Air Travel
A typical Gujju gang seated on the floor, playing Rummy (like the ones on the 9.14 CST local), families sitting on the floor, in front of the television screen and munching on the latest chivdaas and namkeens (like watching some soap opera), some guy, (or in other words, a dissatisfied customer) shouting at the top of his voice (I can shout louder than anyone !!), and a team trying to pacify him, young hip couples seated at several corners, some smooching away to glory while others in their own world not at all fazed by the happenings around them and of course a sea of onlookers, enjoying the tamashaa, a group of foreigners or should I say backpackers with a book (mostly Discovery India) in their hands wondering at whats going on !!!. Welcome to the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. !!!!..........
Yes, that’s the scene that you are most likely to find if you choose to travel by air today. The so called ‘low cost airlines’ that are mushrooming so rapidly makes traveling by air a lot more pleasurable…Is it really so ? I don’t think so. The airports just don’t have the infrastructure to support the number of airlines and it invariably results in flight delays. Not to mention the time taken to get the baggage checked in. Last month I reached Chennai airport at around 5.15 in the morning to board a flight for Mumbai. There was a long queue. For a moment I felt that instead of coming to airport I have landed at the Tirupati temple for an early morning darshan!. (I think the darshan would take lesser time). After an hour and fifteen minutes I finally proceeded for my security check.
At the Mumbai airport I had to face a slight delay of around 8 hours !. Why? There were two reasons given. First due to the fog in the morning the flight got rescheduled and then the airport authorities had closed down one run way for maintenance purposes !...Whew……
I really don’t know how long it would take for things to fall in place. Or, if it would ever fall in place. One thing is for sure though. The next time I decide to travel to some place in India, I will definitely think long and hard…..
A typical Gujju gang seated on the floor, playing Rummy (like the ones on the 9.14 CST local), families sitting on the floor, in front of the television screen and munching on the latest chivdaas and namkeens (like watching some soap opera), some guy, (or in other words, a dissatisfied customer) shouting at the top of his voice (I can shout louder than anyone !!), and a team trying to pacify him, young hip couples seated at several corners, some smooching away to glory while others in their own world not at all fazed by the happenings around them and of course a sea of onlookers, enjoying the tamashaa, a group of foreigners or should I say backpackers with a book (mostly Discovery India) in their hands wondering at whats going on !!!. Welcome to the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. !!!!..........
Yes, that’s the scene that you are most likely to find if you choose to travel by air today. The so called ‘low cost airlines’ that are mushrooming so rapidly makes traveling by air a lot more pleasurable…Is it really so ? I don’t think so. The airports just don’t have the infrastructure to support the number of airlines and it invariably results in flight delays. Not to mention the time taken to get the baggage checked in. Last month I reached Chennai airport at around 5.15 in the morning to board a flight for Mumbai. There was a long queue. For a moment I felt that instead of coming to airport I have landed at the Tirupati temple for an early morning darshan!. (I think the darshan would take lesser time). After an hour and fifteen minutes I finally proceeded for my security check.
At the Mumbai airport I had to face a slight delay of around 8 hours !. Why? There were two reasons given. First due to the fog in the morning the flight got rescheduled and then the airport authorities had closed down one run way for maintenance purposes !...Whew……
I really don’t know how long it would take for things to fall in place. Or, if it would ever fall in place. One thing is for sure though. The next time I decide to travel to some place in India, I will definitely think long and hard…..
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