Up In The Air .... Part 9

Up In The Air is back with the latest from a short trip to Hyderabad!

The awesome blue of the skies makes me go crazy. Probably I would have been a pilot in my last life, for this seems like home!

The earlier editions of Up In The Air can be accessed at:
Up In The Air .... Part 8
Up In The Air .... Part 7

Up In The Air .... Part 6

Up In The Air .... Part 5
Up In The Air .... Part 4
Up In The Air .... Part 3
Up In The Air .... Part 2
Up In The Air .... Part 1

CJB Ahoy!

Coimbatore or CJB was my point of call for a day in the mid of July. I took an IndiGo mid-morning flight - it was an Airbus A320. We took off amidst rain, but I was in snooze by then - sad I missed taking photos.

When I woke up, the cabin was bright, we were at cruising altitude. There was a thick cloud layer beneath us. But the sky above us and on the horizon was a bright blue. As always, the enchanting blues outside enthralled me. Only if I could the moment forever and always be in the midst of that bright blue sky!

The approach to CJB is wonderful. That part of India is pristine - dense forests teeming with biodiversity - wildlife and plantlife. We overflew the lush green hills of Conoor and Ooty to touch down down at Coimbatore.

As I headed from the airport towards the city, signs of a real estate boom were everywhere. I passed by a shopping mall which had just been completed. And a McDonald's was opening here. 

Oh no! Not here! This is the heartland of great spicy South Indian cuisine.

And surely I had my priorities right - after a few meetings I headed straight to the most well known Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar, which claims to be "The Pride of Coimbatore"!

The People's Park branch of Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar on Arts College Road had its walls adorned with portraits of our freedom fighters.

I was busy clicking away photographs and this lad found that a bit too amusing and could not help but smile. But soon it was time for him to dig into his thaali!

My masala dosa was awesome - steaming hot, light and flaky. The accompaniments were a spicy sambhar and three amazing chutneys - it all bordered on awesomeness!

A cup of hot and strong filter coffee had to follow! I had no space for any more when I saw the sweet counter. I had to literally pull myself away from this counter.

My next stop was Race Course Road - an leafy tree lined avenue with a certain laid back attitude that is hard to imagine in a metro.

And in the evening, it was time to get back home, but not before picking up a box of Mysore Pak at Sri Krishna Sweets' outlet at Coimbatore Airport!

A Sweet Journey To Orissa

Mid-July took me to the interior of Orissa. We took an early morning JetKonnect flight from Mumbai to Bhubaneshwar.

We had a quick bite at Cafe Coffee Day. Then there was a bus ride to the Boeing 737-900 which parked a short distance away. As it usually is during the Monsoons, take-offs and landings on the wet runway are interesting - the thrust of the engine leaves behind a magnificent spray!

We landed at Bhubaneshwar at 9AM. This was followed by a 4 hour drive to Angul district, through a magnificently green foliage.

The next day, we drove back to Bhubaneshwar for return back to Mumbai.

We stopped half-way between Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar at village called Pahala. There at a roadside shack, it is said that you get the best Chhena sweets. Chhena is fresh, unripened crumbly soft curd-cheese, much like ricotta.

The shacks at Pahala have huge vats of Chhena sweets - Rassagollas, Chhenapodas and. Chhenagajas. The Rassagollas are unlike those in Bengal - these are beige in colour, far sweeter and a lot more chewier!  But Oriya Rassagollas are equally delectable. It is believed that Rassagollas originated in Orissa and the secret was taken by the Bengalis as their own, who then went on to commercialize the sweet all over India. The Chhenapodas are smaller than the Rassagollas, little cubes of nearly a centimeter on each side.

Chennapoda is a unique dessert - cheese alongwith cardomom, sugar, raisins and cashews are shaped into a cake and baked to give it brownish crust. It is said that this heavenly delicacy was discovered by accident. Surely some accidents are interesting and good for mankind!

Very soon we reached Bhubaneshwar. We had an Air-India flight back. Interestingly, our captain was Manjeet Bawa Hirani, who happens to be the filmmaker, Rajkumar Hirani's spouse!

As we touched down at Mumbai, an interesting journey came to an end!

Up In The Air .... Part 8

Earlier this July, after the interesting incident involving the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and his cronies at Rajahmundhry airport, I headed back to Hyderabad for an onward connection to Mumbai. I had covered this incident in detail in my earlier blog - Shameless Men in White.

When my JetKonnect ATR72 took off from Rajahmundhry, the drizzle had just started. The SpiceJet Q400, which flown in the "dignitaries" looked awesome against the backdrop of the ominous dark clouds.

Incidentally the previous night had seen a massive downpour, said to be the heaviest in years, which had flooded the streets. Despite the dark clouds, the takeoff was rather smooth. The views of the massive Godavari River, after take off, were stunning, the ground was lush green - an indicator of how the Monsoons have a magical effect on India.

Very soon we reached cruising altitude, above the cloud cover the blue sky looked pristine, the clouds looked like cotton layered underneath us. Reflection of sun rays looked amazing on the short wings of the ATR72.

In less than an hour, we were set for touching down at Hyderabad, which is undoubtedly one of the best airports in India today. I had a two and hour hour stopover here.
Thanks to Jet Airways who have undone their partnership with Citibank for their cobranded credit card, I had recently migrated to the Premier Miles card which gave me ready access to the Premier Plaza lounge at the airport, where I had a lovely lunch - salads, chatpata chicken gravy, rice and green tea with tea cake. Complimentary net access got me hooked on to my mails - I was traveling light without my laptop, for a change!

The lounge itself was plush and trendy and quite welcoming. The best part was an exciting view of the runway and the ramp, a delight for any spotter - you can see my blog Plane Spotting at HYD for more pictures.

For some inexplicable reason, my JetKonnect flight to Mumbai was delayed for over half an hour. But when I boarded, I was upgraded to business class, which was a pleasant surprise.

While service in business class borders on awesomeness, I wonder why Jet Airways or even JetKonnect can't shape up in "cattle class", without resorting to what I would call mindless cost cutting. If they do that, they sure would get a lot more fliers.
Thanks to the upgrade, I enjoyed a warm cup of lemon tea with a ITC Sunfeast chocofill cookie. That kept me awake and I could complete Ruchir Sharma's Breakout Nations, by the time we touched down at Mumbai!
The earlier editions of Up In The Air can be accessed at:
Up In The Air .... Part 7

Up In The Air .... Part 6

Up In The Air .... Part 5
Up In The Air .... Part 4
Up In The Air .... Part 3
Up In The Air .... Part 2
Up In The Air .... Part 1