his black comedy film ‘Biriyani” in 2013. Biriyani is a thriller which was filmed in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Cockroach Biryani Led to a Munna Bhai Style Campaign in Kashmir

The story of ‘cockroach biryani’ in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is among the most interesting Biryani stories in India. When a local dentist and his friends found cockroaches in the biryani served to them at a multi-cuisine restaurant at Hazratbal, one of the outlets owned by Hat Trick fast food manufacturer in Kashmir, they forced their way into the kitchen and found it unhygienic to their surprise. When the ‘cockroach biryani’ story went viral on social media, a group of young foodies launched a ‘Munna Bhai style’ campaign and sent 1000 ‘get well soon’ letters to the restaurant owner. The campaign caught attention of the Food Safety Department and led to sealing of the cockroach restaurant.

Homemade Biryani Forced Dhoni to Vacate Grand Kakatiya in Hyderabad  

One of the Hyderabadi biryani stories is related to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was captain of the Indian Cricket team in 2014. He along with his team vacated the 5 star Hotel Grand Kakatiya where 180 rooms were booked for the team and BCCI officials, and moved to Taj Krishna due to a fiasco over homemade Hyderabadi biryani. One of Dhoni’s teammates brought homemade biryani for the entire team, which Hotel Kakatiya refused to allow within the premises. Hyderabadi biryani is something exclusive to die for!

Biryani Entertains Participants in National Shooting Championships   

The 59^th National Shooting Championship held in Delhi in 2015 is a memorable event for mouthwatering biryani served to the participants. The shooters from all over India were served delicious biryani at a nominal cost. Nawabuddin is the man who cooked and served the dish to them. Popularly known as Nawab Bhai, he has been cooking biryani for all shooting competitions in Delhi for past 6 years. He himself is a shooter and has participated in twenty national shooting championships. Eminent shooters are fans of Nawab Bhai’s biryani.

Biryani Failed to Make Rajnikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan a Success

Do you know that biryani was used as a bait to make superstar Rajnikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan a success in 2013 in Bangalore? When the fans of Rajnikanth felt that the film was going to be a box office disaster, they organized a rally in Bangalore to promote the film and promised the locals free biryani for watching the film. However, biryani could not save Kochadaiiyaan from being a failure.

Biryani Got People Together for a Communal Work in Kerala    

One of the latest biryani stories is how biryani is used to motivate people for a communal work. Recently, IAS officer Prashant Nair promised platefuls of Malabar biryani to a group of people for cleaning of a 14-acre lake in Kozhikode, Kerala. Removing water hyacinth from the lake was a herculean task, but his promise of biryani made it a success.

Biryani Saved a Bride from Marrying a Wrong Groom      

Anything can happen over biryani in India. Marriages can be fixed or broken over biryani. In 2014 in Karnataka, a bride called off the wedding over the ruckus created by the groom party over the taste of biryani. Even the bride’s family sent 30kg of biryani to the groom’s house but it came back as the groom’s family was fond of mutton biryani.

Biryani Energized Political Workers during Elections in Hyderabad  

Some of the stories of biryani in India are politically interesting. You might wonder what biryani has to do with politics in India. During the parliamentarian elections in 2014, Hyderabad witnessed a boom in sales of biryani. Demand for chicken and mutton biryani was tremendously high across Hyderabad during the electoral period in 2014.

Biryani Brought Good Luck to DMK Party in Chennai in 2009

Biryani not only keeps political workers on the go during elections but also plays an active role in success of electoral campaigns. Chennai witnessed the power of biryani in 2009 when the DMK party won elections in Tamil Nadu. The winning party distributed biryani packets to voters during the campaigns apart from offering usual baits like liquor, clothes and mobile phones. The popularity of biryani was so utilized to tempt common people that the 2009 election in Chennai was notoriously nicknamed ‘Biryani Bypolls.’

