Up In The Air .... Part 22

These Up In The Air pics are from the recent trip to Varanasi.

Inbound into Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Babatpur, we flew on Air India's Airbus A319 VT-SCU. VT-SCU made her maiden flight on October 2, 2009 at Toulouse, France and was delivered to Air India on October 28, 2009.

The flight was pretty smooth with flawless takeoff and landing, I must admit Air India pilots are certainly a lot more skilled.

When we boarded at Mumbai, a group of Japanese pilgrims boarded with us. There must be about 30 of them, all very elderly but extremely dignified.

Since there were scattered all over the aircraft, a lady from the group requested a politician, presumably a UPite for exchanging seats. The paan-chewing politician much to my surprise smiled and said in English "Madam, you are our guests in India, anything for you!"

I was impressed...

Certainly IndiGo has a lot to learn.... learn especially about attithi devo bhava - अतिथि देवो भवः. 

The shortfinals into Babtpur was a disappointment...

I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the mighty Ganga, but there was so much haze that hardly anything was visible....

The red cowlings - casings for the engine look nice... especially with the sun-rays painted on them...

Much to my surprise, I discovered that Babatpur Airport is an international aiport with flights coming in from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal...

On the return leg, after a disappointing experience with IndiGo's staff at Varanasi airport, a flight a 1000 feet above us flying eastwards caught my attention... Unfortunately, I could only capture the contrails on the zoom... the pic was far too grainy...

The mighty Himalayas of Uttarakhand on the horizon...

At this altitude - 33000 feet, a quick calculation suggested that the mountain ranges were a good 360 kilometers away!

A few more mighty peaks emerge...

A zoom-in on the range...

A clearer view...

The Varanasi - Mumbai flight stopped at Delhi for an hour, and we took off from Delhi, we got an awesome view of the Arravali Hills.... 

Homeward bound, now over Vadodara....

The Curse Of The Triple-63?

Scanning some news websites yesterday, I came across an interesting insight on the Triple-63.

This was on the Russian economy - President Vladimir Putin, the rouble and oil are all heading for a figure of 63. The president turns 63 in October 2015, oil is already trading at close to USD 63 per barrel, and the rouble (RUB) is rapidly losing its value to the dollar (USD) - it is currently at  RUB 53 per USD. Speculation is that the RUB is likely to slide to 63 by next year.

Thus the Triple-63...

While it does seem to be a good omen that oil is finally falling, is it really so?

For most of the OECD countries, winter is setting in and the demand should rise putting pressure on prices, a normal seasonality. That isn't happening...

For some reason, OPEC is letting oil slide, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia's budget balances at nearly USD 90 to a barrel. That is indeed surprising because Saudi Arabia is the most influential OPEC member. The plight of other OPEC members isn't much different....

Indeed the price fall puts enormous pressure on Iran to fall in line with the West on the nuclear deal. Venezuela will be forced to tone-down the anti-US rhetoric.
But what intrigues me is why the Saudis are letting this fall in oil prices happen?
The answer lies perhaps in the Triple-63 - the West would love to see Putin in a mess, after how Putin embarrassed the West in Ukraine and Crimea. They would take Russia to the brink for that indignation. And to achieve that, the West wouldn't have battled an eyelid before doing what they probably did, my sixth sense that they did...
Play the Saudis, let oil fall to unforeseen levels and let Russia collapse, economically.
They would have had a quid-pro-quo for this...
Two things come to my mind - a deal between the West and the Saudis to let oil rally, say triple in say 2 years, to help the Saudis make all the money they have lost.
Or the second, which is equally sinister, let the Jihadis have a free run.... (that serves the military-industry complex well!)
Both deals are equally devastating for the world and India from an economic and a security standpoint...
India should immediately get into long-term oil contracts to build an optimal oil basket that will help us weather the the coming oil-shock. Also we now have a government that can take terror by its horns... But the government has to act fast....
But if oil triples, markets will tank, economies will falter, but gold will be the safe bet. So I would prescribe SIPping on gold ETFs starting now....
But then what happens to Russia, where we started this discussion?
The joker in the pack is China. Desperate to establish itself as a world power, it will do all it can to prop up the Russians. It will all boil down to a game of wits between the West and Russia....
Will the Triple-63 be a boon or a curse for the world economy? Time will tell.

Avoid IndiGo Like The Plague....

I am really appalled how success gets to a company's head, seeps into a company's DNA and corrupts them absolutely.

