Mere mention of the word cycle evokes memories of my childhood

My first bicycle was in the late 50s

 

One fine morning me and my brother decided to go out for a ride in our newly acquired machines

We rode to Ghanta Ghar about one and a half kilometre from our house

The tram used to come to Ghanta Ghar ,Sabzi Mandi  and culminated there

I was still learning how to ride the cycle

I saw the Tram tracks and decided to ride the cycle inbetween these tracks

Lo and behold ,the next thing I knew I was on the ground with the cycle all over me and a burst tyre

So much for the first experience

In the early 60s I was given a bicycyle yet again to go to school

St.Xaviers our school was  on Raj Niwas Marg and we used to cycle there  and back every morning and afternoon. It was approximately a 30 minute ride and we had to maneuvar  a hilly patch called BOUNTA near the Delhi University.While going up was tough,coming downhill was always fun and enjoyable

Initially we would get off the cycle at the base of the hill and walk up..Gradually as we got used to it and our stamina built uo we used to cycle all the way up

Once on the first day after the summer vacations we asked our dad for one rupee for bus fare to go to school

He asked us if there was anything wrong with the cycle.We said no but since it was the first day after the vacations and we had not cycled to school for almost 2 months,we would like to go by bus

He took out the money and gave it to us

As we were leaving he called us and asked how we will go to school the next day.

We said by cycle..He just remarked but wont that be the first day

We got the message ,returned the money and went to school by cycle

Later on I acquired 3 more cycles in different phases of my life .regular ones and the racing ones with gears..

While in Air India I uses to handle the Atlas Account and the owner Jaidev Kapoor graciously presented me with a racing cycle with Gears

I used it a number of times on my off days but sadly it was stolen from our house

 

I have just returned from a Quick 8 day  trip to the  US ( New York)

The purpose of this blog is to share the processes and procedures for staff travel  as it may be useful to all my colleagues who may intend to travel  on SOL basis  due to an impending emergency and/or unavoidable reasons

PLEASE NOTE  THAT THE PANDEMIC SITUATION IS DYNAMIC AND THE REGULATIONS KEEP CHANGING..WHAT I EXPERIENCED WAS  THE RULES PREVAILING BETWEEN 11 AND 18NOV

While these are the general guidelines ,it will be advisable to check the government websites for the latest HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

DELHI

a)      Please list yourself  on the flight you propose to take

b)      Take a printout/email showing the flight you wish to travel on

c)       At the airport entry is allowed on the basis of the printout/mobile application

d)      The staff are required to contact the LAST counter in aisle F or G for check in

e)      Please check the aisle where AI flights are being checked in and  go to the correct counter

f)       For those entitled to UGJ, the same is done at the gate approximately one hour before departure

g)      It is advisable to go at least  2 hours earlier to avoid delays

h)      Remember the AI flight gates are quite far and it may take up to 10/15 minutes to get there after security

i)        Please remember the flights are handled by AI SATS at DELHi and other designated Handling agents at the respective airports. Generally no AI staff is available

j)        Handling agents are particular about weight restrictions even for Hand baggage(7 kgs)

The departure of my flight AI 101/11 Nov was 0155..I was at the airport by 11.30

The entry into the airport was smooth, no lines .no health checks, except a temperature check

Since I had UGJ   I went to the Business class counter. I was directed to the Staff Counter which is the last counter

I was checked in and the staff asked me to weigh the Hand baggage.. It was 9 kgs.. She asked me to remove some items and keep it in the checked baggage which was under weight. I explained to her that it had woolens which I will wear later on ..She agreed..

The security check  was smooth ..The walk from the security to the departure gate was app 12 to 15 minutes as it is the last gate

After a further scrutiny of my documents by the AI Security  and security frisking I reached the boarding gate at about 12.15..

I contacted the AI counter and was relieved to find that I had been upgraded to business class.

The seat numers were changed on the old economy card and he baggage tags removed and given to me

Prior to boarding we were given masks with instructions to have them on through out the flight

On Board/Inflight DEL JFK

 

Once on board.we were directed to our seats with specific instructions to keep the masks on.

This was  a brand new aircraft with a  2 2 2 configuration in business class instead of the regular 2 3 2 configuration. The total number  of seats were 36 with NO block for crew thereby making the business class availability more by 9 seats

Each seat had a packed box of food and a bottle of water.

