My ramblings - Domestic airport observations...

I thought I'd write a travelogue today but have ended up listing some observations that I saw in the last few days.


Like father like son?

What a pity it is the way we set examples for others - we crib and cry about the wrong that others do, but how good an example do we ourselves set? I noticed a father and an inquisitive son step outside an ATM after they withdrew some cash. Once outside, the father proudly tore the ATM receipt in eight pieces and threw it on the footpath as if they were flowers that he were showering in a marriage. What an example indeed?

Ask and you could get it


I didn’t know it was this bad - last time it took me 1.5 hours to get to the Bangalore airport. Today it took me 2.5 hours. As we approached the airport, I checked the time on the cab’s dashboard and was pretty certain that I would miss the flight - just 30 minutes for departure and I hadn't done an online check-in as well. But the cab time was 10 minutes ahead - I rushed to the departures entrance and was confronted by two queues with more than 6 people in each. It would slow me down if I waited there. 


I saw a couple of North Indian security guards sitting idle in front of a 3rd entrance; there was a board that said “Staff only.” Looking at the guy I had a feeling he wouldn't budge but I still thrust my ticket and id at the man and told him my flight was at 9:10pm. And he causally, in Hindi, replied that there was plenty of time for me! Fortunately the lady beside him noticed my hurry and told him, “Just check.” Not happy at being rushed into this, the security guy examined my id card very closely. Seeing me at this empty queue, a couple more passengers joined behind me. The security guy said that my name on the ticket didn’t match with the id card - I pointed out that the id only had the first two names and not the third. He examined the id and ticket for a few more seconds before waving me through. The lady then said, "Check theirs also," referring to the two people who were behind me.

Listen to your mom!


I then rushed to the Check-in counter to get my boarding pass and drop my check-in baggage. There was less than 40 minutes left and today morning a colleague missed his flight because he arrived at the airport 30 minutes before departure - you are supposed to arrive 45 minutes before departure. He had to cancel and rebook on the next flight which was 3 hours later. For me there was no other flight after this one tonight. 

Fortunately in Bangalore, there isn’t a separate security scanner for check-in luggage; you just go directly to the airline counter and drop your bags - but the queue here had more than 12 people. After talking to one of the airline boys, he created a new queue where I was the first in line. I don’t think anyone else would have liked it! I thought the lady at the counter might say, “Sorry,” but she didn’t. She said, “I’m giving you the last aisle seat I have.”

In airports, you can feel relatively relaxed once you get your boarding pass - because then even if you were held up in security check, the airline would start searching for you and expedite the process. The security check queues were moving very slowly and only a few were operational. After ten minutes, a energetic security personnel opened one more line for screening. He was so fast with the metal detector instrument that he completed 4 people while the others had finished just one. And it wasn’t that he took any shortcut - it was just that he was so energetic and brisk when he waved the metal detector on your body. The people in the queue were delighted to see the speed at which he worked. 

The moral of the story is, as most of our moms would say, “There is no harm in going to the airport or station early. What big deal are you going to do at home in that one hour? Why not spend it in the airport?”

Why the hurry?


It reminded me of something else. Every time in flights, I always dream of a day when everyone in the flight will be patient while exiting the plane. Today was typical - as soon as the flight slowed after touchdown, most people stood up and start pulling out their bags from the overhead compartments as if they could leave the plane immediately; why so much hurry for such a petty thing?

Oh well, that’s enough for today... No space for a travelogue - next edition will be about the first baseball game I attended in US.

Part 30 - Luray Caverns

Altruism, smiles and laughter

Alright, I can’t resist the temptation to continue the banter from last edition about altruistic deeds. It amazes to think how some people can love unconditionally - and they are not even related by blood. 

We generally tend to lose our cool when someone doesn’t respond favorably to us; and at the other extreme of human nature you have someone like Mother Teresa who has probably faced umpteen situations where people never even treated her with respect (one very often quoted incident is the one about the baker who spit at her); really amazing how she kept going.

Talking of altruism and smiles, reminds me of another thing. If there is someone who has a different type of laughter - maybe it’s loud, or maybe shrill, or maybe with some odd accent, then people around them will ask them to control it. Even though the laughter would just last for a few seconds, society tries to curtail it. I wonder why we have to do so - what’s wrong with the person laughing their heart out for a few seconds? Maybe for a few seconds it sounds odd but there's no harm done. And I think the uninhibited laughter is a lot more beautiful than the muffed one. Would you ask a baby to control its laughter?

Visiting a cavern

Seems like travelogues are becoming like the “WakeUp” series... back to travelogue... So off we were to Luray Caverns that was discovered some 130 years ago. A large underground cave is called a cavern. Walking down the steps I didn’t feel there was anything special. I had brought a sweater since I thought the temperature might be low - but it isn’t that bad. Here also they use the self guided audio tour system - they provide a little audio player where you can press numbers to jump to different sections of the tour. There were a lot of stalagmites and stalactites around us (I was reminded of geography). The audio explained about the color differences - depending on the mineral composition the colors varied. As we walked in the cave, there were more beautiful sights to be seen. A few formations had been given special names because of what they resembled. (pic on left is the reflection in Dream Lake)

Marriage underground!

