Headed to Cathay!

Finally we are headed to Beijing to meet my sister and brother in law.

It had been chaotic in the last few days - stress at work, long hours, frequent travel out of Mumbai and what not.

But thanks to our legendary skill of planning, we had our lists ready. The suitcases came out of the loft last week and we did a little packing every day. The packing process culminated today morning at 6 AM. After that we heaved a sigh of relief, as we headed for breakfast.

To plainly put it, we are travelling loaded, loaded with spices - all kinds that are used in Indian cuisine for Neelima's larder for the next couple of months till she visits India next.

Also going along with us is a box of the very precious Mysore Pak, that I got from Coimbatore earlier and a prized pack of aloo parathas that our cook made this morning on the precise instructions that Neeti had given her this morning.

We are flying Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and onward to Beijing after a two hour halt. We'll be flying an Airbus A330 on the first leg and a Boeing 747-400 thereafter.

And that reminds me that there is a joke that says "Kitthay Pacific" is the international airline of Punjab while the domestic airline is "Itthay Pacific".

Perhaps the one who made this joke didn't realise that Cathay was a name for China (originally, in the middle ages and during Marco Polo's times, Catai was the name applied by Central and Western Asians and Europeans to northern China. Catai was later anglicized to Cathay). And now we must head towards the boarding gate after a lousy meal at the Clipper Lounge!

Goodbye Mumbai!

Up In The Air .... Part 11

On the return from Hyderabad, as we approached Mumbai, I got busy clicking photographs feverishly...

That's Mumbai in the distance - a warm glow likes embers! Perhaps, that's reflecting the spirit of the city that keeps it alive!

The "embers" of Mumbai again!

Overflying Vashi!

Crossing the Vashi Creek! You can see Airoli Bridge in the distance...

Doesn't that look like numerous diamonds strewn on the ground, glowing and shining brightly!

Over Ghatkopar...

On short finals to BOM!

The earlier editions of Up In The Air can be accessed here.

Jet Airways v/s IndiGo - The Verdict Is Out! Part 2

On the return from from Hyderabad, I took IndiGo's 6E-231, which departs at 1920 hours.

One of the hallmarks of IndiGo is its clinical efficiency and absolute on-time performance, which makes it a dependable carrier.

Despite a delay in arrival of the aircraft and a consequent delay in boarding, we were pushed back 5 minutes before schedule.

HYD looks so neat!

Pushback done! The pushback truck "Ground Force" moves back to base!

A view of the main ramp at HYD

Heading towards Runway 09L/27L - at 4.26 kilometers, this is India's longest runway!

Lining up!

And lift off! Goodbye Hyderabad!

My complimentary snack - a lime drink (nimbu paani) and a corn-spinach sandwich

The sandwich pack was interesting with stories and health tips! That was good enough to keep me occupied!

Pilot profiles in the inflight reading material!

Poking fun at JetKonnect and JetLite!

And on JetPrivilege!

Even SpiceJet wasn't spared!

Eavesdropping At BOM!

Earlier this week, I traveled to Hyderabad. Since the aircraft I was to take was parked on a remote bay at the international terminal, a long drive along the periphery of the airport was necessary.

I wasn't upset about this long drive.... I got to see a Lufthansa Cargo MD11 freighter taxiing from the cargo bays towards Runway 09-27. I was just imagining whether Felix Gottwald was on it - Felix is a Lufthansa Cargo first officer, an avid aviation photographer and has a blog dedicated to aviation - I have been following the journeys of Felix on his website for quite some time now!

On the bus, I could not but help but take a lot of interest in eavesdropping on an animated conversation between a group of American executives, who were also traveling to Hyderabad. They were apparently executives from DuPont, all middle-aged, who had arrived in India a few days earlier and were headed to the DuPont Knowledge Center at Hyderabad for some conference or an offsite.

They were kind of surprised that this was quite long bus ride. One of them commented that this was as though they were driving to Hyderabad and they burst out in spirited guffaws. In the course of their conversations, a particularly slim middle-aged guy mentioned that he had done his masters in material sciences from Cornell University. A lady who was a part of the group exclaimed "I too am from Cornell, did mathematics there. Didn't realise you too were from Cornell!"

This prompted a third guy - a portly, bespectacled guy to say that he was from Carnegie Mellon University but his son was denied admission to Cornell despite having great credentials and an extremely good CGPA. He went on to say "Had I known you were from Cornell, I would have taken your recommendation!" Did I just hear that? Ha, recommendations work in America! I was surprised.

Now this portly guy was extremely proud of his son. He went on to say that his son was very tech savvy and wanted to join FBI as a counter-cyber terror agent! Now the rest of the gang got interested. There were long conversations on how cyber terror was a real threat, on how money can be siphoned off from banks in e-fraud, etc. This portly guy was obviously enjoying the "limelight" he was getting and went on to say, "Aha! My son is like the FBI guys in 2007's Die Hard movie! He uses his iPhone to do ethical hacking. Who could think of that?"

Then the conversation turned to India. Taj Mahal it was! The group "assessed" the cost of constructing a Taj Mahal today as USD 1.6 billion! One of them made an interesting parallel between the Taj Mahal and a 26-storey home that an Indian businessman had constructed for his wife in South Mumbai. One of them found it funny that this building had 5 storeys of parking space! One guy spoke about this businessman's networth, while jaws of the others dropped in surprise. "That's a lot more than I can ever believe exists!" said one of them

Now as were headed towards new Terminal 2 of Mumbai Airport which is under construction, they all kept staring out in amazement appreciating the aesthetic and architectural marvel that it is turning out to be! They conceded that they had never seen anything as magnificent back home! 

That made me feel proud for India and for my city! Perhaps they would have liked the Hyderabad airport as well!

They lady realised I was listening to them and smiled at me. Now it was time to board!

Headed to Delhi!

I flew in to Delhi this morning for a 3 day break. I could not help but be trigger happy with my cellphone, as we departed Mumbai!