Up In The Air .... Part 4

After Coimbatore and Trichy, it was time to head to the ancient temple city of Madurai. The morning glow in the skies was absolutely enchanting. The approach to to Madurai was so stunningly green that I had to capture it on my Blackberry!

The Southern Sojourn!

Last week, I took an interesting trip down South.
I landed in Coimbatore late on Wednesday. Unexpectedly the flight was full, full of expatriate workers returning back home and people travelling to Coimbatore (from Mumbai) for business.
The Jetlite flight was pretty uneventful. On the approach to Coimbatore airport, as we descended to about 20,000 feet, there was a dramatic change in the landscape below. The drab landscape gave way to a real visual treat - the rolling green hills of Ooty and Coonoor - if I recall correctly these hills were home to two of India's illustrious soldiers - Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and General K. Sundarji.
The Boeing 737-700 touched down at Coimbatore at nearly 7PM, dusk was just setting in and the horizon had a fiery orange-pinkish hue, but the weather was cool. I drove to the hotel and it was time to crash and recharge.
Next morning I woke up to see cloudy skies and a large forested patch in front of my window with a good number of peacocks roaming around regally. For all the splendour around it, the peacock is certainly worthy of being the national bird!
Breakfast followed - an amazing South Indian spread of idlis, vadais and the most flavourful sambhar I ever had.
For the quintessential North Indian, sambhar is a generic name for any South Indian lentil-based gravy, but gladly that is not the case. Every area - Kerala, Mangalore, Coorg, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - has a different type of sambhar.
After the meetings in Coimbatore were done, it was time to visit Thiruchirapalli (or Trichy as it is more commonly called). I took the road route - the roads were very decent - 4-laned. We covered the 250 kilometers in nearly 4 hours flat.
I had last visited Trichy in 2007 - it was a wee-bit sleepy and dusty. Now Jayalalitha got elected to the state assembly from Srirangam, a constituency in the area. Now money for developmental works seems to be flowing in, the infrastructure has improved and the city seems to have got the look and feel of a mini-metro.
On reaching Trichy, I checked into Sangam Hotel. When I stayed there in 2007, it was pretty decent but there were a few rough edges here and there. This time, I was pleasantly surprised that the hotel had undergone a slick makeover. The facilities in the rooms had improved quite a lot - the furniture was smart and modern, the lighting was automated - the rooms had an uncanny similarity with the business properties of say the Taj Group or Welcomgroup. Much to my relief there was a kettle, tea bags and sachets of milk and sugar in the room, which previously was rare in these parts - I was saved from the bad aftertaste of readymade tea that I so detest! Clearly there was a good demand from the local industry to justify the makeover.
One of the highlights of my stay at Trichy was an amazing meal which had a tangy gravy called Vathal Kozhambu (வத்தல் குழம்பு) - a spicy tamarind based gravy with sun-dried sundakka or turkey berries. The tangy sourness of the  sundakka gave the gravy a unique flavour!
The next day I ventured into the city and its outskirts for a few meetings. I was baffled to see hoardings of M. Karunanidhi and his family - Stalin, Alagiri and Kanimozhi all over the city - this was kind of unexpected especially in Jayalalitha's home-territory. My local contact told me that a senior DMK functionary's son was getting married in the city for which the erstwhile first-family was flying in that night, led by Kalaignar (this is how Karunanidhi is "fondly"(?) called by his supporters, obviously my contact was a DMK supporter!). And to top it all, the family was to stay in the same hotel - oh my God, that explained the presence of a posse of security men around the property.