The goodies box consisted of a juice, pattie(vegetarian, muffin(hard and stale),water bottle energy bar, tomato sauce and a trash bag

Repeated announcements were made to keep the empty/trash in the trash bag provided for collection by the crew subsequently

The crew wore PPE kit throughout the flight with minimum interaction with the passengers

There was no service of tea and coffee but one could go the galley and ask for it. The same was served by the crew. Regrettably, despite abundant stock of cashew  nuts and almonds, nothing was offered to the passengers..(sad)

Four hors prior to landing a HOT Meal service consisting of VEG/NV (Chicken) Biryani was served with another packed box almost similar to the one given on departure. The Hot meal consisted of Yoghurt and paratha

Tea, coffee was offered

All passengers were given Health Declaration forms to be completed 

Though the inflight entertainment was working there were no new movies

The flight was smooth with hardly any turbulence

We landed at JFK  20 minutes ahead of schedule

 

 

ARRIVAL  JFK

 

There was no rush at Immigration .Social distancing/Masks  was implemented  by the immigration officials

No one asked for the Health Declaration form ,nor did I handover my form to them. There was no fingerprinting done as per the usual practice

After routine questions at immigration, picked up my bags, took a cab to the hotel

The hotel already had my reservation and did not ask for any Health declaration or covid report though I had one with me

The Restaurants in the hotel  were closed  and the breakfast was given out in boxes

It was sumptuous and consisted of cereal, Sandwich ,waffles ,eggs juice, muffin yoghurt ,energy bar etc.

The tea and coffee were readily available through self service

About 6 microwaves were there for warming your food

The Housekeeping services were done once in 3 days  though bathrooms were cleaned everyday

Only 20 to 25 % of the shops were open

The Restaurants could only accept 50% of the seating capacity and checked the tempearture of all the guests

It was advisable to make a reservation prior to going to a Restaurant

We returned after 7 days

 

JFK DEL ..Check in at JFK

The check was smooth. One has to fill out a form prior to check in ,indemnifying AI against deportation and confirming that you were not having fever etc.

The security was smooth and we were upgraded at the boarding gate

All passengers were given face shields and those seated in the centre row were given PPE Kit to be worn on the flight

The inflight service was similar to outgoing with hardly any variation

ARRIVAL DELHI AIRPORT

The flight landed 25 minutes earlier

As per the Ministry of home Affairs all incoming International Passengers have to get a COVID Test done 72 hours prior to arrival. The same has to be either loaded on the delhi airport portal or brought with you

 

There are 3 categories of passengers for Health Clearance

a)      Those who have loaded it on the Airports portal and received an OK. .The clearance is smooth as no other verification is required

b)      Those who have brought the report with them…One has to go through 3 checkpoints for verification/counter verification before being cleared.The process is smooth and  the time taken varies with the rush.I took 15 minutes

c)       Those who don’t have a report…They can get it done at a cost of rs 5000 Per person and it takes about 4/5 hours for the report to come

 

 

I understand that on arrival the Taxis are available only  to those who have pre booked the same on the app of the taxi

Overall a nice quick trip

Stay Safe ,Stay Healthy and Stay Fit

Making the Right Choice

 As we all go through life we come across a number of occasions when we have to make a choice

We take a decision based on the circumstances at that particular point of time

Some are impulsive decisons, some analytical ,some based on past experience

We take these decisions without interpreting the consequences it will have on our lives in the future

These decisions may turn out to be just frivolous ,some life changing and some just routine , bearing no consequence on our day to day life

Certain decisions are routine, like getting from the bed in the morning ,doing the regular daily chores, getting ready to go to work, spending time with family and friends 

We don't spend time on such decisions. They come naturally to us and we don't stand and ponder as to what we should do

Sometimes, but rarely will we pause and stare, think and then move forward

Sometimes we just follow the gut feeling and leave the rest to whoever we believe in

Much later in life if things go awry because of a wrong decision, we blame the circumstances

We often say.

What could I do   

I had no choice but to take that particular decision and make that particular choice

Only a few have the courage to admit that they were wrong..

That they had a choice BIUT made the wrong choice

Only those who are courageous enough to admit that they had a choice and made the wrong choice are the ones who succeed in life as they are intelligent enough to learn from their mistakes rather than blame the circumstances

So you decide for your self ..WHO are you

One who learns from his mistakes or who leaves life to be governed by circumstances

After all Life is what we make of it and its about Making the right choice.

