A Day in the Life: Trying to Watch the Chennai Air Show

On October 6th, 2024, the Indian Air Force held its first-ever air show in Chennai, and as an aviation enthusiast who’s seen smaller shows in my hometown, I was excited to share this experience with my daughter. Given that parking is always a nightmare at events like these, I decided we’d take the suburban train to Chennai Central and then find our way to Marina Beach by auto, Uber, or bus. What followed was a series of small misadventures that turned our day into a comedy of errors and an absolute nightmare.

Photo by Bruno Aguirre on Unsplash

The Journey Begins: A Crowded Train Ride

We left home around 9:50 AM and reached the local train station. We waited a long time, as the services were limited since it was a Sunday. We finally caught a train at 10:20 AM, but to our surprise, it was packed to the brim — we weren’t the only ones excited to see the air show! Despite having first-class tickets, my wife, daughter, and I were squeezed into a tiny 2x2 ft space by the train’s footboard. We hung on as the train rattled its way to Chennai Central, with half my body hanging out in true Indian train style for a good 40–50 minutes.

The Hunt for a Ride: Auto, Uber, Ola? None.

By the time we got off at Chennai Central, it felt like an entire army had also decided to descend on the city. Amidst what seemed like 5–10,000 people, we tried to book a cab to Marina Beach using every app on hand — Uber, Ola, Rapido — but to no avail. It was a good 15–20 minutes of app-refreshing and hope-squashing before we gave up and decided to hail an auto or a taxi on the road.

We flagged down several vehicles and asked if they could take us to Marina Beach, but the response was consistently a firm “No.” After another 20 minutes, we spoke to an auto driver who said “Sir, I went to the Marina at 9.30 and was able to return just now.” we realized that no cab or auto was going to take us there, so we decided to take a bus instead.

The Battle of the Buses

Approaching a row of buses, I asked a conductor if his bus was heading toward Marina. With a lot of sarcasm in his tone, he replied, “Oh yes, why don’t you take the bus ahead of this one to reach faster?” I thought, ‘That sarcasm was uncalled for.’ But as I scanned the surroundings, it hit me: the traffic was at a complete standstill with no movement of a single vehicle in the 3–5 mins I was standing there dumbstruck. To add to the chaos, a traffic police officer started announcing through a loudspeaker that all bus services to Marina Beach were suspended, and the only option was to walk. The air show had already started minutes ago and the temperature was a sweltering 33°C (93°F), and humidity was making it even more unbearable. The idea of walking in that weather with a 7-year-old in tow was just too much. We decided to call it off and skip the air show.

The Next Plan: A Metro to the Mall?

My daughter had been asking to go to a play area at a mall for a couple of days, so we shifted gears and decided to head there instead. A quick metro ride would do the trick, right? Wrong. When we reached the metro station, we were greeted by a line of about 50–60 people waiting to buy tickets. Thinking we’d outsmart the crowd, I tried booking tickets through the app but gave up after 10 minutes of unsuccessful attempts due to weak network coverage. Eventually, I had to walk outside the station to finally get the app to work, secure our tickets, and return to the station.

Just when we thought things were going smoothly, we hit another snag: there was a massive queue at the security checkpoint because the scanner had stopped working. “It might take some time,” the guard informed us, as everyone waited restlessly. By then, we were all exhausted from the heat, the rush, and the endless lines. So, we decided to cut our losses and go home.

The Return Journey: A Smooth Train Ride (Finally!)

We made our way to the suburban train station to head home, only to find another 50–100 people lined up for tickets. And the cherry on top? The UTS app doesn’t allow you to book tickets within station limits. So, I asked my wife and daughter to wait, walked 100 meters out of the station, booked the tickets on the app, and came back.

To our relief, the train home was empty. I guess the majority of the crowd was still trying to make their way to the air show. The 50-minute train ride felt like a blessing as we sat back and relaxed, followed by a quick 5-minute drive back home.

The Ironic End: Missing the Air Show Anyway

Once we got home, we turned on the TV to catch a glimpse of the air show we had spent half our day trying to see live. And what did we find? The air show had just ended, and they were thanking everyone for watching.

Photo by Julien L on Unsplash

And so, we spent half a day running around Chennai, hopping on trains, battling crowds, all to miss the air show and accomplish… well, pretty much nothing.

Some days, the journey becomes an adventure, even if it doesn’t go as planned. And maybe next time, we’ll just stick to watching the air show from the comfort of our home.