It is now time to say "Au Revoir" (good bye) to Odisha on the festive day of RAJA SANKRATI, but not before savoring the PODA PITHA (Baked Rice cake). Contrary to the belief that locals avoid travelling on the day of Sankranti, the non stop Indigo flight to Bengaluru (Bangalore) was full.
It was interesting to look at the profiles of the passengers at the Bhubaneswar Airport. Airfaires available at an affordable price juxtaposed with rising living standards have done wonders, allowing many to travel far and wide to hitherto unknown, exotic places.
For some who ones upon a time used to travel by train, flying being one of the dreams to be lived before dying are now frequent fliers (in trains too those who used to travel in regular 2nd class have found themselves socially upgraded to 2nd class sleeper, 2nd class sleeper to 2nd class AC, 2nd class AC and above passengers now prefer to fly).
Apparently the Civic sense hasn't quite cope up with rise in social status for some. It was soon to be vindicated when I saw a passenger inside the airport surreptitiously scratching his private part in public. When our eyes met he looked flustered, lifted his pants a bit, faking trying to adjust his belt. I didn't disturb him any further, letting him enjoy the small pleasures of life on a muggy morning.
The Indigo flight rough landed at Bangalore Airport startling the passengers. I asked my friend Saroj Sarangi, a regular commuter between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore who was on the same flight. He said this landing was far from being smooth. Airline travel though the norm these days, has its share scary moments too.
But really smooth sailing was first few miles drive from the Bangalore Airport. The roads resembled Hema Malini's cheeks as once extolled by the Bihari politician Laloo Prasad Yadav. There was hardly any honking. No sooner we entered inside the city limits, than I saw a glimpse of the famed Bangalore traffic, with portions of road resembling more like the cheeks of Om Puri than Hema Malini's ( I can say it's still better than Bhubaneswar based on my experience so far).
For some who ones upon a time used to travel by train, flying being one of the dreams to be lived before dying are now frequent fliers (in trains too those who used to travel in regular 2nd class have found themselves socially upgraded to 2nd class sleeper, 2nd class sleeper to 2nd class AC, 2nd class AC and above passengers now prefer to fly).
Apparently the Civic sense hasn't quite cope up with rise in social status for some. It was soon to be vindicated when I saw a passenger inside the airport surreptitiously scratching his private part in public. When our eyes met he looked flustered, lifted his pants a bit, faking trying to adjust his belt. I didn't disturb him any further, letting him enjoy the small pleasures of life on a muggy morning.
The Indigo flight rough landed at Bangalore Airport startling the passengers. I asked my friend Saroj Sarangi, a regular commuter between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore who was on the same flight. He said this landing was far from being smooth. Airline travel though the norm these days, has its share scary moments too.
But really smooth sailing was first few miles drive from the Bangalore Airport. The roads resembled Hema Malini's cheeks as once extolled by the Bihari politician Laloo Prasad Yadav. There was hardly any honking. No sooner we entered inside the city limits, than I saw a glimpse of the famed Bangalore traffic, with portions of road resembling more like the cheeks of Om Puri than Hema Malini's ( I can say it's still better than Bhubaneswar based on my experience so far).
My son got excited - "Hey dad. Look, a McDonald's over there". I hardly felt the same. After seeing the Golden Arch of McDonald's every other mile for more than 2 decades in US, the last thing would make me ecstatic was sighting a McDonald's in faraway Bangalore.
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