Biryani was a Gift from Sania Mirza to Dilwale Team        

Biryani is not just taken advantage of as bait or bribe. It is a pretty gift too. When Sania Mirza visited Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan during the shooting of Dilwale in 2015, she carried a box of Hyderabadi biryani for them.

Two Indian Restaurants Locked their Horns over Biryani in USA

Not only India but also the United States has interesting biryani stories to tell. Two Indian businesses in the US – Paradise Biryani Pointe and Paradise Biryani Grill – locked their horns in a legal battle over biryani at a New Jersey court. Both of these Indian restaurants in New Jersey serve the dish. In 2011, Paradise Biryani Pointe moved the court against its rival Paradise Biryani Grill accusing the latter of infringing the former’s trademark and biryani recipe which the former claimed to have developed over 7 years.

Read More Interesting Food Stories and News

Indian Eagle Travel, a leading air-ticketing partner of Indians from India to America, makes you not only travel on the best flights for low fares, but also have great times over interesting stories of food, culture, and community from India as well as America.

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Gone are the days when the differently-abled were marginalized and treated as untouchables in the mainstream Indian societies. India is opening up the gradual inclusion of the specially-abled into different walks of life. Restaurants and cafes from a tourist place like Agra to a megalopolis like Mumbai are employing sex workers, HIV victims, acid attack survivors and differently-abled individuals to level the playing field for the neglected.

What was unthinkable at an international airport until this August 15 has been made possible by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In a latest initiative to promote inclusion and diversity, AAI launched a unique café which is entirely run by differently-abled individuals at Chennai International Airport. The opening of Coffee Box at Chennai Airport coincided with the 73^rd Independence Day 2019.

Employment is the most dignified way the differently-abled can be empowered. Having this philosophy as the foundation of Coffee Box at Chennai Airport (MAA), the Airports Authority of India aims at generating employment opportunities for individuals with speech and hearing impairment. One of the busiest airports in India, Chennai Airport handled nearly 23 million passengers in the fiscal 2018-19.

Coffee Box at Chennai Airport features a meticulously designed menu that includes filter coffee, idli sambar, samosa, slice cake and sandwich. What is unique to the airport café is its atmosphere full of positive vibes and warm hospitality that gives visitors an insight into the lives of the Speech and Hearing Impaired community (SHI). The way the specially-abled provide service with an artless smile is sure to spellbind you.

Chennai International Airport’s staffs including managers and HR professionals have undergone a special sign language training, so that they can impeccably communicate with the specially-abled employees of Coffee Box.

Also Read: Chennai’s Auto-rickshaw Driver who Makes 2000 Idli Varieties 

Commenting on the opening of Coffee Box at Chennai Airport, S. Sreekumar, the airport director said, “We always strive to help all segments of society with thought-provoking initiatives as part of our continued redevelopment programs at the airport aiming at humanizing the landscape of aviation.

Truly, Chennai Airport is not just the gateway to Chennai, the Detroit of India that commemorated its 380^th anniversary today (August 22), but also an environment-friendly air travel hub. On the eve of the Independence Day this year, seed balls were distributed to passengers at the airport, with the message of preserving environment for the future generation. The initiative was named, “With freedom comes responsibility.”

The differently-abled run Coffee Box at Chennai Airport will have its outlets at other major airports including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Coffee Box is a joint initiative by the Airports Authority of India and Travel Food Services (TFS), a leading travel F&B company, to uplift the individuals with speech and hearing disability.

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“When I see Lydian, it gives me hope. He should be the answer to Chinese pianist Lang Lang. I think he will be India’s music ambassador,” Academy Awards-winning A R Rahman said once about one of his disciples, Lydian Nadhaswaram, a 13-year-old prodigious pianist from Tamil Nadu.

What the Mozart of Madras prophesized about the budding piano maestro of Chennai seems to become true soon as Lydian Nadhaswaram won the first season of CBS’ ‘The World’s Best’ talent show on the American soil and walked away with the $1 million grand prize.