Only those who learn from their mistakes, are prepared to admit their mistakes will be real  winners

g

My poem

 My poem for my son,daughter in law n grandchildren on the eve of their immigration to UK 

As you grow wings 

To fly far far away

Leaving the nest which nurtured you

Which was your cosy home so far

Forget you not your old ties

The bonds which are so dear

With all those who were far or near

As you ascend to great heights

In lands hitherto unknown 

Forget you not 

Your original roots

Keep your eyes and ears grounded

N hear the heartbeats of your loved ones

Whom you leave behind

You will grow

You will mature

Like a flower you will blossom

Spread your fragrance in the world

Which you are going to embrace

Those of us who you  leave behind

Will laugh at the thought of good moments spent together

Will also  cry

Not with anguish 

But with a smile 

Cherishing the memories of the wonderful times

Everyday in every moment of our lives

You will stay etched in our thoughts

As we pray to the almighty 

For the welfare,progress health wealth n prosperity of a great future

Start of my AI journey

Though I joined AI on 15 Jan 1973 ,my tryst with the aviation industry started way back in he summer of 1956


During our summer holidays we decided to spend some time with our cousins at our maternal
uncles house in Moti Bagh

The Delhi airport ,hitherto functional from Safdarjung, had just moved to Palam

One fine morning me and the other five cousins decided to go to palam airport for our morning walk 

We asked our mamji how far was Palam Airport

He just gestured and muttered something like....not too far..ज्यादा दूर नहीं है 

Armed with this information we started out at approximately six in the morning and ambled along

However the palam airport was nowhere in sight

We trudged along fresh with the morning energy and finally around 8 am. reached Palam airport

 unlike today, there were no strict security regulations and we could manage to go right upto the tarmac only a few yards away from the aeroplane parked majestically on the tarmac

I don't remember what aircraft it was ,but presume it was an Indian Airlines aircraft

We were overawed with the spectacle as for most of us it was a first sight of a LIVE aircraft

We stood there for an unknown length of time and once we were done moved inside the building

The first thing I  did was to call my mother in Kamla Nagar from the PCO.I still remember the number 24905

When I told her excited where we were, her words to me were..ध्यान से रहना॥ कहीं हवाई जहाज के नीचे मत आ  जाना and I  told her we would be careful

After the initial euphoria, now was the time to go back. All tired and the energy having dissipated in the summer heat we started walking back

Every now and then we would look over our shoulders to see if any one could give us a lift back to Motibagh

However it was not to be

Then we found a half full packet of PASSING SHOW Cigarettes on the road side

We picked it up ,hoping to use it to lure someone to give us a lift

We saw someone on a Lambretta scooter and waved the packet at him

He stopped and and we requested him for a lift

He agreed and all six of us jumped on to his scooter. He was mad and almost threw us off before driving off

After about fifteen minutes we saw a cyclist who was kind enough to stop

After hearing our ordeal he agreed to give a lift to my cousin

He went home with him, picked up a cycle and did a relay till we were all back home tired but happy with the experience

This was my first brush with aviation

Unknown to me I would make the aviation industry as my career in the years to come 

Re Kanishka Crash

The day is etched in my memory even after 35 years
I was incharge of the Baggage Services unit at IGI airport
My first foreign posting to Muscat Oman as Airport Manager had just been announced
The AI staff college had organized a 5 day orientation program at Mumbai ,at that time called Bombay
I was to travel to Mumbai for the same on that fateful day by Indian airlines flight at 5 pm
I reached the airport at 3.30pm n sent up to my office on the mezzanine floor leading to the Chefair Restaurant
AN Sharma who was on shift duty in Baggage service or  the LL unit met me
His face was from as he told me that 184 had crashed
My first thought and reaction was that it was the  Indian Airlines domestic flight between Delhi n Mumbai as IC operated with that flight no also
The second thought was that my flight to BOM was cancelled because of this
Not even in my wildest dreams did it occur to me that it was  our very own AI 184
Being  a Sunday,it was  a split shift in Traffic with NO duty officer
In those days there were NO flights in the afternoon on Sundays and the first flight was AI 102 arriving just around midnight
I rang up Mr. B S Phool( now deceased) and apprised him if the situation
His instructions were to cancel my visit to Mumbai n take over the shift
A make shift desk for Passengers queries was set up at the airport
Airport authority of India requested to beef up security and passenger manifest were printed n copies made from the incoming telexes
By then it was 9.30 pm
Gradually the word spread about the tragedy n there wasx a pall of gloom all over
The first relatives of the passengers on the ill fated flight entered the airport around 9.40 pm
I was standing behind the enquiry counter
The TV teams were all there
He caught ke by my collar n literally lifted my off the ground
His first words were .in Hindi were ...you mo..... fuck....,why do u operate if you don't know how to operate flights
Then he broke down
Security n other staff helped him with water n he sat down with his head in his hands, crestfallen,trying to adjust to the reality that his beloved family members were no more
After that there was a steady stream of passenger relatives coming in,asking us to confirm n reconfirm of their relatives were on the I'll fated flights
Finally as the hectic activity gradually ebbed away around 3 am,the shock sank in n the whole body just convulsed n i also broke down as if sharing the grief of the relatives
In the thick of things n activity at the airport I did not even inform my family that I was no longer going to Mumbai
My niece saw the direct coverage on TV and saw me being abused n hauled up by the relatives
She rang up my wife n told her what had happened
I finally returned home in the wee hours of the morning,shaken n mentally,emotionally bruised with the entire incident