Politics down South, especially a cat and mouse game of jumbo-sized egos, hatred and money. If Karunanidhi is in power, he would chase Jaya with a vengence and the other way around. But no one wins, no one wins, much like the all time classic, Tom & Jerry!
Talking of egos, during this trip I heard of an interesting anecdote. Years back, when Jayalalitha was in power, the Tamil cult superstar, Rajnikanth who was her neighbour at Chennai's Poes Garden, was actually harassed by her security to such an extent that he found it difficult o move in and out of his bungalow. One day he decided enough was enough. He got out of his bungalow and stood at the gate attracting his fans - numbers swelled from tens to hundreds to well, say thousands. The chief minister had a harrowing time that day but she got the message and "the larger than life" Rajnikanth, never had any problems thereafter. (Did you know Rajnikanth is a Maharashtrian?)
I was to take a 9.30PM Jet Airways flight to Chennai. After all the meetings were over, I was to head to the airport, but my contact suggested that we have some snacks at Adyar Ananda Bhavan - a chain of joints all over the South (and Delhi as well!). The place was full of families relaxing (thank God it's friday!) and having a good time - enjoying North Indian fare - chaats, tikkis, channa bhatura, samosas and kachoris! Now this was a revelation - South Indian fare has been very popular in the North for long, but I never knew Northern fare was equally popular down South! That is interesting because it does prove that preferences and tastes across the country are actually converging, which is actually great for the nation as a whole!
But for me it was the standard fare - vadai sambhar, which was rather cold and leathery! How atrocious!
After that I headed to Trichy airport. On the way, I received a text message from Jet Airways - my flight which was to leave Trichy at 9.30PM was rescheduled to 11.30PM! They were are it again, and still have the audacity to call themselves India's best!
The lady at the check-in counter at Trichy airport seemed to be very harried after being hankered by passengers over the delay. So when I coolly collected the boarding pass, she thanked me for the "consideration" for the flight being late and was offered vouchers for complimentary snacks and beverages. The aftertaste of the bad vadai sambhar of Adyar Ananda Bhavan was still in my system and I settled for a coffee.
Trichy airport had undergone a major transformation. When I was here in 2007, the airport building was barely twice the size of my apartment. Now a new shiny terminal had been built with loads of glass and chrome. The activity level was also much much higher - Trichy is now connected to Dubai, Colombo and Singapore. Two international flights - a Kingfisher to Colombo and Tiger Airways to Singapore were readying for departure as we waited for our ATR-72-500 for Chennai! I could have never imagined in 2007 that Trichy airport would expand in scale and size in such a fashion.
As we took off, I was thinking that truly interior India is growing and will continue to grow despite what the economic indicators say - look at a place like Trichy - a small town which has grown, industry and commerce there has grown, people there are spending - exploring new tastes, eating out and reaching out to the world....
Next on the itinerary was a short trip to the ancient city Madurai the next day, Saturday, to visit Meenakshi Amman Temple. We had a long night ahead - the flight to Madurai was at 6.50AM - Neeti was to join me at Chennai airport for the Madurai trip.