The BAFTA and Grammy Awards-winning music director of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fame, Rahman lauded Lydian’s success as the global Indian community’s success and hailed it as a precious achievement in his treasure. Lydian’s moment of winning CBS’ The World Best is worth praising since walking away with the top prize from the show, which is often described as the Olympics for entertainment, is a colossal milestone, according to Mark Burnett, an executive producer of the American TV show which has participants from over 150 countries.

The ‘Mini Maestro’ of India, Lydian beat South Korea’s Kukkiwon, in the championship rounds of the finale episode of the first season, to be crowned the winner of CBS’s The World Best. In the finals, he performed two medleys at an effortless speed of 325 beats per minute and earned a big round of applause from the judges, including eminent Indian American choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan.

In the semifinal itself, he emerged to a potential champion by playing Moonlight Sonata impeccably and performing an outstanding complimentary drum track echoing his piano track. On top of that, he gave a momentary blindfolded performance during his interview on the popular, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and became a household name during his journey from a standing ovation in the semifinal to the crowning moment.

Yes, Chennai-born Lydian Nadhaswaram can play blindfolded on two pianos simultaneously and at an electrifying speed.

The winner of CBS’ The World’s Best, Lydian, who aspires to play music on the moon, exclaimed that he was not nervous at all in his first global competition. He wishes to become an international music composer and record independent albums. He also dreams of joining the crew of musicians on Elon Musk’s Space X mission to the moon in 2023.

“Indian talent is galore across geographies. While Indian-origin students in America are making it big in science and technology; for instance, Kavya Kopparapu recently won National STEM Award, children back at home (India) are shining in different forms of art. Lydian Nadhaswaram won not only one million dollars but also millions of hearts across the globe,” said the editor of Travel Beats, a popular Indian Diaspora portal by Indian Eagle, a leading international travel organization.

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Among the wandering monks of India, Swami Vivekananda is the first name that comes to the mind. The five years of his life on earth, from 1888 to 1893 was full of travels in search of truth, spirituality and a real India. He traveled as a Parivrajaka along the length and breadth of the country. He won the admiration of kings, felt for the suffering people, motivated the youth for a greater cause, studied many religious scriptures, visited many historic sites, gained knowledge, and visualized the future of India during his itinerary, which made a precious treasure of enlightenment for us. On the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s birthday (January 12), we at Travel Beats, an overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle, offer a sneak peek into his historic and spiritual travels.

Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in India, was the first destination on his itinerary. In Varanasi, he came across the saints like Trailanga Swami, the authors like Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, and the Vedic scholars like Babu Pramadadas Mitra. From there, he made his way to Rishikesh through Ayodhya, Lucknow, Agra and Vrindavan. He interacted with and took favor from whoever came his way without caring their castes and creeds because he believed in non-duality of the soul. Some of those who were touched by his noble soul became his disciples and got initiated into service to the nation. Among them was Sharat Chandra Gupta, a railway station master in Haridwar, who came to be known as Swami Sadananda. Swamiji fondly called Sharat “the child of my spirit”.

Then, Swamiji spent days at Vaidyanath and Allahabad during his itinerary between 1889 and 1890. From Allahabad, he moved to Ghazipur where he got in touch with Pavhari Bana, a great sage. Pavhari Baba was known for his absolute knowledge of Advaita Vedanta. On meeting the sage, he felt blessed and referred to him as a great soul of bhakti and yoga in a letter to Pramadababu. In the first half of 1890, he took a break for the travel and returned to Baranagar Math in Kolkata (then Calcutta). After a short stay there, he left for a trip to the Himalayas in quest of truth. Swami Akhandananda accompanied him on the trip. After a visit to Nainital, Almora, Dehradun and Srinagar, Swamiji went to the Himalayas. Delhi was his destination by the end of January in 1891.

He visited the historical sites in and around Delhi. Then, his travel to Rajputana in west India began. This phase of the itinerary was so eventful that it constituted a big chapter of his biography. The first stopover in Rajputana was Alwar where he received a cordial welcome from both the Hindus and the Muslims. They were influenced by this wandering monk’s spiritual values and teachings. Swamiji was invited by Mangal Singh, the King of Alwar, who did not believe in the practice of idol worship because of his western outlook. A meeting with Swamiji changed his attitude towards the idol worship by the Hindus.

