At IGI Airport in Delhi I breezed through immigration which was a shoo in for me. The Terminal 3 is quite impressive. Restrooms (toilets) maintained nice and clean. No strong smell of ubiquitous Phenyle and dark brown betel stains at each corner. Our International Airports can now be considered as world class. I saw a digital bill board proudly displaying Happy Gandhi Jayanti, followed by a visual of Chivas Regal Scotch. Ironically our Mahatma was never stood for consumerism, nor he extolled Chivas Regal.
In the year 1998, no sooner I came out of IGI Airport in the middle of night night than I was treated like a hapless hlHare amid Hounds baying for my blood in form of haranguing touts. I was forced to do an about turn and beat a hasty retreat, only to come out at break of the dawn to be ragged again. It was not unusual then for hapless passengers to dish out a $20 note (Bill) to buy themselves out of harassment by Customs. Such things are now passe.
After checking in for my last leg of flight to Bhubaneswar, I settled down on a chair as the sun brightened the horizon, revealing the array of Aircrafts on the turmac, spraying them with Orange hue. The Roundtrip return fare between Delhi and Bhubaneswar cost me only Rs.4443. I remember paying at least Rs.21000 for the same in the 1990s, a stupendous amount then. How the affordability of airfare has changed in less than 2 decades !!!
The departure area of the Domestic Airport before boarding resembled our BADAMBADI Bus stand in Cuttack. I saw a guy surreptitiously scratching their private parts in public. When our eyes met he pretended to adjust his belts. The Air crew were goading passengers like cattle towards to board the flight (hats off to the person who coined cattle class for the economy class).
Inside the flight a man sitting next to me was let out a lot of hot air - both literally and figuratively too. The silent, sneaky hot air from down below with a "Not I" look on his face was followed by some bombadistic hot air from his loud mouth. He boasted how he carries all his company's responsibility on his shoulders and visited all 75 states of India (never knew there were 75 states in India, even if you include the Union territories).
Groggy with jet lag, I dozed off with my head drooping sideward, as the Airhostess politely woke me up - "Veyzz (veg) or Non - Veyzz Sir ?" While munching the food I looked out through the window. The roaring big bird was flying low, whizzing past low lying clouds, enabling me to take a peek outside to get a Bird's eye view. The plane was flying high over snow white fleece of cloud looking like a vast cotton plantation or a big flock of sheep. As the plane lowered itself preparing for landing, the rivulets meandering through the gray undulating land down below formed a spectacular sight. The green waves of Eastern Ghats was taking shower of morning sunlight. River Mahanadi looked like a huge Anaconda taking a sunbath on golden sand.
Every other year I fly over Bhubaneswar, sadly I see more concrete and asphalt, less green foliage as an once asthetic city known for its salubrious weather slowly turns into an urban jungle. Way too many skyrises have become a growing environmental concerns - gonna to bite this city big time sooner or later.
How contrasting is the worms eye view of the sky from the ground to the bird's eye view from the top. It makes me understand the meaning of the phrase "Down To Earth". When it all seems you are on top of the world, in minutes you are back on the ground. So are the vagaries of life. How much and how high you fly you have to come down - in no time you must descent from 39000 feet to ground zero. Airplane teaches us a lesson on life.
I was welcomed by a not too hot muggy Bhubaneswar weather. On my way home I savored the sights of the millieu where vehicles yonked their way through in a zigzag maze. As I stepped out of my vehicle I could feel beads of sweat swelling on my chin and forehead. A sudden burst of breeze felt good, vindicating the old law of Physics "Evaporation caused cooling".
Dog tired after a journey of 28 hours across 3 continents, I badly needed a shit, shave, shower and sleep. I turned the faucet on. Prrrt..Prrrt..It farted twice before emitting a thin stream of water which slowly got thicker. I could hear the tweeting spree by a sparrow which would have given Donald Trump run for money - "Tweetwoo... tweetwoo...tweetwoo..", without bothering about any character restrictions.
It gave way to coarse cawing of a crow on the branch of the nearby mango tree, interspersed with occasional spurts of bikes honking -"keee..kicky.....kicky..." and
wafting of street vendors - E KADALI KADALI (Banana, Banana), AMBAAAACHAARA LEMBAAACHAARA (Mango pickle, Lemon pickle). No sooner I had my lunch of rice with Ilisi ( Hilsa) fish curry cooked with Yougurt, than my eyelids refuse to stay open. More later...
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