Friends,
Years come and go like
the Year 2012 that has just passed by, perhaps, leaving behind not so pleasant memories. But, let’s say goodbye to 2012 now and welcome a
brand New Year 2013, which, I hope, will not be a 'repeat performance' of the recent
past. Well, there’s no medicine like hope, no incentive so great and no tonic
so powerful. There’s always some light at the end of the tunnel; so, let’s keep
moving forward and hope for the best. Let each day of the coming year bring you all happiness, reason enough
to celebrate and cheer and may you all have a great year and wonderful time throughout the next year!
Since my schooldays, I have
always been fascinated by various kinds of machines, specially the so-called vending machines. I don’t know why vending machines are not so common in
our country as in some other countries like UK, USA and Japan. When I went to
U.S, I found the vending machines were so
conspicuous everywhere, right from the Airport and Bus Stations to NEC where I had
gone for training, in the factories I visited in Chicago or even
in the Guest House where I stayed for a week at Oak Ridge. In the United
States, the vending machine is generally meant for selling food items like
burgers, snacks like popcorn, beverages like Coca Cola or sometimes even full packaged
meals like breakfast or dinner. In
countries like Japan, where the population density is high and rates of
vandalism and petty crime are low in comparison, it seems one can purchase even a bottle of
wine or a pair of underwears from a vending machine! Most vending machines are
designed to be burglar and/or tamper proof and can even detect counterfeit
currency. In New Zealand, on the other
hand, I saw at the airport a small, crude but ingenious ‘vending machine’
operating without electricity and with no one to attend! There was a glass box,
placed atop a table and with an open top, containing a neat pile of the day’s
newspapers; there was also a small plastic tray kept nearby in which the customers
would put their dollar bills after picking up their copy of the newspaper along
with the change!! Even in India, I came across such a novel, innovative vending
machine which is described in my article “Those Wonderful Vending Machines”
given below.
It reminds me of a very
comic film I saw in the early seventies, named, “Those Magnificent Men and
their Flying Machines” which was about the early models of the airplane, with
their unconventional, strange and funny designs and their misadventures. Almost everyone of us has longed to fly in a
plane in our childhood and although we may no longer have the same sort of
fascination now, who will ever forget the thrill of our first flight in the
sky? An account of my intriguing "Maiden Flight” follows next.
Au Reviour ---- Have a Good Day!
Vasant Hattangadi