Over an year back, I had proudly declared on this blog of how I had become a big fan of IndiGo. However, a harrowing experience on Independence Day in 2013 jolted me and proved how fliers aren't independent, rather they are slaves to tyranny and high-handedness of a carrier that calls itself the best in the country....

Since then IndiGo has never been my carrier of choice, I have been at pains to recommend all and sundry I know not or rather never to fly on this carrier. Some of my friends echoed the lousy experiences I had  faced with this brand.

Very recently I had to fly on IndiGo from Varanasi to Mumbai. A dearth of seats on other carriers forced me to book on IndiGo, and all along I was dreading this leg of my journey.

My colleague and I reached Varanasi airport 2 hours prior to departure time and we got into the checkin queue which was fairly long. There were nearly 10 passengers ahead of me, most of whom were Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, who were probably visiting the Buddhist heritage sites in and around the city.

What pissed me off was the sheer inefficiency of the checkin agent Deepak who took an hour and 15 mins to checkin the group of 10.

Then he got into a verbal duel with two members of the group, apparently he was pestering them on some or the other  pretext - first baggage, then their identity documents and then on their through-checkin beyond Delhi.

The duel virtually got into a fist fight and one Sri Lankan had to scream back "You don't know how to behave?"

I was ashamed. We pride ourselves with having a tradition of attithi devo bhava - अतिथि देवो भवः.

For us, Indians, a guest is like God and yet IndiGo disrespects its guests and in turn to give India a bad name.... What a shame, especially when India is genuinely trying to become tourist friendly!

Finally my turn came. I had already pre-blocked the 3A seat, but this guy insisted on giving me 12A. "Why? I have already prebooked this seat." I was already losing my patience by then.

"You haven't done a web checkin, that's why!" he shot back with an attititude that stank of arrogance.

"So? Doesn't prebooking a specific seat have any sanctity at IndiGo?"

Grudgingly he relented and gave me 3A. I was now completely exasperated by Deepak's attitude, but I was happy I got what I wanted and moved on.

After security check we headed to our gate and in about 20 minutes boarding was announced. 

We headed to the boarding gate, both me and my colleagues had carry-on strolleys. 

As we reached the aircraft door, I saw Deepak standing at the end of the aerobridge, eyeing my colleague's strolley, which was slightly bigger than mine but nonetheless it was within permissible size limits to be classified as cabin baggage.

"You can't carry this on board" croaked Deepak angrily to my colleague. 

I already had enough of crap from this guy. I shot back at him saying this carryon was perfectly sized for the overhead bins and there was no way he could stop us especially when the bins were empty, gesticulating towards the cabin. 

Another IndiGo agent, a good soul, who was standing close by came forward and said "No problem, Sir, please proceed!"

Deepak pretended to look the other way.

On my return, I tweeted to IndiGo about this incident and I got the standard spiel from them that they would investigate. (They had promised to investigate about my incident an year back but zilch came out of it, rather I faced a wall of defiance and arrogance.)

Two days back I received a series of calls from a Gurgaon number - 0124-4352500  at 10 am, when I was neck-deep in work. A lady wanted to discuss the matter as though it were a matter of life and death....! 

Good lord! These guys at IndiGo have a knack of perfectly being on the wrong side of what is acceptable etiquette! Or perhaps this kind of attitude is "IndiGo Standard Etiquette"!

Never did I hear from them again.... Such is their arrogance! Sometimes I wonder how incident after incident is perfectly acceptable to them, perhaps that is in their corporate DNA right from the very top, their top management. Perhaps their staff is encouraged to behave like this. No wonder, the newspapers frequently have news reports complaining about IndiGo.

They ought to realise this arrogance is like a termite infestation - will make them hollow from within. And with competition coming in from Air Asia India and Vistara coming in, it's only a matter of time before they face the heat.

As for me, I was indeed a wannabe IndiGo loyalist way back in early 2013, but the incident on August 15, 2013 changed all that and this incident completely reinforced the view that flying IndiGo just isn't worth it, no matter how cheap the fare is, i.e. if it is cheap....

I would never ever, never ever recommend IndiGo to anyone, please spend a thousand or two more on Air India or Jet Airways but travel with dignity, avoid IndiGo like the plague.... (Trust me Air India is much better as a product!)

Amazing Indian Landscapes Part 8

This was my first time in Madhya Pradesh and as we travelled across in and around Singrauli, which is India's energy heartland.... 