Swamiji’s Rajasthan travel was full of learning too. He studied Panini’s Ashtadhyayi under the tutelage of a Sanskrit Scholar in Jaipur. He visited the Dargah Sharif in Ajmer. His meeting with Ajit Singh, the King of Khetri in Mount Abu on June 4, 1891, is another important event. Out his interest in spirituality, the King became a follower of Swamiji and supported him in many ways. Swamiji studied Mahabhasya during his stay at Khetri and then, he went to Gujarat.

Limbdi, Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Kutch, Porbander, Dwaraka, Baroda, Palitana and Girnar were among his destinations in Gujarat. The Gujarat travel was full of enlightenment for him. He studied the Jain scriptures there. He got the idea of preaching Vedanta in the Western World from Thakur Saheb Jaswant Singh who he came across in Limbdi. Haridas Viharidas Desai, the Diwan of Junagadh, welcomed him as a respected guest. Impressed by his personality, the Diwan used to discuss on different topics with Swamiji till late at night. Swamiji immersed himself in philosophical studies during his nine-month long stay at Porbander. At Kathiawar in Gujarat, he got to know about the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Then, he visited Mahabaleshwar and Pune. While traveling by train in Bombay in 1892, Swamiji happened to meet Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a Nationalist in the Freedom Movement of India. They spent a few days together in Pune. He moved to Panaji in Goa from Maharashtra, and studied the Christian theology at a convent in Goa.

In the second half of 1892, he journeyed to Bangalore, his first destination in South India. There, he met the Diwan of Mysore who described him as “a magnetic personality with a divine force”. Swamiji was introduced to Chamaraja Wodeyar, the then King of Mysore and welcomed cordially to the Palace. He was further introduced to the Diwan of Cochin. His travel continued till he reached the southernmost part of India, Kanyakumari, on foot through Trissur, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, and Nagercoil. The meditation on the future of India, at the Kanyakumari Rock, was the culmination of Swamiji’s spiritual journey at the end of 1892.

Having had the vision of an individual India, Swamiji traveled to Madurai, Rameswaram, Pondicherry and Madras (now Chennai) in the beginning of 1893. He met Ramnad Bhaskara Sethupathi, the then King of Madurai, who approached him with an urge to participate in the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Swamiji won the admiration of whoever came in touch with him during the itinerary across Tamil Nadu. Most of them became disciples and responded to his call for renunciation in service to the nation. One of his most ardent disciples in South India was Alasinga Perumal who collected funds for Swamiji’s voyage to Chicago by going from door to door. Swami Vivekananda embarked on the historic voyage to America on May 31, 1893.

Swamiji’s travel continued from America to the rest of the world till the demise of his mortal body on July 4, 1902. However, the journey of this greatest Indian traveler is as ceaseless as the eternal flow of time. It is still on the go through the spread of his message, teachings, values and vision

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How many varieties of idli have you tasted or heard of? Five, ten, fifteen or twenty! Chennai, a haven of idli and dosa for foodies, boasts as many as 2000 varieties of idli. All thanks to M Eniyavan, a Class 8 dropout and former auto-rickshaw driver who created and recreated these many idli varieties for the city folks and tourists.

Popularly known as ‘Idli Eniyavan,’ the Chennaite not only switched from driving an auto-rickshaw to running a restaurant but went on to invent more than 2000 varieties of idli. Inspired by a daily female passenger who used to carry idli in his auto, Eniyavan’s journey is an inspiring story of his zeal for innovation much like the story of Pune’s Navnath Yewle Chaiwala who earns Rs 12 lakh a month.