One special spot was the dream lake - there is actually were little water but the reflection of the stalactite is beautiful (stalactites hang from the ceiling in case you've forgotten your geography!). There was one area where you had flowstone that covers walls - this gives the appearance of a veil and it is called “Titania’s veil”. In another area there were huge columns running from the ceiling to the floor - about 40 feet in height or so. In some places you can even see water dripping from the ceiling and it gives the appearance of a fountain when it drips on calcite (which is white). 

There is even a cathedral where it seems there used to be weddings - a wedding in a cave! And in the cathedral they have built a musical instrument - the stalacpipe organ. This device is setup such that sounds are produced by tapping into the formations in the cave. It took them years of research and design to build! So when you are in the cathedral you can actually hear music - and listening to music in that vast hall sounds great. It is even possible to do a live performance on the instrument but most of the time the sequence of keys are automated. You would think that all there is to see in a cavern is two types of formations - one growing upwards and the other growing downwards. But the combination of minerals and water has produced a variety of things. (Pic above is the musical instrument)

Pure air

As we neared the exit, I realized the nose block I had while entering the cave had cleared. And one of the last parts of the audio tours spoke about the cleanliness of air inside the cave. In fact in the 1900s they had a sanitarium above the cave which used the air from the cave to circulate inside the house. This is said to be one of the first air conditioned homes - and the clean air was said to help in the recovery from respiratory illnesses.

(Pic on right is Saracen's Tent - they will appear like curtains)

To top off the trip, there was a car museum beside the caverns where we spent a few minutes before leaving. There were some old Peugeot, Bugati and Mercedes cars.

And with that another weekend ended in the USA; I headed back to Union Station in Washington DC. The bus was at night and I had to do a ten minute walk to an open ground where there were a fleet of MegaBus buses; though the bus was late they reached Boston on time.

Part 29 - In Virginia

I’m back after a break - coming out of what you could call blues or whatever; 2 months since the last edition - yikes... Some heck of a slump. 

Can you really be altruist?

You know it’s funny - my friend and I were discussing the other day whether it was everyone else who was crazy or whether it was we both who were crazy. The question is whether you can do something for someone without expecting anything in return. And if you’ve noticed, no matter how altruist you try to be, the world will look to find some alternate interpretation of it. On second thoughts, you probably weren’t strictly altruist in your intention because you might have done it with the thought of bringing joy or smile to someone - you still expect something in return - expect to make them happy; but that ain’t bad, right? Or maybe it is... And people around will spin stories by adding spice to it to say that you are doing it expecting to get some favor. But isn't it possible that we did it because we feel happy when we see someone happy?

Looking around, both of us concluded that it is just the two of us who are crazy!

It was nice when a editor called asking to publish one edition of the travelogue. And lately a few people have been asking me about the Travelogue and about the “Wake Up” series. You might have often heard in interviews people respond to a question by saying, “Even if one person were to benefit with this initiative then I will feel satisfied.” So, “Even if one person were to feel good reading the travelogue or Wake Up series, then I will feel happy.” Well, I’m not sure - maybe a million readers would make me happy; that’s not too much to ask, is it? We have a world population of 7 billion... So 1 million of that means just 0.014%!

Reunion with college mate

Alright alright... Enough with all that; let’s get back to our travelogue... I took a long metro ride from the heart of Washington DC to the outskirts to meet a college friend - as the train went past stations, the areas became more and more deserted. If this were the night I would have been a little worried - remember the New Jersey incident; not having a mobile phone is a big problem!

Strangely both of us still looked the same as we did in college; hardly any change - the last we saw each other was in Coimbatore and after so many years we meet in Virginia. It was late in the afternoon and since both of us hadn't had lunch, he drove to an Indian restaurant. Most Indian restaurants, especially on weekends, have a buffet. And since it had been a while since I ate a full Indian meal, I thoroughly enjoyed the lunch. We then went to a Smithsonian National Air and Space museum. There were plenty of real planes inside the museum. The pick of the lot was the sleek black Lockheed SR-71 (also called Blackbird - see pic on left) - it holds the speed record of some 3000 kms/hour! An interesting logo on the tail is that of a skunk (see pic below) - apparently, “Skunk Works” is part of the Lockheed company involved in aircraft design. Interesting history about the term “skunkwork projects” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunkworks_project

There is plenty to see in this museum, just like all the other Smithsonian museums in Washington DC. This was the same museum used in Transformers - remember the one where they go in search of a Decepticon and find one hidden in an aircraft hangar? This was the museum. Unfortunately, the museum was nearing closing time - you can easily spend a few hours here.

I had the option of taking rest but declined the offer. Tempted on seeing the tennis rackets in my friend’s home, we headed to the tennis court. It had been a long time since I struck a tennis ball but it is a sport I liked. In the places I’ve been to in the US, I always find the tennis courts available for use - they are free for the public and well maintained. We warmed up and played a couple of sets which I lost by a game in both. Though we wanted to continue playing, we stopped - the danger when you suddenly play is that you over-exert yourself and damage your body. And I had already done enough damage by playing two sets! Since it is a best of five sets match, the next time i meet him we have to finish our incomplete business.

After a shower and dinner outside, we planned for our Sunday. I had to leave by evening so that I could be in time to catch the night bus to Boston from Washington. That meant we had roughly 6am till 3pm to use and that meant we could visit any one place. We picked the cave for our Sunday trip before heading to bed.