Put The Glass Down!!!!!

I received this story on my Blackberry messenger from an old friend.
This story forced me to think on what is really important in life, is it the journey of life itself or the numerous ups and downs that come our way during the journey?
Do give it a thought.

The Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students "How much do you think this glass weighs?"
'50gms!'..... '100gms!' .....'125gms' ...the students answered.
"I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the professor, "but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"
'Nothing' ...the students said.
'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.
'Your arm would begin to ache' said one student.
"You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?"
"Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to hospital for sure!" ventured another student and all the students laughed
"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the professor.
'No' was the answer.
"Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?"
The students were puzzled.
"What should I do now to come out of pain?" asked professor again.
"Put the glass down!" said one of the students "Exactly!" said the professor.
Life's problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head and they seem okay. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even longer and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.
It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, But EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to 'PUT THEM DOWN' at the end of every day before you go to sleep...
That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can
handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!
So, when you start your day today, remember friend to 'PUT THE GLASS DOWN'

A Punjabi Wedding - The Ultimate Foodgasm!

Being a compulsive foodie, it is undoubtedly apt that I sign off on 2011 with some piece on food.
And there cannot be anything better than this - Neeti and I were in Delhi a few days back for her cousin's wedding. This was a rare occasion to experience Delhi in its wintry splendour.
North Indian weddings are known to be lavish, and Delhi weddings are literally big and very very fat! While people in Mumbai are used to a time bound schedule - say a hall would be booked strictly from say 7 to 11, Delhi is much more casual and open to fun in that sense.
On the feasting side, food in North Indian weddings is probably as important as, if not more, than the nuptial ceremonies - the robustness of flavours in wedding cuisine is something to talk about for days, the aromas set the digestive juices gushing out like a gigantic flood. Now that is quite unlike weddings in Mumbai, where caterers are majorly influenced by the Gujju palate and nearly every dish would have a sweetish tinge to it, though there was one exception - a pal's wedding I attended in June this year had exceptional Maharashtrian fare followed by Puri and Aamras for dessert, which I am sure to salivate over for years to come - dare I say that would be a foodie's equivalent of a wet-dream!
So coming back to the wedding in question - we looked forward to being back in Delhi for a couple of days, more than anything else, enjoying the weather and the unique winter delicacies that North India has to offer.
One of the best ways of enjoying an outdoor winter wedding is to stand beside burning charcoals in angithis, which are set up strategically, and warm hands in the near freezing temperature. That happened during this wedding too.
Then come out the waiters with a mouthwatering array of starters - fried stuff, tandoori stuff and papdi chaats. It is indeed sheer bliss to pop a hot aloo tikki straight into your mouth in the freezing cold.
In such functions, young women would dress up in their very best - sequined sarees and lehengas, baring the elements, showing a generous length of their bare slender midriffs and happily chomping away on fried stuff, blissfully unaware of how diet concious they were a few hours back. What the hell is dieting? Obviously a wedding treat is a convenient excuse to forget all that, isn't it?
The papdi chaats and spicy aloo tikkis with mouthwatering chutneys that make the guests endlessly salivate are actually ticking timebombs! Having this kind of stuff on a cold winter night is sure to give a good 50% of the guests a nerve wracking sore throat, but the temptation always gets the better of you.
The best, or rather, the healthiest bet would be to gulp down tandoori mushrooms (these are usually tangy, juicy and fresh), paneer (cottage cheese) tikkas, tandoori potatoes or other grilled and barbecued stuff. Not only are these equally yum, they also save you the morning-after guilt of counting the 4-digit calories!
I go after papdi chaats (notwithstanding the sore throat that follows!) and the grilled snacks with an indescribable gusto. I do try to avoid the fried options, but sometimes I do succumb to the temptation.
The main course usually comprises of standard North Indian fare - dal makhanis, malai koftas, tawa sabzi, paneer in some exotic sounding gravy, sarson ka saag and the likes. I usually the main course a pass unless I get too tempted, in which case I attack the dal makhanis, select okra, baby aubergines and bitter gourd from the tawa sabzi (minus the gravy) and some sarson ka saag alongwith a steaming hot naan or a makki ki roti!
After loads of starters and a light main course, the best is saved for the last - desserts, sinfully delightful and absolutely unavoidable!
As things have taken a modern turn, continental desserts like chocolate mousse and trifles have crept in into wedding menus. But the Indian fare is the safest bet, in terms of being sure of what quality you would finally get. one can be very sure to find ice creams, kulfis with falooda, tender gulab jamuns in thick sugary syrup, jalebis with rabdi, gajar ka halwa or moong dal halwa on the menu. This is the best part of the treat, the grand finale! The trick is to sample each of these first and then go hogging on the best. In this wedding I went after the jalebis with rabdi and gajar ka halwa without the khoya and nuts. My dessert platter got a rare thumbs-up from Neeti, who is impossible to please when it comes to desserts!

