As the clock struck 12 and as I wish my Near and dear ones a Happy New Year, I keep wondering how this New Year's eve is different from Last year- None too different really. All of us are going to welcome it with hope in our hearts and a mood of celebration and with the defiant spirit to fight any challenge that life is going to throw at us. It is with this hope of a little kid I welcome this New Year too !!
A happy New year to all and Keep the spirits flying high , and I am signing off with one of my favorite poems by Rudyard Kipling:
IF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Cooperative Farming
I bet you have never heard any of our Indian Politicians talk about Cooperative Farming. Even though it is something that makes perfect common sense, Something like this has never happened in a prominent way till now.
Take the way usually things work for the average farmer. He owns a few acres of ancestral land, where he has been growing traditional seasonal crops. The farming process is itself is mainly that of gruelling manual labour. Even on recent train journeys I have often seen farmers plouging their fields with a couple of bullocks in the country side. Technology has not made too much of an impact.
A tractor is a luxury for the bigger farmers. and those who own it probably still dont have enough land to make efficient and optimum use of it. Each small farmer spends a high proportion of his income on water pumps , alternate sources of water etc.
If you are a Farmer and are having a good year and have reaped a good crop things are just about ok. But this is not the usual case a lot of times. Farmers have to fight against famines, droughts , floods. You might just see a lovingly grown crop close to harvest destroyed in one night by flash floods.
Teamwork can make a huge impact in increasing our Agricultural productivity. The farmers need to team up and help each other. Cooperatives are not new. Not many people know that the "Amul butter" brand is actually produced by a womens cooperative society in Gujarat. The society itself was a result of a few enterprising women coming together to create a livelihood for their own. If it worked a number of years back, Surely it can work now.
Imagine tens and hundreds of Farmers ploughing thousands of acres of land with a common goal and with common resources and modern technology thrown in too. Its a no-brainer. There is definitely going to be increased productivity.
Did you ever check how vegetables and farm produce are transported from villages to the cities ? Mostly in open trucks , at least a quarter of that produce is wasted due to bad packaging and some of it because it just rotted during the journey. If they could transport them in "fresh" vans using modern technology this could be avoided.
There are lots of such small improvement that one can think of.
I think the reason why Cooperative Farming does not happen is not because we dont know how to do it. It is because of very complex issues at the grass root level. the divided communities can never unite unless there is a strong inspiring leadership who can setup something like this and ensure that things function in a fair and equitable manner. Its all there in the lawbooks too - just a matter of implementing them.
We cannot bank on our politicians to implement these schemes. They will only be there to dish out sops such as free electricity , free water and then just disappear till the next election !
Take the way usually things work for the average farmer. He owns a few acres of ancestral land, where he has been growing traditional seasonal crops. The farming process is itself is mainly that of gruelling manual labour. Even on recent train journeys I have often seen farmers plouging their fields with a couple of bullocks in the country side. Technology has not made too much of an impact.
A tractor is a luxury for the bigger farmers. and those who own it probably still dont have enough land to make efficient and optimum use of it. Each small farmer spends a high proportion of his income on water pumps , alternate sources of water etc.
If you are a Farmer and are having a good year and have reaped a good crop things are just about ok. But this is not the usual case a lot of times. Farmers have to fight against famines, droughts , floods. You might just see a lovingly grown crop close to harvest destroyed in one night by flash floods.
Teamwork can make a huge impact in increasing our Agricultural productivity. The farmers need to team up and help each other. Cooperatives are not new. Not many people know that the "Amul butter" brand is actually produced by a womens cooperative society in Gujarat. The society itself was a result of a few enterprising women coming together to create a livelihood for their own. If it worked a number of years back, Surely it can work now.
Imagine tens and hundreds of Farmers ploughing thousands of acres of land with a common goal and with common resources and modern technology thrown in too. Its a no-brainer. There is definitely going to be increased productivity.
Did you ever check how vegetables and farm produce are transported from villages to the cities ? Mostly in open trucks , at least a quarter of that produce is wasted due to bad packaging and some of it because it just rotted during the journey. If they could transport them in "fresh" vans using modern technology this could be avoided.
There are lots of such small improvement that one can think of.