Chennai-based Eniyavan sells and serves over 30 idli varieties at his restaurant, Mallipoo Idli which he set up in 1997. The 48-year-old immersed himself so deep in the art of creating idli varieties that the savory steamed Indian rice cake has become an elixir of his life. He says that he can do anything to make idli more appealing and delicious for gastronomes as it unlocked the door to a world of joy and happiness for him.

The fame, success and prosperity that he enjoys today were not handed to him on a silver plate. The Mallipoo Idli restaurant owner, Eniyavan worked his way up. Owing to his economically disadvantaged background, he dropped out of school after Class 8 in Coimbatore. Initially, he took up many odd jobs like waiting tables and washing tea glasses to earn his living. Then he switched to driving an auto-rickshaw in Coimbatore.

It is said that there is a woman behind every successful man. The woman behind Eniyavan’s success was his daily female passenger named Chandra, when he used to drive auto-rickshaw. Chandra was an idli seller. She would travel to sell her homemade idli in the nearby neighborhoods. One day she, carrying a huge trough of idli batter boarded Eniyavan’s auto-rickshaw. She became a daily passenger and started delivery of her culinary merchandise in his auto. It piqued Eniyavan’s interest in making and selling idli. He learned basics of the business during his regular conversation with her.

With two idli steamers, Eniyavan left Coimbatore for a new beginning in Chennai. He took shelter under the thatched roof of a dilapidated house in north Chennai and set out to work. His initial efforts were greeted with hard luck in the form of heavy rains. His first attempt at idli making turned out to be a failure, and he lost everything including the batter to the torrential rains.

Though it disappointed him, he did neither break down nor lose hope. He remained stick to what he started believing in. He developed the business working tirelessly. To make the business sustain in the long run, he realized that he needed to be creative. He started experimenting with the recipe of idli using various ingredients including chocolate, corn, orange pulp and almond. Tender coconut idli was one of his first innovations. He has successfully managed to create over 2000 varieties of idli so far. He also tried his luck in the Guinness Book of World Records by preparing a gigantic 125-kg idli.

Eniyavan admits that the recipe of coconut idli was not something unheard of. He borrowed the idea from his grandmother who used to add coconut water to make appam. With the passing of time, he came up with Mickey Mouse idli and Kung Fu Panda idli. Once his children asked him for pizza, he made pizza idli. Thus his business, Mallipoo Idli restaurant, kept on rolling through a series of innovations. Today, the restaurant is not just a reputed food outlet but a landmark in Chennai. Diligence, innovation and creativity always pay off rich dividends.

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The Indian state of Tamil Nadu is widely known for its temple towns such as Madurai, Kanyakumari, Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli. Adding to the state’s distinction of being one of the best destinations for pilgrimage and heritage tours in India is the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 to Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple of Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli for the temple’s heritage conservation. Now, Tamil Nadu got its capital city Chennai recognized as a UNESCO Creative City in music.

Chennai’s inclusion in the UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network is a fitting tribute to the city’s immense contribution to music. The cultural capital of South India and the Carnatic music capital of the nation, Chennai has witnessed and contributed to the evolution of music for ages. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and described it as a proud moment for the nation.

We at Indian Eagle could not help giving a shout out to Chennai’s recognition as a UNESCO Creative City in the field of music:

Chennai is once again drawing attention from across the world as it has been designated as UNESCO Creative City for its outstanding contributions to music. Wow! #Chennai #UNESCO #Indianheritage #music pic.twitter.com/7jMcR4hHay

— Indian Eagle (@indianeagle) November 8, 2017

Incepted in 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network has incorporated 180 cities from 72 countries in seven creative fields: music, film, literature, design, gastronomy, media arts, crafts and folk art. In addition to Chennai, Varanasi and Jaipur are two other Indian cities among the UNESCO Creative Cities. UNESCO recognized Varanasi and Jaipur as creative cities for their contributions to music and folk art respectively.

Chennai’s recognition as a UNESCO creative city in music is a new feather in the hat of India. Needless to say, Chennai is the epicenter of Carnatic music, one of the two key subgenres of Indian classical music. The other is Hindustani classical music popular across North India. The city has patronized and promoted many legends of Carnatic Music.         

