Clouds and More

I like shooting the clouds from the window of a plane. Living in the cloud is not the prerogative of data alone. We can temporarily enjoy The Cloud too. On a recent flight, these are from the Eastern parts of India-

 and these masks are displays at Kolkata airport..above and below.

 This is the view from the escalator (below) while transiting.

Airport Blogging

Blogging from the airport maybe for the second time. It is a nice experience if you have a comfortable seat and a table- obviously, not in the waiting area. But a lounge, yes. Lounging around with a laptop and time on your hands? Ideal.

No bandhs, no rain, and nothing to delay the arrival into the airport. Mumbai has never been pleasanter. Sunday evening too, so the lounge is also pleasantly uncrowded. Rare are such happenings, like a Blood Moon or a sighting of Halley's Comet (next expected in 2061, so I shall have a view from the other side).

Digital Marketing-the course- is on at Mumbai, and (hopefully) a training program on it will run in September at IIM Indore. Blogging is part of the curriculum in the course, so at least here, I practice what I preach-every available chance.

Airports, Airlines and Hotels

This is an academic discussion about airlines, airports and hotels based on recent flights (real ones, not flights of fancy). I taught services marketing, after all, and wrote a book on it too.

The airports vary wildly in terms of layout and convenience. Chennai airport (inside, check-in and security) is very chaotic, and gives you a feeling that a Bohemian designed it. First of all, there are unnecessary lines everywhere-for baggage screening. Most civilised large airports do this after you check bags in. Here, they do it before, causing untold misery, and long lines in places other than check-in. Thank God those horrible bag tags are gone-no one knew why they were there-maybe the British had mandated they should be, in 1929.

On the positive side, arrivals lounge is decent, and the parking for various brands of taxis is very friendly. No stops on the way out of the airport.

About Jet Airways, a few good words. At least one of the air hostesses on both flights I took was courteous enough to get me a pillow to rest my arm on, when she noticed it (the arm) was broken. This was voluntary, without my asking for it, and therefore special.

A final good word about GRT Grand, the hotel I stayed in at Chennai. One of the waitresses at their restaurant was really cool, chatty and refreshing, while doing her work efficiently all the time. Makes you wonder what would happen if ALL service providers were like her....Utopia?

Airport Art

Airports generally have a lot of advertising- for tourism, or cosmetics, or for their own duty-free shops if international. But depicting your culture through airport art is an art..and Mumbai airport Terminal 2 seems to have done a lot of it right. The murals on its walls are good at showing Indian motifs - sample these.

From T2 Mumbai with Love

My first-ever blog post from this brand new terminal. So what? You may well say. So, nothing, I would reply. It's as bad as from anywhere else. On way to Dubai to teach at our weekend MBA there, this shining touchscreen caught my attention. Enough to get me going.

End with a question. Why do we need a new airport in New Mumbai?

Airport Musings- Start of 2012

This one's from the lounge at Mumbai international airport. Afternoon flight to Bangkok for a conference. Afternoons are a lot less crowded, and immigration is a breeze unlike late night flights, when you are sleep-deprived, edgy, and there's a huge crowd.

Australia seems to have done to India's confidence (in cricket) what we did to them (it seems) eons ago in India. The bowlers are our only hope, as they haven't yet given up. The second test is in its second day as I write, and it looks pretty grim.

The Lokpal agitation had an unexpected finish, with everyone involved taking a deep breath, it looks like. May be for the better if a more evolved thought process goes into the core problem of minimising corruption at various levels. One solution may not fit all dimensions of it, and may not work unless it is well thought out.

Nagpur had a shower on New Year's Eve, and balmy weather thereafter for a couple of days, more like Spring than Winter. Unfortunately for people in Cuddalore, it was a bad start to 2012, with the storm hitting the town south of Pondicherry.

Airport Blog

A first for me- blogging from an airport internet connection. The first floor on Mumbai airport's domestic terminal. Seems like a damn good terminal, better than the one on the ground floor, which is congested. Making some strides towards an international look and feel, in some areas. The first flight from Nagpur was also surprisingly nice, and almost on time. While I wait for the next to Chennai, these are some musings on life at an airport, as felt first-hand. I am destined to spend a lot of time at airports, so might as well make the most of it.

Nagpur airport also has inaugurated its aerobridge recently, and the number of flights out of Nagpur has gone up too, with added connections to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Srinagar (via Delhi) etc. Spicejet started flying to Nagpur, but Kingfisher seems to have stopped doing so.

Got to go check the food options.