RIP Shanu Mukherjee

The year was  1996
I was posted in South Africa as Manager Natal,Durban South Africa
I was in the zone of consideration to Commercial Manager and had flown in from Durban with my colleague the late Poornima Hemmadi from Capetown
The interview was slotted at 10 am but since we were arriving into BOM after an overnight flight at 05.30 am we had requested for our interview to be shifted to 4 pm
On my way to Nariman Point from the Juhu Centaur the driver fell off the moving Taxi near Juhu Chowpatti

YES..THE DRIVER FELL OFF THE MOVING TAXI
I was lucky to have the presence of mind to get up from the back seat, control the steering and bring the Taxi to a halt without any damage..
Needless to mention I was left shocked .Tis incident resulted in my reaching Nariman Point 15 minutes late

Shanu as Dy CD was heading the interview panel. The first question was as to why I was late and had kept the interview panel waiting beyond 4 pm.
When I narrated the incident to them they just looked at me with disbelief
The interview was over as it was a mere formality. Both the panel and me knew that I was NOT going to get it as I was too junior in the list.

Fast Forward to 2000/2001
Michael Mascarenhas  the then MD reduced the retirement age from 60 to 58.This resulted in my being posted as Commercial Manager Karnataka Bangalore(Yes I had been promoted as Commercial manager by then) as it was then known (Now Bengaluru...BLR)

One of the first assignments was to organize the Air India Dinner on the occasion of the Annual  Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) convention being held in BLR

Shanu Mukherjee now the Commercial Director was the host.He flew in on the eve of the dinner into BLR from Delhi and I met him at the airport.
After the usual pleasantries he asked me about what actually happened way back in 1996 when I had come for the interview
I narrated the whole incident verbatim to him
He laughed and said ..since the sequence of the incident is the same as mentioned by you way back in 1996,I now believe you.At that time it appeared as an excuse.
The next morning I had to take him to the Taj Hotel to inaugurate a travel exhibition as a start of the TAAI Convention.
I was barely a month old in BLR.
I escorted him to the Taj Hotel surprised to find that there was no sign of any activity at the Hotel.
On enquiring around I was told that there were in fact TWO Taj Hotels in BLR and apparently I was at the wrong Taj
We immediately rushed to the correct venue just in time for him to inaugurate the exhibition..
He merely laughed off the lapse and did not hold it against me
I had interacted with him on various occasions
- In Durban in 1994 when he had come there as Head of Inflight Services to finalize the catering Agreement..He was there on his Birthday 01 Jan 1994. Knowing his liking for Japanese food..I took him to the best and the ONLY Japanese Restaurant in Durban..His repsonse..He was yet to have more authentic japanese food outside Japan..I remember he even taught me hw to use the chopsticks
- In Mumbai when he handed over to V K Verma as Commercial Director

Even after retirement he was empanelled by AI as a member of a committee set up to suggest ways and means of improving AI revnues.As was his wont he solicited suggestions from retiree colleagues amongst others for suggestions and some of these were incorporated by him in his report

He was an early riser and I used to see him often on messenger or FB where he used to be chatting with his children in the USA
We often exchanged pleasantries at that time

He was a regular at all the Air India Retiree functions and mingled happily with all
In the last few years he was undergoing regular dialysis but never lost his sense of humour despite his ill helath

A noble soul a down to earth human being,he lived his life to the fullest
May he RIP an keep guiding all us mortals form the heavens above