I think the reason why Cooperative Farming does not happen is not because we dont know how to do it. It is because of very complex issues at the grass root level. the divided communities can never unite unless there is a strong inspiring leadership who can setup something like this and ensure that things function in a fair and equitable manner. Its all there in the lawbooks too - just a matter of implementing them.
We cannot bank on our politicians to implement these schemes. They will only be there to dish out sops such as free electricity , free water and then just disappear till the next election !
A Sketch
This was done by a sidewalk sketch artist , close to NYC Times square. It sure was fun to sit on the sidewalk and act like a model ! :-)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
After a tiring day ( I poured myself a drink !)
On a tiring evening I finish work and wade through the sea of traffic and drive back home. As I come home,I kick off my shoes and lean back into that empty rocking chair and then as an after thought, slip in a CD and play my favorite track
the music is soft and the cool soothing evening wind from the window feels better than hours of air conditioned air.The city lights shimmer through the window pane lighting up the dark corners in the dim lit room.
I close my eyes and sway my rocking chair humming my favorite song. I try to smell the fresh air... instead I smell a familiar floral fragrance and my lips can feel that powder puffed skin and my finger tips buried in the tangles of long locks of hair.
As the the songs ends, so does my vivid imagination. I pour my self a drink and sink back into my rocking chair. I take a deep breath as I sip my drink - It feels really good!. The music is soothing too. I close my eyes and just relax.
the music is soft and the cool soothing evening wind from the window feels better than hours of air conditioned air.The city lights shimmer through the window pane lighting up the dark corners in the dim lit room.
I close my eyes and sway my rocking chair humming my favorite song. I try to smell the fresh air... instead I smell a familiar floral fragrance and my lips can feel that powder puffed skin and my finger tips buried in the tangles of long locks of hair.
As the the songs ends, so does my vivid imagination. I pour my self a drink and sink back into my rocking chair. I take a deep breath as I sip my drink - It feels really good!. The music is soothing too. I close my eyes and just relax.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Gandhi
"India has come of age" as the cliche goes...Sure we are making great progress and the world is looking up to India. The efforts of Private enterprise are driving the country's development and creating prosperity. But looks like all is not well because else where,which is actually every where else ! we are a nation stumbling and fumbling , our two steps forward are accompanied by a few steps backward.
We are a nation who like to be divided often, divided based on religion,caste , state, community... As a result we are forever focussed on the divisions rather than progress unitedly together. Some will blame the political system , corrupt and foolish politicians who hold a whole nation to ransom - Most rightly too may be.
Not many know our agriculture production is actually going downhill and soon we will be importing essential food commodities. Its hard to believe that a billion strong nation with huge energy needs cant adopt nuclear power because of some foolish communists. Ok let me cut the crap.. you know this already !
I am writing this article because I saw some bloke put up this video of Gandhi in Youtube.This person is apparently not Indian , and he even mispelt Gandhi's name as Ghandi. But though he got the name wrong It looks like he appreciates Gandhi's message which a whole nation has conveniently forgotten.
Can we change things ?Our generation, the generation which has seen the dawn of prosperity. You and me and your friends and their friends. how can we make a difference ? I know a lot of good people who are purposeful and passionate about contributing in some way to make a change. At the micro level they are making small improvements. But is that enough ? may be in the long run...What we need is some thing radical to happen. We need a revolutionary change , A change that will unite all the people and toil towards a common goal.
Our freedom fighters who fought for Indian independence had fought with a similar zeal and fire. India was totally united in one cause. Somewhere after the many years of independence, we have forgotten that common cause - to make our country a great independent country. so much that we don't realize the sea weed which is slowly creeping up tyeing up the wheels of progress.
Gandhi was a revolutionary. He brought about that kind of a change. He could unite people from diverse cultures and religions to fight for a common cause. todays people probably recollect Gandhi from their school history lessons. But his simple principles for every day life have been totally forgotten.
The funny part is that the way all kinds of schemes,flyovers,airports,highways are being named after Rajiv Gandhi, kids in later generations are going to confuse Rajiv Gandhi with the Mahatma !.
Its a problem - the Lack of inspirational leaders. Some one who will unify the whole nation and take them along to scale new heights of success. Some one who can tap the energy of a billion souls and make it flow in the path of progress. We don't have that someone. We probably wont ever have one. But there is you , me , your friends , my friends and their friends. Its just us . we have to do something to make this change happen. JUST US.