Carnatic music grew and thrived around Chennai, with musicians and composers from across Tamil Nadu taking this genre of Indian Classical Music to global heights. M.S. Subbulakshmi, Arunachala Kavi, Syama Sastri, Tyagaraja, and M. Balamuralikrishna are some of the few luminaries in the realm of Carnatic music. Oscar-winning A. R. Rahman is a contemporary face of Chennai in music.

Chennai Dance and Music Festival 

The Chennai Dance and Music Festival is held in Margazhi month of the Tamil calendar. The Margazhi month spans from mid-December to mid-January. One of the biggest annual events in Tamil Nadu, the Dance and Music Festival is celebrated across Chennai throughout the Margazhi month. It showcases the cultural heritage of Tamil Nadu to a broader audience from all over India and abroad.

Many Tamil NRIs, music exponents and dance enthusiasts travel to Chennai from the USA, the UK, Singapore and other countries for the festival. Indian Eagle, a trusted travel booking partner of Indians in America, has already issued hundreds of cheap flight tickets to Chennai from the US.      

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Bullet trains in India are among the government’s ambitious projects to join the elite group of world-class countries known for high-tech public transportation systems. With the ongoing construction of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor, the Indian bullet train project is gaining momentum on other high-traffic routes such as Delhi to Kolkata, Delhi to Amritsar, Delhi to Mumbai, Mumbai to Chennai and Mumbai to Nagpur.

The High Speed Rail Corporation (HSRC) which is responsible for examining feasibility of bullet train corridors in India has submitted the final report to the ministry of Indian Railways, following its studies on feasibility of the Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Kolkata corridors. The High Speed Rail Corporation has been working with civil infrastructure technology consultants from several foreign countries to conduct studies on feasibility of other Indian bullet train corridors, of which reports will be submitted by the end of 2017.

Delhi-Amritsar Bullet Train

The list of high speed trains in India includes the Delhi-Amritsar bullet train which will halt at Chandigarh, Panipat and Ambala. It will take 2 hours and a half to complete a one-way trip along the 458-km corridor. It will reduce travel time between Delhi and Amritsar by 4 hours.

Delhi-Kolkata Bullet Train

The Delhi-Kolkata bullet train is one of the most-awaited high speed trains in India. It is an extension of the already approved Delhi to Varanasi bullet train corridor. Of all the upcoming bullet trains in India, the Delhi to Kolkata one will be the longest corridor running 1474 kilometers. It will have 11 stations including Greater Noida, Aligarh, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Buxar, Patna, Dhanbad, Asansol and Burdwan.

Among all high speed trains in India, the Delhi-Kolkata bullet train will cover the distance in about 6 hours, which is one-third of the time taken by the Rajdhani Express on the same route. Approximately INR 100,000 crore is the estimated cost of this project which is likely to start by 2021.

Mumbai-Chennai Bullet Train

Mumbai to Chennai bullet trains in India will halt at two popular destinations – Goa and Tirupati – besides running through Pune and Bengaluru. Those from Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and Bengaluru will be able to travel to Goa and Tirupati in a very short time. The Mumbai-Nagpur bullet train will have four stopovers: Nasik, Aurangabad, Akola and Amrawati. The final report on feasibility of these two bullet trains in India will be submitted by October 2017.

Delhi-Mumbai Bullet Train

The Delhi-Mumbai bullet train is an extension of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed train corridor under construction. Gurgaon, Jaipur, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat will fall in the itinerary of Delhi-Mumbai bullet trains in India.

While the work for most of the bullet trains in India is expected to start in 2021, the Hyperloop travel technology is all set to make transport faster, cheaper and safer on major routes in India. However, it’s good to see the changing landscape of travel in India.

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The world had been talking about the potential space tourism to Mars until India flipped over a page and turned the focus to the Moon recently. The Moon has been the talk of the space town since an 18-year-old Indian boy from Chennai proposed to make human settlement possible on the Moon by connecting earth with its sub planet through cost-effective elevators.