While the guests enjoy the delicacies on offer, I pity the hapless grooms and brides who are barely able to relish these treats. The functions that we normally have are rather torturous on the duo - they go through a gruelling schedule in the run-up to the finale, then force plasticky smiles for long-lost relatives or unknown family friends and the worst of all - posing in the so-called "romantic" poses for zealous photographers!
For us North Indians, the wedding buffet is somewhat of an event in itself besides the main event. Memories of a great feast would be etched forever in the hearts of guests, whether they remember who got married to whom and when and blah blah, like my grandma, who remembered the one wedding she attended in Lahore in the 1930s, as a teen alongwith her folks, where food was simply heavenly - she remembered the wedding feast till she died in 2004! That is the magic a great wedding feast can do on you!
But as the feast got over, I was reminded that we would return to Mumbai in the afternoon - Holy crap, not again - the thought of an inflight meal on Jet Airways made me feel pukish!

Mile-High, No Quads?

A few days back, I happened to see a BBC documentary on the now defunct American carrier, Pan-Am, titled Come Fly With Me - the Story of Pan Am. The documentary traced the evolution of the airline from propeller aircraft to the jet-age heralded by the Boeing 707.

Instantly, I was taken back to the 1980s. That is when I took my journey on a quad-jet - the Boeing 707, of Uganda Airlines, probably between Entebbe and Nairobi. That was an amazing jet, with a splendid livery in the colours of the Ugandan flag - a crested crane on the tail and prominent yellow, red and black band that stretched along the fuselage.

Then followed journeys on Boeing 707s of Air-India and Zambia Airways. The Centaur on the Air-India Boeing 707 tail always looked smart. I still cannot fathom why Air-India dumped the Centaur.

The first Zambia Airways Boeing 707 I saw was at Lusaka Airport, in October 1984, at twilight, with its tail, an orange Z stylised as an eagle, set on a green background. We flew on that beauty to Bombay, in what was my most memorable intercontinental flight.

As we approached the Indian airspace, dawn broke and we woke up. It was enthralling to see two engine nacelles hanging from the wing, against the backdrop of the azure Indian Ocean. What ensued was a quick visit to the cockpit, led by an eager stewardess. The flight crew were Zambians, and were happy to show off their smart cockpit to me, a precocious 8-year old, before they commenced their descent. Those were different days and innocent thrills of seeing a flight deck at work were easy to come by. Today that's unimaginable, for obvious, security reasons.

We flew on a trijet, McDonnell Douglas DC10 after that, which was again pretty smooth, but not quite like a quad - the thrill was lacking.

My last flight on a quad was on the Air Mauritius Airbus A340 from Plaisance to Bombay in October 2005. That was a pretty interesting flight - seeing the slim red nacelles hanging from the wing was a sight to behold.

In the last few years, I flew largely on Boeing 737s, Airbus A320s, Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s. But these flights were completely devoid of the thrill that one has of peering out of the window and seeing two nacelles hanging underneath the wing!

The era of quad-jet airliners which started with the Boeing 707 in the 1960s, seems to be ending now, with twin-jets being deployed for the job. Last month, Airbus announced that it was discontinuing the A340 line. With this development, the choice of quad-engine aircrafts reduces to just two - the Boeing 747-8 family and the Airbus A380. These Jumbos are niche products, which would not make much sense for most airlines. With limited flexibility of operations, these Jumbos can operate only from a limited number of airports around the globe, as a result of which we'll see fewer and fewer quads with each passing year.

A lot has been said about the efficiency and reliability of the twin-jets, which have been extended operations certified or ETOPS certified for non-stop intercontinental operations. For a few years now, they have been deployed for non-stop operations from India to the US East Coast, overflying the the Arctic. This cuts the flying time, bypassing a stopover in continental Europe.

The twin-jets, Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A330 have specially designed engine with a diameter exceeding the quad-engine nacelles by a factor of over 1.5. The higher diameter provides for the increased airflow through the engine for the required lift.

But twin-engines lack the redundancy that the quads provide. I dread to think of a situation on a twin-engine overflying the Arctic and one engine fails. Where would the aircraft land?

But an aviation enthusiast would lament the loss, the excitement of being mile-high (pun unintended) on an intercontinental flight and peering down upon two engines!