We are a nation who like to be divided often, divided based on religion,caste , state, community... As a result we are forever focussed on the divisions rather than progress unitedly together. Some will blame the political system , corrupt and foolish politicians who hold a whole nation to ransom - Most rightly too may be.
Not many know our agriculture production is actually going downhill and soon we will be importing essential food commodities. Its hard to believe that a billion strong nation with huge energy needs cant adopt nuclear power because of some foolish communists. Ok let me cut the crap.. you know this already !
I am writing this article because I saw some bloke put up this video of Gandhi in Youtube.This person is apparently not Indian , and he even mispelt Gandhi's name as Ghandi. But though he got the name wrong It looks like he appreciates Gandhi's message which a whole nation has conveniently forgotten.
Can we change things ?Our generation, the generation which has seen the dawn of prosperity. You and me and your friends and their friends. how can we make a difference ? I know a lot of good people who are purposeful and passionate about contributing in some way to make a change. At the micro level they are making small improvements. But is that enough ? may be in the long run...What we need is some thing radical to happen. We need a revolutionary change , A change that will unite all the people and toil towards a common goal.
Our freedom fighters who fought for Indian independence had fought with a similar zeal and fire. India was totally united in one cause. Somewhere after the many years of independence, we have forgotten that common cause - to make our country a great independent country. so much that we don't realize the sea weed which is slowly creeping up tyeing up the wheels of progress.
Gandhi was a revolutionary. He brought about that kind of a change. He could unite people from diverse cultures and religions to fight for a common cause. todays people probably recollect Gandhi from their school history lessons. But his simple principles for every day life have been totally forgotten.
The funny part is that the way all kinds of schemes,flyovers,airports,highways are being named after Rajiv Gandhi, kids in later generations are going to confuse Rajiv Gandhi with the Mahatma !.
Its a problem - the Lack of inspirational leaders. Some one who will unify the whole nation and take them along to scale new heights of success. Some one who can tap the energy of a billion souls and make it flow in the path of progress. We don't have that someone. We probably wont ever have one. But there is you , me , your friends , my friends and their friends. Its just us . we have to do something to make this change happen. JUST US.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Puppy Love
For the record, this is my first story that I am publishing on a blog. hint: I dont write stories in books , or any other media either :-) Hee hee. I have also figured the curios circumstances and factors which can influence a person to write a story. A foreign country, A hotel room, Not a friendly soul in many miles and.. Beer!. fascinating indeed... the usual disclaimer: the story is totally fictitious and bears no resemblance to any person living or dead.
*******************************
Have you ever felt like a Traveling salesman without actually being one ? Thats what i have felt about my self, May be it was the job or the way i lived my life. I seem to be making many casual acquaintances but no real friends, I seem to be wandering like a gypsy though i owned a couple of houses. It was the unrest where no place felt like home.
The airport terminals where I spent a lot of my time these days where my second home , after a while the people start to look all the same everywhere. Strange but comely in a way.
She was a proud beauty with many suitors. I never realized that there was such a long list when I was queuing up, I tried to be a good friend though, Often I would tail her like a silly excited puppy and get cheered with even the small attention that came my way. She found me "cute" and "nice" in her own words. Finally as it turned it was an outsider who got the precious job - some swanky guy working in a foreign country and making really good money and of course a great talker. Girls love good talkers. Needless to say it broke my heart big time. I changed jobs and cities to get away from it all , slowly I got over it and realised it was just infatuation. Its been many years since this happened.
So why do I bring this up now ? Incidentally I was going to the city she lived in on some work. I was chatting up to my good friend before my travel and he broke the news about her. Her husband got killed in a freak accident. Holy freak accidents....you can never plan for them , sounded awful.Life was so harsh and she was so pretty I thought. it was more than a year already since that happened. She was working and bringing up her 4 year old daughter on her own. I got her number , my well networked friend dug into another mutual friend to get the number.
I called her after reaching my hotel room. I was waiting in anticipation on how her voice would sound after so many years, but no one answered the phone even after several rings. It was going to her voice mail. I decided not to leave a voice mail I usually hate voice mails, they are very impersonal. my work day was busy but dull. The business it looked like was going to be a long haul job and this was just ice breaker stuff that I was doing now. So i returned early to the hotel room and killed time, I tried calling her again , she was not there, I left a voice mail which started like "Hi I am wondering if you remember me..." and concluded by leaving my number. There was no response to my message . I spent some time catching with other old friends from my work place and sampling the local pubs. I was glad it was a short trip and for some reason I was more gladder going home this time.