Sai Kiran P., a Chennai city student, won the second prize in the NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest 2017 by outwitting other entries in the Grade 12 category. His award-winning thesis titled ‘Connecting Moon, Earth and Space’ and ‘HUMEIU Space Habitats’ on centripetal acceleration to transport humans to the Moon from earth for a feasible interplanetary human settlement has catapulted India to a global attention.

The NASA award-winning Sai Kiran P. started working on the project in 2013 during his stay in Singapore. He took to writing the thesis after his return to Chennai early in 2016. He not only brainstormed an idea to connect two heavenly bodies but also designed cost-effective elevators to make interplanetary human settlement possible. In his words:

“Since it is not economically viable, the only other way is to have faultless elevators connecting the Earth to the Moon, which will span a height of 40,000 kms.”

The Chennai boy emphasized two important aspects of his proposal on transportation of humans from earth to the Moon. The first is design and cost-effectiveness of the proposed elevators between the two celestial bodies. The second is gravity or centripetal acceleration which is a most fundamental requirement of interplanetary human settlement.

Transportation of humans to the Moon through special elevators is not the end of the thesis which earned Chennai-based Sai Kiran P. the second prize in the NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest 2017. The thesis also proposed to set up governance, agriculture and recreation zones on the Moon. The thesis came as a potential alternative to the economically inviable transportation of humans to the Moon via rockets for a cosmic distance of 40,000 kms.

Alongside Sai Kiran P., a total of 138 students of different grades from different parts of India stood out in different categories of the NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest 2017 held by NASA Ames Research Center, San Jose State University, and the National Space Society (NSS). Two students of the 10^th grade – Shashwat G. and Ankita P. from New Delhi – won the grand prize of the 2017 NASA Space Settlement Contest.

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India is all set to revolutionize the way it travels long distances by considering the next-generation travel infrastructure for Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. Hyperloop, a futuristic transport technology, is expected to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, Mumbai and Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram speeding up transportation as high as 1100 km per hour.

Proposed by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX / Tesla, Hyperloop technology can make it possible to travel faster inside a long tube with controlled environment than in the air. During an event in New Delhi yesterday, four super high-speed rail corridors have been identified in India. These Hyperloop corridors will interconnect Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Jaipur, Indore, Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram.

Hyperloop technology was proposed first as a replacement to the California High Speed Rail in 2013. Pod-like vehicles carrying people or cargo will glide through long airless tubes at an accelerated speed due to very low aerodynamic friction. This system is supposed to build India’s financially and environmentally sustainable transport infrastructure for ultra-high-speed travel. Hyperloop transportation promises to be cost-effective, energy-efficient, environment-friendly, safe and quiet.

Image Credit: InsightsonIndia.com

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. India is open to accept new infrastructural challenges for its accelerated growth. Millions of people in India have been depending on the traditional transportation infrastructure from the colonial times, which has changed a little with the launch of Gatimaan Express and Double-Decker trains. The upcoming Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train will further facilitate the changing landscape of travel in India.

With Hyperloop technology in place, India will experience greener, cheaper and more reliable point-to-point mass transportation with the speed of an aircraft, the capacity of a train, and the comfort of a car. The Hyperloop rail corridors will make it possible to travel faster than a private jet and cheaper than a bus. The objectives of Hyperloop transportation seem aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for transforming India for generations.

The Hyperloop transport system will cover 736 km between Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram in only 41 minutes via Coimbatore and Kochi. It will cover 1317 km from Delhi to Mumbai via Jaipur and Indore in only 55 minutes. The distance of 1102 km between Mumbai and Chennai will be covered in 50 minutes via Bengaluru. The travel time for 334 km between Bengaluru and Chennai will be reduced to 20 minutes.

However, Hyperloop technology is still a concept which is at the development stage. Hyperloop transport system is expected to be introduced first in the US state of Nevada later in 2017.

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