Travelling in times of strife
‘Red alert in Delhi’ screamed the news when I actually saw it. By then my mother had already phoned me trying to dissuade me from travelling on 13th. 13th to 16th , the intelligence said was when the terrorists would strike in India. It took selling of the highest degree to convince maa. The clincher was that we were anyway going to have a branch picnic in Jammu on 15th which I would have to go to if I didn’t fly home. Airports wouldn’t be any less safer than Jammu that day.
So I reached Dshala bus stand to find that in the absence of the bridge we would be taken to Ranital along a diff route involving a 2 hr detour which really cut the time to reach the airport fine. I hopped into the hp transport bus dreading 2 hours of back breaking travel when I was joined by a most interesting lady.
An interesting lady as per my definition is any lady who looks/seems/is intelligent/nice and who is someone you look forward to talk to/interact with. As a rule I’ve always taken loads of time to talk to an interesting lady, since I really find them attractive which means I’m really not in control of the situation, which I don’t like. Of course there are also people I stay away from because I really don’t like them and those I really don’t feel like making the effort to interact with.
However I’ve lately made it a point to talk to the interesting ladies I meet. Polite enquiry resulted in me finding out that she was from yeole (yule) cantonement. Further enquiry confirmed that she was an army officer. To which my reply was cool. ‘Coool’, by now you realize why I stay away from interesting ladies. Anyway she seemed unaffected by my response and we chatted away till Ranital where we moved to our respective seats. The lady is from Belgaum and speaks Marathi. We were quite tickled to find the family ahead of us conversing in Marathi. We could understand each word of the mother scolding her kids :).
The Volvo journey was pretty cool and the seats were quite comfy. After a late late dinner, I was in dreamland. The bus trip to Ranital had taken about two hours and the journey thereon took about 9 hours. We finally reached ISBT early in the morning. I had to book tickets for the journey back (something I should have done at Dshala) and so ventured into the bus station. Jammu station at the end of my first tour had all these announcements about not touching any unidentified bag since it could be explosives. Delhi bus station had such similar warnings and seemed a little empty. This being my first visit to ISBT, I really had no reference with respect to the crowds there, but I really expected more of a rush. Delhi being on red alert meant that there were metal detectors at each entrance. All the technology in my bags soon had the detectors beeping like mad but to my surprise the guard let me proceed. I hope it was general profiling and not random checks because the family ahead of me was given one thorough checking. Anyway thankfully tickets for the trip back were easily available.
Work done, I hurried out to catch a Rick to the airport. I was booked on a Kingfisher flight which was scheduled for noon, however the news said that there were extra checks in place. Prasanna had called up and warned me about not carrying any liquids inflight. People were not even allowed to carry their medication in their hand baggage w/o a prescription.
The Rickshaw guy gave me a complete brief on security at Delhi. Telling me where security was, where not, how one could get through high security areas by bribing the right people. Suddenly Delhi at that time seemed really unsafe. The empty roads added to the effect. This trip was turning out to be quite the adventure.
I got off at the airport and was let in as usual w/o any major check. I was frankly too sleepy to take care of my luggage but security regulations that day didn’t allow the Kf people to keep my luggage. I anyway decided to get my backpack scanned. What ensued was very weird considering the security for the day. They sealed my backpack with the plastic strip thingy but did not secure the zips or the pouches and after the security check I was allowed to carry the bag back into the unsecure area. On top of it, it was really easy to open my bag and take out (or add) anything. Since security is really not my expertise, I decided I might as well take a nap. So lappy as my pillow and backpack by my side I was soon in dreamland. My cellphone had discharged, while both my watches conked off in the weather conditions I have been through. So I kept getting up to check the time.
It was just close to check in time that I remembered that dad had told me to get in touch with his cousin and family. So I phoned Govardhan uncle and Gaurav Bhaiya. They both seemed a little surprised that I hadn’t contacted them as soon as I reached Delhi. I had thought of it but the empty bus stand and the emptier roads had kept me from doing so. I really didn’t want them to venture out on such a day.
There was another security check before check in (something generally done only for J&K flights. All liquids in handbags were confiscated. Many women were not too happy seeing their lip gloss and foundation creams being taken away :). I didn’t see anybody fighting too keep their essential medicines so I hope they were allowed to keep it. I on my part always keep medication for my glaucoma handy but had it firmly packed in my backpack. I really didn’t expect to need it on such a small flight but found it really stupid that terror was forcing all of us to live in such fear. I must say everyone was most accommodating, though as usual I was allowed to carry my bag through w/o a second check :). Profiling is cool.
One of the weirdest experiences I had on this trip was when after the security check, I was trying to access wi-fi at the airport. The flyers that day mostly considered of foreigners, prominent among them a Japanese delegation who had their introductory session at the airport and an English group (their accent seemed propah). I was sitting on a chair trying hard to get my settings in place (I had disabled my Wi-fi card) when I suddenly felt a flash and a click. I turned to find one of the English ladies clicking my picture quite happily. All through this tour I had seen so many Indian tourists trying to click pictures with/of foreigners, I guess this was revenge :D or probably it was just amazement at seeing a modern Indian sitting laptop in hand at a modern airport terminal. Nothing dispels pre conceived notions better than finding out for yourself. Anyway I was too amazed to react and for once was at a loss for words.
The KF journey was nice thanks to the inflight entertainment system which had trance music which I plugged into and was soon asleep.
Mumbai, here I come

Luv,
Pranay