Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Across the 7 Seas...

I just got back from a short 2 week trip to the United States. It is amazing how developed that country is compared to us. Of course they have the advantage of having got independence 150 years before us and also it is a larger country than India with probably half the population. But still it is good to see everything spick and span. I transited through Frankfurt which is another huge airport. After the chaos at the Bangalore Airport, wandering around Frankfurt was so good. These countries have developed their airports so much. We dont even come close. Like the Bangalore Airport has just 2 gates and 2 aerobridges. Frankfurt has atleast 150 gates with 150 aerobridges. And to my surprise i realised that the new Bangalore International Airport will also have just 9 or 10 gates. I am sure that within a year that airport will become insufficient. Anyway going by the nature of Bangalore Traffic and the distance to the new airport i presume less peaople would use it. I think it would be cheaper to take a train to Chennai and take a flight from there. It will cost only a few extra hours. :)
Coming back to the US trip, this time i got a chance to visit New York and also stop at Washington for a few hours. NY is an amazing city. And the public transport system is top notch. I came away really impressed. And of course the roads the cars the expressways are all breathtaking. But in spite of all this i was glad to get on a flight back to Bangalore. After all 'there is no place like home'. While waiting for my baggage at the Bangalore Airport a German lady requested me to move my trolley little back from the conveyor belt so that other people could stand. I realised she was right and moved back. But i did tell her that if i dont do it, there will be 10 others to do it. And her response was "yes, right of course. After all we are now back in India :)". Just after she made the statement her expresssion seemed to indicate 'oh i am talking to an indian and maybe should not have told like that'. I just smiled at her and told her she was correct. :). After all India is India... still it was a good insight on what others thought of our country. But inspite of that she said she has been in Bangalore for 5 years and loves the place. India seems to have that magical capability to attract people....

2 comments:

Vijesh said...

Seems you had a nice trip. Share the photos!

Keerthy Rekha said...

hey Jeevs, yeah i felt the same way when my parents had to wait outside the airport when they came to see me off or receive me. even with a boarding pass they cudnt find a place to sit :( Oh yes, our airports need improvisation to cater to everybody's needs. Nice blog btw :)