DAY ONE:- THE DEPARTURE


We Hindus have a particular significance and an intransigent fixation with vermilion or sindoor as it is known to us. It marks departure as well as welcome. So it was on this fortunate morning our foreheads were stained with vermilion and an additional few grains of rice to complete the effect that my teary eyed family members wished us luck and bid us adieu at the newly furbished Indira Gandhi International Terminal, New Delhi. I touched my parent's feet and so did the wife as is customary and our journey began with our foray at the Qantas Airlines check-in counter. Well before time, we filled up our immigration forms and were very quickly through the security check, luggage checked-in and handbag in tow, we settled down at the boarding lounge. I caught a cup of coffee and checked out the newspaper while my only companion tried out some refreshing bread pakoras.


Eventually boarding began and amidst all the hullabaloo between the Jet Airways staff and owners we managed to board the aircraft for our 5-hour plus journey to Singapore, where we would be changing planes. A nice window seat, I reclined my chair and quickly plugged in the headphones because I neither had the patience nor the inclination to hear the oft-repeated aircraft safety procedures. Half an hour after an uneventful take off, breakfast was served which was, as expected hardly edible, both of us just had a couple of fruit slices, orange juice and just simply set aside the food trays. In-flight entertainment was really good, so I watched 'The Hangover' and 'The Dark Knight' and I was hardly done with the latter that Changi Airport, Singapore was announced.


Changi Airport is spread in about 1300 hectares, has 92 aerobridge carousels for boarding and unboarding and sees about 70 million passengers every year, distinguishably among the busiest and largest airports of the world and for me it has always been a visual delight, I absolutely adore Harry's and the Cactus Garden on Terminal 1. We had a two hour stop and I must admit this time passed away so fast that we didn't even realise, such is the exuberance of Changi Airport. And this time we had a huge British Airways plane and our business class seats were like sofas. The food here also was horrible, but I did take in a couple of drinks so that I could sleep off during the flight as it was eight and a half hour long. Funny that even though we were traveling on a Qantas ticket with Qantas boarding cards, neither of the two flights were operated by Qantas. I soon fell asleep on these thoughts, only to wake up and find that there were still four hours to go, the flight plan showed that we were hanging somewhere above waters and I couldn't figure out where. Nevertheless I took a coffee and set down to watch 'Borat', which was actually very amazing, a rare thing for Oscar winners. I might just write a blog review of Borat (and the animated protagonist, whose sister was number four prostitute in Kazakhstan), but that's another story!


By the time we safely landed on the runway of Kingsford Smith International Airport, Sydney, the date had changed and it was 7 A.M. local time and the watches were adjusted accordingly and I realised I had crossed 24 hours in a span of 16 hours. It was a chilly morning and the Sydney morning air had the effervescence we so desire in the Delhi air. Our transport was ready and we were soon dropped off at the Rydges World Square, our accommodation for the next 3 days, and it was just a 10 minute walk from the famous Darling Harbour which we realised only after spending about 50 dollars in cabs, a little too late to our chagrin.