She called me the day i was leaving, she had been away traveling. Her voice was still the same but her accent sounded more foreign. She sounded cheerful. I told her I was catching an evening flight back home. She said we could meet for lunch and so we did. I tried guessing how she would look like while I was waiting for her. When she came by, I realized she looked nearly the same and as pretty as ever. Her face looked fuller and rounder,in fact i instantly liked those full cheeks , those eyes had lost a bit of the old shine, though only a small testimony to the years gone by, may be it was the glimpse of a few dark circles below her eyes. Her curvy dimpled chin and her straight dark hair were still the same.
"I hope you are fine after all that has happened ? " I said, actually I am not really good at expressing sympathies and all that kind of stuff,anyway since it was a year now I left it at that. "Yeah , I am doing great" I could see her strength in her eyes. We chatted upon so many other things. When you have been away for a long time , you become strangers ; It is like becoming friends allover again. Strangely I started talking as if i had downed a few beers. I was whining about my job , and life and speaking nostalgically about the good old times. She listened. In the past she would cut me short and dish out immediate remedial advice on what I should do. But now she just listened and said she understood. She told a few stories of her own. I asked her if she missed home and if she was coming back. She said she did but the nice thing was she had a some good friends here, and her mom kept her company for few months in a year. her sister lived in a close by city. Apparently she said her sister has been trying to fix her up with somebody. "Oh that is good" I said trying to sound very honest. There was a momentary silence after that.
We started talking about our mutual friends back home and I was telling her who was where and who was doing what. She said "I have been out of touch for too long". "I wont have many people i know if i come back". she said with a smile. "Hey i can look you up regularly" I said with a bit of eagerness ,"Thats so sweet of you , I will remember that" she said. That was such a girlie answer, I thought. But her laughter that followed was the sweetest sound I had heard in a very long time.
Soon enough, it was time to catch my flight. and she dropped me off at the airport. When it was time to say good bye and when our eyes met , mine somehow got big and welled up a little with water without my own knowing.I was going to close this fast to avoid embarrassment. "It was good to see you after such a long time, take care" I said "Yeah it was great to see you too, you haven't changed too much"
As I was about to go away she said "Have a safe trip home and take care of yourself !" as she said this she came closer with her hand held out and close enough to smell the familiar wonderful smelling perfume that she was wearing, either that was a strong perfume or she was quite close! her eyes were suddenly brighter and genuinely warm. As I was shaking hands my Super Spider sense was calculating if She was close enough for a hug and concluded negative. In the split second I did think about the possibility of what would happen if i tried to hug her... and then I heard the sound of a jaw breaking slap from somewhere - my dream cloud sure vanished in a hurry !
As I walked inside I waved to her and she waved back. Once I was back in my familiar airport terminal lounge and started waiting for my flight,my mind did a recap. I was feeling glad for looking her up, too bad that I dint take a few pictures with my camera .I wasn't sure when I was going to see her again. Part of me wanted to grab my mobile and call her immediately from the airport and thank her for something...then I thought I would be sounding so foolish doing that. I let that impulse pass.
Her thoughts faded off quickly once I was back home and I got busy with my life again.The months that passed since have been calm. For some reason I was feeling more at peace now, the placed where I lived has started feeling more like home.
*****
I got a mail from Neetu today that she was coming back home for good. She had found a job in a branch of her own company which was setting up shop here. It was a tough call to make but she was happy to come back.
I almost did my mad puppy dog routine then and there in my office ,and had to calm my excited nerves by grabbing some strong coffee. After Saner sense prevailed , I started to think about the long queue this time around that I was going to join up !. at least I was better prepared for it this time around.
*******************************
Have you ever felt like a Traveling salesman without actually being one ? Thats what i have felt about my self, May be it was the job or the way i lived my life. I seem to be making many casual acquaintances but no real friends, I seem to be wandering like a gypsy though i owned a couple of houses. It was the unrest where no place felt like home.
The airport terminals where I spent a lot of my time these days where my second home , after a while the people start to look all the same everywhere. Strange but comely in a way.
