I was seated very close to the exit row of the aircraft. Soon it touched down and we’re about to alight. In less than a couple of minutes I was walking past two officers with a live thermal imaging area. They were doing the swine-flu checks and then headed up to the immigration desk. I had a brand new passport… you’d think it’d suffice to see the valid new one but no they wanted to see the last one as-well. Lucky I was carrying the old one too.
Suddenly I felt more aware of the fact that I was *now* in India. Someone jumped the queue in-front of me very impolitely, Immigration officer didn’t bother about pleasantries waved his hand off gesturing me to move on towards the carousel. Someone jumped the queue again. People get really close to you when waiting in queues, in my case it was the carousel. Yes personal space isn’t a big thing here. I was in incredible India. Trolleying my way out I could see Rudra, Poulami and Leon waiting there for me 
Soon we hopped in a cab and reminiscing our childhood.
We toddled off to Dhakhinapan late morning-ish the next day. It has a few shops and a some good local art emporiums. We browsed a bit and bought a few little handicrafts. Surprisingly the market place looked a wee bit quiet. We had to go through a security metal detector to get inside the market… And there was a guy standing right next to the door frame only to usher people to go through it. All visitors must step through the metal door frame but no signage to clearly indicate that. Of one of the highlights of the day was out of the blue dad wanted to weigh himself. Alright now if you know these public weighing machines in India they not only tell you your weight but also your fortune. Dad weighed himself and blamed the scaled for packing an extra 8 kilos but didn’t mind the fortune. Apparently it read that he was going to marry again… LOL. We had lots of laughter and were gushing with mirth.
Continue reading ‘Calcutta — the city of joy’
There is always something charming about going home. About visiting loved ones and spending time walking down the memory lane. Revisiting those smells and tastes of yester-years that are so natural to ones childhood. Its a walk through a mesh of life that is most nostalgic and filled with a labyrinth of beautiful meaning, confronting, joyous and full of life. You’ll know what I mean if you have been in a situation like mine but I think we all have in our own little ways.
Boarding a flight with 100 other Indians is no small feat and funny only in hindsight! Truly. What makes them so insolent is something I have pondered many a times. As we waited at Sydney to board the aircraft and the very first announcement was made to board the First class and Business class passengers… the whole mass of the Economy class seemed to showed around the entrance to the gangway. A second announcement was made to allow for families or mothers traveling with infants or children under 7 years and also to request the masses to sit down and wait their turn. You think they’d heed? Later the rows 50 onwards unto 60 were called in. I was seated in 58 so I started to proceed. An Indian lady probably in her late fifties cut right in front of me. Pushed me out of the way, bumped over my cabin baggage and walked on by totally unapologetically. I was seething with fury and retorted her demeanor with a assertive look:
Continue reading ‘Sydney to Calcutta – Singapore Airlines’
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