Sunday, March 30, 2008

A world class airport awaits you!



Last Sunday night, i witnessed my return journey from India to Germany..

To my utter surprise, i was quite happy to see a guard offering me a trolley with a smile, for my luggage at the IGI airport..

Everywhere, i saw the banners displaying in bold:

..

" A world class airport awaits you, till then inconvenience is regretted !! "

Hats off to you GMR guys !!

Leveraging on their recent success by marvellously renovating the Hyderabad international airport, am sure the efficiency and comfort of the passengers at IGI too is going to increase manifold.

Looks like India is all geared to host Common Wealth games in 2010.

Tourists from Jamaica who seemed to be spellbound by the diversity of India were sitting close to my seat in the waiting room. They also appreciated the efforts by GMR and wished the best for the future.

I was surprisingly given a royal treatment by the Alitalian crew..Courtesy the Italian flag on my T-shirt and BVB football cap on my head..)


The day unveiled one more pleasant surprise for me inside the plane..)

Guess who was sitting with me..??

A European lady in her mid thirties...

She sounded very listless in the waiting room, guess really tröubled by Delhi's scorching heat..)


Very innocently she asked me,


" Why is Delhi always so dirty,
why r people always cleaning,
Guess they have to start cleaning the very moment they have finished..))"

She happened to be a renowned social anthropologist, visiting Delhi University frequently for delivering lectures over diverse social topics!!

Probably a google search on her name " Britta Ohm" will throw a lot of light on her current projects in India ranging from Indianizing transnational television to Indian Software Revolution..

Her book on Indo Nationalism Globalization will be published soon costing 600 INR..

She almost took my interview..Wont be really surprised if i see my name in some of her upcoming books..!



I was really happy to be back to my charming city, Düsseldorf.. and enjoy the mesmerizing snowfall here!

We discovered a new city Wuppertal today, quite famous for covering the entire city by its suspended monorail ...the aerial ferry over the river wupper almost felt like a ride on a roller coaster..

There r still so many places yet to be explored..! .
.
Inspired by old hindi melodies these days, here i go with one of my favorites from the movie Anand..



Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune,
Sapne, surile sapne,
Kuch hansee ke, kuch gum ke,
Teri ankhon ke saye churaye rasili yaadon ne,
Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke...
.
.

Choti baaten,
Choti choti baaton ki hai yaadein bani,
Bhoole nahin bithi hui ek choti ghadi,
Janam janam se, aankhen bichaaye,
tere liye in rahon mein,
Maine tere liye ...
.
.


Bhole bhale,
Bhole bhale dil ko behlate rahe,
Tanhai mein tere khayalon ko sajate rahe,
Kabhi kabhi tho, aavaaz dekar, mujhko jagaya khabon ne,
Maine tere liye ...
.
.

Roothi raatein,
Roothi hui raaton ko jagaya kabhi,
Tere liye bithi subah ko bulaya kabhi,
Tere bina bhi, tere liye hi,
diye jalaye raaton mein,
Maine tere liye ...
.
.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Do you think just building a so called world-class infrastructure would ensure smooth ride for passengers?

The way the flights are delayed due to whim of some money-eating politician, presence of stray animals on runways, international flight agencies not being informed of the change in airport location and topography, overbooking and then offloading are just some recent examples that prove it takes more than tools to become a class.

With almost all projects on CWG delayed, pollution levels in the city rising, traffic congestion, accommodation unavailability are just some of the indications that the committee might shift the venue.

Anyways, it seems your flight back second home was quite memorable. Wishing you luck and hoping to see your interview. You still have the entry on snowfall pending ;)

And yes, you ended with a very beautiful song. Have a wonderful time.

Vibhu Rishi said...

"my return journey from India to Germany"

"I was really happy to be back to my charming city, Düsseldorf.. "

hmm. i thought it was a foreigner writing. Was wondering why i was understanding the song ... it was in hindi and not in German ! :D

Unknown said...

Hey... tell me one thing... where do you get such nice pics for your blog from?

Pilot-Pooja said...

Hi Sandy!

Guess it is the sound of an intelligent Civil engineer, disappointed by the current states, speaking through the comment ..(

You r undoubtedly right, but let us begin on the new road with a new hope, that things will surely work one day..

Problems r everywhere..Take the example of Olympics prep in Beijing, hardly 4-5 months to go .. n they r still flooded with loads of problems..

Lets keep our fingers crossed for the Best, we cant let this opportunity go away at any cost!

Pilot-Pooja said...

Thanks for liking the song..Wishes shall be passed to our talented "Mukesh"..

For the pics, i have one permanent source, GOOOOOOOOOGLE...ultimate collection!!!

Pilot-Pooja said...

Hey Vibhu!!

What a pleasant surprise to have ur comments!!
Where r you these days!

Ur comment is real cool..Soon i will be back to my motherland..will post a German song then..)

Had to update you with one thing..

When i click your name as visible in ur comment, it says the profile is not available, though it shd take the reader to ur blog!

Guess some technical problem with blogger code!
I shd have informed this much earlier though..(

Unknown said...

I love the colored rose picture!!And I like the free trolleys/carts at the IGI airport - small luxuries.Here in the US, we have to pay $3 for that cart!!

Pilot-Pooja said...

Thanks a ton Sandy for wishing me luck in Britta's next edition..)

Yah..the post on snowfall is yet to be penned..but guess that will be real tough this time bcz of time crunch at my end..

May be i shd visit Switzerland fst!

Pilot-Pooja said...

Oh thats really good to hear Sara that we dont have to pay for trolleys in India!!

How was ur trip to India!!

3 cheers for India!!

Rita Loca said...

I love reading about your trips!!!Places I will, sadly, probably never see!

Pilot-Pooja said...

Many thanks for your beautiful words, dear Jungle Mom..
I am a big fan of urs n many many congrats for crossing the 50K landmark..!!!

Hats off to you dear!
trust me..you will visit India n Europe too one day!
I wld love to see their description on ur canvas one day!

Anjali Damerla said...

Pooja,
Do you speak German ? Just curious.

Jas said...

Pooja, let me chip in with sandy ;)

Hey Sandy, u moron, u need to remove that apple in front of ur eyes to see actual green :P

but on a serious tone, i do agree with him a bit (its a bit, mind it Sandy!) Staying in Hyd, it was shocking to see how GMR made airport has been used for political gimmicks. Just a day before it was supposed to be open (the date was decided months in advance) its opening got delayed. Reason? nobody wanted to shift to new airport!! And people started discussing should it be used at all or not! and mind it, this airport is India's most advanced, so it must have been a damn expensive project. Some associated it to telengana creation and others to Sonia being Italian (!)

While its wonderful to be in time where India is making a significant impact in the world, it does hurt to see this selfish reasons. China has been quite strict on making sure its reputation is kept during games, i wonder if we can do same in CWG.

And a lovely song to sum up the post! Ah, I write too much, aint it? ;)

Unknown said...

Jas! Dude, you are always late - the apple has already fallen to gravitation! :D

As suggested can't mind, for I have no mind ;)

Ankit Chaturvedi said...

u r totally songbuff :)
good to read ur comment
keep writing http://ankitchaturvedi.blogspot.com