She was a proud beauty with many suitors. I never realized that there was such a long list when I was queuing up, I tried to be a good friend though, Often I would tail her like a silly excited puppy and get cheered with even the small attention that came my way. She found me "cute" and "nice" in her own words. Finally as it turned it was an outsider who got the precious job - some swanky guy working in a foreign country and making really good money and of course a great talker. Girls love good talkers. Needless to say it broke my heart big time. I changed jobs and cities to get away from it all , slowly I got over it and realised it was just infatuation. Its been many years since this happened.
So why do I bring this up now ? Incidentally I was going to the city she lived in on some work. I was chatting up to my good friend before my travel and he broke the news about her. Her husband got killed in a freak accident. Holy freak accidents....you can never plan for them , sounded awful.Life was so harsh and she was so pretty I thought. it was more than a year already since that happened. She was working and bringing up her 4 year old daughter on her own. I got her number , my well networked friend dug into another mutual friend to get the number.
I called her after reaching my hotel room. I was waiting in anticipation on how her voice would sound after so many years, but no one answered the phone even after several rings. It was going to her voice mail. I decided not to leave a voice mail I usually hate voice mails, they are very impersonal. my work day was busy but dull. The business it looked like was going to be a long haul job and this was just ice breaker stuff that I was doing now. So i returned early to the hotel room and killed time, I tried calling her again , she was not there, I left a voice mail which started like "Hi I am wondering if you remember me..." and concluded by leaving my number. There was no response to my message . I spent some time catching with other old friends from my work place and sampling the local pubs. I was glad it was a short trip and for some reason I was more gladder going home this time.
She called me the day i was leaving, she had been away traveling. Her voice was still the same but her accent sounded more foreign. She sounded cheerful. I told her I was catching an evening flight back home. She said we could meet for lunch and so we did. I tried guessing how she would look like while I was waiting for her. When she came by, I realized she looked nearly the same and as pretty as ever. Her face looked fuller and rounder,in fact i instantly liked those full cheeks , those eyes had lost a bit of the old shine, though only a small testimony to the years gone by, may be it was the glimpse of a few dark circles below her eyes. Her curvy dimpled chin and her straight dark hair were still the same.
"I hope you are fine after all that has happened ? " I said, actually I am not really good at expressing sympathies and all that kind of stuff,anyway since it was a year now I left it at that. "Yeah , I am doing great" I could see her strength in her eyes. We chatted upon so many other things. When you have been away for a long time , you become strangers ; It is like becoming friends allover again. Strangely I started talking as if i had downed a few beers. I was whining about my job , and life and speaking nostalgically about the good old times. She listened. In the past she would cut me short and dish out immediate remedial advice on what I should do. But now she just listened and said she understood. She told a few stories of her own. I asked her if she missed home and if she was coming back. She said she did but the nice thing was she had a some good friends here, and her mom kept her company for few months in a year. her sister lived in a close by city. Apparently she said her sister has been trying to fix her up with somebody. "Oh that is good" I said trying to sound very honest. There was a momentary silence after that.
We started talking about our mutual friends back home and I was telling her who was where and who was doing what. She said "I have been out of touch for too long". "I wont have many people i know if i come back". she said with a smile. "Hey i can look you up regularly" I said with a bit of eagerness ,"Thats so sweet of you , I will remember that" she said. That was such a girlie answer, I thought. But her laughter that followed was the sweetest sound I had heard in a very long time.
Soon enough, it was time to catch my flight. and she dropped me off at the airport. When it was time to say good bye and when our eyes met , mine somehow got big and welled up a little with water without my own knowing.I was going to close this fast to avoid embarrassment. "It was good to see you after such a long time, take care" I said "Yeah it was great to see you too, you haven't changed too much"
As I was about to go away she said "Have a safe trip home and take care of yourself !" as she said this she came closer with her hand held out and close enough to smell the familiar wonderful smelling perfume that she was wearing, either that was a strong perfume or she was quite close! her eyes were suddenly brighter and genuinely warm. As I was shaking hands my Super Spider sense was calculating if She was close enough for a hug and concluded negative. In the split second I did think about the possibility of what would happen if i tried to hug her... and then I heard the sound of a jaw breaking slap from somewhere - my dream cloud sure vanished in a hurry !
