THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE.

We landed in Chennai on schedule and after checking in our onward luggage to Hyderabad proceeded to the Domestic Terminal. For a regional hub Chennai leaves much to be desired. I was told it had been a lot worse till the recent renovations had been done. But to me it didn’t seem to have been through any renovations and looked a mess. But my buddy assured me that this was not the case as he had travelled through here before, during and after the renovations. Apparently at one time the drive way to the Airport was alongside the walkway from the International to Domestic Terminals.

Anyway we got some magazines from one of the book shops and proceeded to the departure lounge for our almost eight hour wait for the connection to Hyderabad. It was unusually cold for this part of the world. Colombo had experienced the coldest weather in sixty one years because of the impact, experts had said, of Global Warming. We had with us warm clothes so it was comfortable. The time passed slowly and at last we heard the boarding call.

We boarded a bus to get the aircraft and I was a bit surprised. This was almost a two hour flight and I thought the renovations would have meant we walked to the aircraft from the lounge. Was I in for a shock! We were being flown in a two engine turbo prop that looked so short and small and did I have the he bee jeebees! For moment I was at loss for words. This was a come down with a nasty bang. The only analogy I could think of was a limo to a bullock cart!

You boarded the aircraft from the back and it was on a flight of five odd steps hanging on what looked like twine with a even thinner version as your handrail. I clutched at this and with some trepidation managed to board the plane. We were right in the front and there was another shocker. We were in two seats that were flush with the separating panel of the cockpit from the cabin and We had two passengers facing us and I swear if I had stretched my legs it would have landed in between the lady in front of me! Not something you would want to do in India. This was a small aircraft. The only time I had been in something smaller was way back in 1978 when due to bad weather and a strike by the El Air Crew there was only one flight out of Tel Aviv and I could have sworn that the plane’s wings were flapping to keep the aircraft in the sky! I wondered if I was in for a similar experience.

Taking off was even more unusual. The flight attendant pulled her seat from a slot before the door to the cockpit. It looked like one of those folding ironing boards you find in today’s space saving apartments. When she did her demonstrations I had to strain my neck backwards to get a glance at her! I was pushed forward on takeoff by a good eight inches off the backrest of the seat. But at the end of it all the flight was uneventful and smooth and we were on time. It was cold as hell and we quickly rushed through the airport to a Taxi and made are way to the Brides Residence.

Hyderabad was fun and I really enjoyed myself. I was seeing so many people I hadn’t met in a while and felt so much at home. It was an experience that I will never forget. The City is cosmopolitan and apparently has a large population of Sri Lankan Students who do inter marry with the locals and settle down quite well in this part of India.

We went for a walk one day into the town close by to where we were staying and the sidewalks were a death trap at least at that time. There was a lot of cable laying going on and I stubbed my toe many a time on those walks. A relation of my Buddy’s, he is tall bumped into a sign that clearly stated mind your head because he was looking down to avoid the pot holes in the sidewalk!

One stretch of the side walk had a long wall which had a sprayed message as to not pass urine There! The stretch that had this caution was clean, but further on there was no warning and it stank! I used to buy cigarettes from a shop that had a board stating it was the CICAGO CIGARATE & PAN SHOP.

The wedding was great and I learned of some enchanting customs when the Master of Ceremonies introduced and got all the guests to do some very interesting dances. Leaving early morning I noticed how in the night the streets had been swept clean and the City looked spick and span to greet the new day. The drive to the Airport was fast and the road leading to it was so well laid out. I was told by my friend that the Rajiv Gandhi Airport is reputed to be the best in India. I do not know how this compares with Delhi’s new terminal One but I was impressed.

Back in Sri Lanka on our way back home I saw something that really made this trip so eventful. On the back of a covered pickup truck was a three piece Papra band as they are known. They were an integral part of my childhood at carnivals at our neighborhood school fares. As for the jinx and the curse that has been in my life??? I think it is gone and I was looking forward to 2011!