Page 34 - Ezine September - 13

Anirudh Roy
Head - Ethics
Delhi International Airport Limited
Anirudh.Roy@gmrgroup.in

A TRIP TO CLARK, PHILIPPINES

I had a chance to go to Clark, Philippines in Clark via a city gate which said Freeport. Clark is
2019, under very unfortunate circumstances. My an old Air Force base which was started by the
43-year-old brother-in-law working in a call Americans, way back in 1960s. So much like a
centre there, passed away suddenly. Since Clark military town, it is very orderly and spread out. The
would be of interest to many GMRites, I thought city is small, probably 10 to 15 kms in radius. We
of writing about this quaint sleepy town. reached my brother-in-law’s house. He lived in
an independent house in a lovely area surrounded
We landed in Manila and due to the circumstances, with beautiful big trees and open green areas.
we decided to take a bus to Clark, which is just over The traffic on the roads was unbelievably sparse-
100km away. Manila is a typical big city and much maybe two cars driving past every minute and far
like the city experience, we were caught in the less inside the colony. These were old American
rush hour traffic. But the amazing thing was that type houses with a small garden and porch for car
despite 3 to 4 km of bumper to bumper traffic, all parking. Most of his colleagues lived close by and
cars were standing in their lanes without honking. they had built a happy Indian community there.
This was a pleasant cultural shock for me making
me hope that someday we Indians will also follow One interesting information I learnt there was
traffic rules and etiquettes. that the Chinese were slowly taking over the city
in large numbers as there was a huge amount
In about three hours, we reached Clark after a of development and construction taking place.
nice drive through the wide highways. We entered

E-ZINE | XIII EDITION