As I walked inside I waved to her and she waved back. Once I was back in my familiar airport terminal lounge and started waiting for my flight,my mind did a recap. I was feeling glad for looking her up, too bad that I dint take a few pictures with my camera .I wasn't sure when I was going to see her again. Part of me wanted to grab my mobile and call her immediately from the airport and thank her for something...then I thought I would be sounding so foolish doing that. I let that impulse pass.
Her thoughts faded off quickly once I was back home and I got busy with my life again.The months that passed since have been calm. For some reason I was feeling more at peace now, the placed where I lived has started feeling more like home.
*****
I got a mail from Neetu today that she was coming back home for good. She had found a job in a branch of her own company which was setting up shop here. It was a tough call to make but she was happy to come back.
I almost did my mad puppy dog routine then and there in my office ,and had to calm my excited nerves by grabbing some strong coffee. After Saner sense prevailed , I started to think about the long queue this time around that I was going to join up !. at least I was better prepared for it this time around.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Aboard Air India
I have flown Air India occasionally in the past. once to singapore, on a plane that rattled during takeoff and then once while traveling to Taipei where I switched flights in Bangkok - as the AI flight to Bangkok was delayed, I had the misfortune of misplacing my baggage for a full 2 days. I did have a fun time shopping for underwear in taipei's night markets !
With these none too happy experience in the flashback, when the travel from hyderabad to newark via Air India was trhrust open me leaving me no choice i was filled with pessimism , and I am going to tell you how all my worst fears came true !
It was a reasonably good start , AI hyd to mumbai was in the smaller 737 aircraft and zero onboard entertainment and no drinks either. Upon reaching mumbai at 2 in the night I found out to my horror that lounge accomodation sleeping in the chairs in the lobby, they did not have a transit hotel.after spending the whole night without much sleep and wandering in the boring corridors, the flight to newark started at 9:30 in the morning - a delay of 2 hours. the flight attendant immediately announced "wee appoologieeese phor this delay" which sounded more like "we care a damn" :-). By the way i also found out that I was going via Paris. It seems non-stop meeannt that you cant get off the plane.
To cut a long story short it was a long and boring flight , unlike other airlines, there are no personal lcd+ video on demand. I had a daash of Johnny walker that they were serving to calm my nerves, only for a short time though. the food during lunch gave me a bad stomach.
After finishing immigration in Newark Collecting the baggage was a loong wait, after waiting for an houur, in my mind i was seeing my luggage arrive in Ethiopia or maybe Madagascar , an old gentle man who had an onward flight to Atlanta had already; missed his flight because of the delay.
As i was giving up , i saw the red suitcase and the small blue one that i was waiting for. I picked up my bags and fled...
***
I have ..33a round trip ticket by the way and will have to got through this again when I go back to india in november.
With these none too happy experience in the flashback, when the travel from hyderabad to newark via Air India was trhrust open me leaving me no choice i was filled with pessimism , and I am going to tell you how all my worst fears came true !
It was a reasonably good start , AI hyd to mumbai was in the smaller 737 aircraft and zero onboard entertainment and no drinks either. Upon reaching mumbai at 2 in the night I found out to my horror that lounge accomodation sleeping in the chairs in the lobby, they did not have a transit hotel.after spending the whole night without much sleep and wandering in the boring corridors, the flight to newark started at 9:30 in the morning - a delay of 2 hours. the flight attendant immediately announced "wee appoologieeese phor this delay" which sounded more like "we care a damn" :-). By the way i also found out that I was going via Paris. It seems non-stop meeannt that you cant get off the plane.
To cut a long story short it was a long and boring flight , unlike other airlines, there are no personal lcd+ video on demand. I had a daash of Johnny walker that they were serving to calm my nerves, only for a short time though. the food during lunch gave me a bad stomach.
After finishing immigration in Newark Collecting the baggage was a loong wait, after waiting for an houur, in my mind i was seeing my luggage arrive in Ethiopia or maybe Madagascar , an old gentle man who had an onward flight to Atlanta had already; missed his flight because of the delay.
As i was giving up , i saw the red suitcase and the small blue one that i was waiting for. I picked up my bags and fled...
***
I have ..33a round trip ticket by the way and will have to got through this again when I go back to india in november.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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