As you travel through the region, you see power plants, dams and coal mines all around....

But I was pleasantly surprised as we entered Mohan Ban Reserve Forest. It was pristine.....

The rolling hills of the Vindhyas, densely forested in patches, were a treat to be in after the dusty drive through the roads of Singrauli!

These forests are indeed Amazing Indian Landscapes....

There is a rustic charm in driving along these dusty rural roads.... the crisp winter air, the blue sky and lots of greenery, what more could I ask for?

The slanting rays of the winter Sun!!!!! The warmth was comfortable....

Wonder whose journey lies on this rutted path?

I could spend the whole day relaxing here, but I had to head back 250 kilometres to Varanasi, the world's oldest living city....

There is so much to explore in lovely country, myriad landscapes, places that are off the beaten track, yet absolutely untouched and pristine.... Indeed, there is so much to see and do, in India..... So hope I head to the next Amazing Indian Landscape soon! 

Goodies From The Heartland...

One of the most exciting aspects of travelling is getting to discover gourmet surprises in unlikeliest of places.

This whirlwind trip to the Hindi heartland - to the oldest living city in the world, Varanasi and the drive beyond Varanasi to Madhya Pradesh, to an area which is the confluence of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh proved to be the exact opposite of boring and unexciting, notwithstanding the gruelling 9-hour drive over 250 kilometres.

We stopped by for an unexciting lunch at a dhaba in a village called Ahraura, near Sukirt that's where I discovered Uncle Chipps on sale....

Those of us who grew up in the late 1980s and early 1990s would recall their catchy jingle "Bole mere lips, I love Uncle Chipps"

Today, this brand is practically dead in the metros, but it continues to live on in the hinterland....

A monkey stands guard at the Airtel signage....

Proliferation of telecom companies and new-age banks in the hinterland proves that the savvy and demanding consumer not only exists but thrives much beyond urban India

Kesri Sweets at Ahraura was a true revelation....

Recommended by a colleague who grew up in these parts and our driver, Shukla, Kesri Sweets has the best gulab jamun I have ever had....

Soft and juicy, these gulab jamuns oozed out an untold goodness, obviously, we had to ignore the flies around....

Waking up in Varanasi to a brilliant sun rise in my hotel room's window, I couldn't help but wonder how much history this ancient city, this oldest living city in the world has seen....

Sunrises like this one here, over the last few millenia have kept the spirit of city alive despite numerous murderous attacks on the faith and devotion of the people....

Till today, the ghats and temples of Varanasi survive, as testimony to the indomitable spirit of our people....

Sadly, I wasn't in a position to visit Assi Ghat and Dashashwamedh Ghat this time. Maybe the next time....

On the way to the airport, we stopped by for a Banarsi breakfast at an unnamed and unmarked shop selling local goodies....

A steady stream of hungry people kept the staff busy....

Dal kachori which looked more like a poori with a channa-potato gravy - this was an absolute treat.....

We followed the kachori with piping hot jalebis.... Crispy and juicy, these jalebis weren't a wee-bit oily, much to my delight....

With the sweetness of the jalebis in particular and Varanasi in general, we are now heading to Babatpur to catch a flight back home... 

Up In The Air .... Part 21

The latest edition of Up In The Air is back with some breathtaking photos from a recent trip to Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. This time around, I was forced to travel on IndiGo, an airline that I love to hate for their snootiness, after a bad experience last year. 

But the sights from Up In The Air more than compensated for the chilling reminders of how callous and haugthy IndiGo had been with me....

We were crossing Maharashtra into Chhattisgarh....

Clouds over Chhattisgarh were amazing....

And the horizon looked breathtaking with its brilliant blue....

Now you know why I love blue, but not the blue of IndiGo...

Massive cumulonimbus clouds as we entered the airspace over Orissa...

We trailed the Mahanadi as we set course for Bhubaneshwar...

These clouds seem to be left behind by Cyclone Hudhud....

The Mahanadi is quite a beauty...

The cumulonimbus clouds appeared to be scattering...

The greenery of Orissa is a massive treat for the eyes...

The hide and seek with the Mahanadi continued....

 I love this greenery....

The shadow of the clouds...

This is like paradise...

The Mahanadi in the distance....

On the short finals into Bhubaneshwar....

On the way back, I did encounter the beautiful sights Up In The Air, but I did have to catch up with sleep...

The next edition of Up In The Air should follow soon...