Well, my 15 minutes was about to stretch itself into an hour. I was at lunch with my cousins that afternoon when my cellphone rang. It was "Aaj Tak", India's largest all-news cable TV channel. Their bureau chief had spotted the article in the morning paper and wanted to know if I would be willing to film a piece for them. Uh, I guess so. Great, we'll have a camera crew over at 5pm.

I had expected this to be a short 1-2 minute standup shot with a quote or two for inclusion in a larger story, but again I was surprised. We shot about 15 minutes of conversation in Hindi on topics as diverse as democratic responsibility, issues facing non-resident citizens and election apathy among urban youth, followed by another 15 minutes in English on the same subjects. It was quite strange to sit back at the end of it and watch the reporter shoot her closing in my living room!

The next day was election day, and I expected that this would be the end of it. Not likely. Three radio stations called before 9am to invite me to go LIVE on air during their morning shows. One particularly ebullient host even introduced me as "a shining example to India's youth". Jeez, talk about stoking my ego!

The two major candidates in my constituency (Mumbai North-West) were the incumbent Sunil Dutt of the INC and Sanjay Nirupam of the ShivSena. With Dutt a virtual shoe-in for his 5th term, he didn't bother too much with campaigning in our locality, while his opponent virtually blanketed us with flyers, speeches and negative ads. There were also about a dozen independant candidates running, but nobody really gave them even half a chance.

This was the first election in India to be entirely electronic. The voting process was quite interesting as a result, a typically Indian fusion of hi-tech and lo-tech. All eligible voters received their registration card in the mail giving details of the polling station and other information. If you didn't receive your card, you could check the voter lists online at http://www.eci.gov.in to ensure you were registered.

At the polling station, you enter and present your voter card along with your photo-ID. Your name is then crossed off the master list as having voted and your left index finger is marked with indelible ink to prevent fraud. Some may laugh at this seemingly primitive modus operandi, but a month later I still haven't been able to get the damn thing off! With your finger suitably marked, you walk behind a screen constructed out of a beaten-out cardboard box where the voting machine awaits. You simply press the big blue button next to the candidate you want to vote for. A "beep" sound indicates that your vote has been recorded and you are now free to move on with your life, your democratic responsibility complete for another 5 years.
 

30 April 2004
AI 121
Boeing 747-437
Mumbai Shivaji International to London Heathrow via Ahmedabad Sardar Patel International
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All good things must come to an end, but my whistlestop journey to India seemed to end far too soon. With three 744s due to leave for Heathrow within hours of each other, I decided to pick the latest departure even though it involved a stop en route at Ahmedabad. My itinerary to Toronto involved a lengthy detour via Greece anyway, so one more stop didn't really make a difference.

As is my custom, I got the captain to authorize my jumpseat all the way through to Heathrow on the off-chance that the aircraft filled up beyond capacity at the transit stop. I was very amused that the pilot recognized me from the newspaper article the previous week as he was signing off on the jumpseat! A quick pitstop at the Maharaja Lounge for some coffee and I was boarding today's ride, the baby of the fleet named "Velhagoa" and one of my personal favorite Air India aircraft.

After being instructed to pick any open seat upstairs for the first leg, I relaxed with a glass of watermelon juice and a nice cold towel as we taxied out for runway 27. The first leg to Ahmedabad was a short 35 minute hop, but I was extremely disappointed that they only served a cold sandwich platter in Business Class rather than the hot breakfast that should have been the norm on a 30+ minute flight. This is done because the aircraft is catered through to Heathrow from Mumbai itself, so there is only enough galley space for the two hot meals to be served on the longer international leg.

Soon enough we touched down on runway 31 at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. To call it an "airport" is highly optimistic though. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Aviation Services Shack would be far more appropriate. To be fair, the domestic terminal is pretty nice but the international facilities are non-existant. How this airport handles a daily flight to Paris/Newark, plus nonstops to Heathrow and soon Dubai and Singapore too is beyond me. I guess they must be setting out folding tables on the lawn for customs!

Still, Ahmedabad had managed to provide 404 passengers for London today, with 384 of those in Economy however. With only 3 revenue passengers up front plus a deadheading pilot, the new crew invited me to take a seat in one of the fabulous new First Class flat bed seats. Next to me was another nonrev, the son of a retired pilot who was working on his PhD at UC - Santa Barbara. We kept to ourselves in seats 3HK right at the back of the cabin so as to not disturb the revenue passengers.

Air India was having a Gujarati food festival on the Ahmedabad to Heathrow route, so there was an unbelievable ridiculously huge breakfast spread available - a 3 course service all dished out and manually plated from silver platters on the service cart. The full menu included Watermelon or Mango appetizer, choice of a half dozen Kelloggs cereals, Papdi, Jalebi, Kaccha Kela Nu Shaak, Bateta Ni Sukhi Bhaji, Khatta Dhokla, Gujarati Kachori, Farali Pattice, Masala Poori, Methi Na Thepla, Rye Ni Mirchi, Nimbu Chutni, Pudina Chutni, Cheese Omelette, Egg Hubert with Mustard Cream Sauce, Grilled Fish with Lemon Parsley Butter, Chicken Nuggets, Rosemary Lamb Croquette, Duchess Potatoes, Tomato stuffed with Spinach and Grilled Mushrooms. Yes, this was breakfast. I was absolutely stuffed by the end of the meal and took the opportunity to put the seat into its flat sleeping position (complete with soft down duvet) and nod off for almost 5 hours.

Awake in time for lunch, which was an event in itself. Air India has always been generous with the liquor and a nice bar had been set up for the use of First Class passengers while the crew prepped for the meal. We started off with green salad garnished with watermelon seeds, cottage cheese, yellow/green peppers and Thousand Island dressing. Other options from the food festival menu were Khandvi, Patra and Dahi Wada. Next up was my favorite course - Malassol Caviar with garnish, smoked salmon, jumbo prawn with lemon and Melba toast - served with a shot of Russian Vodka of course. This was followed by a choice of Cream of Asparagus soup with Crostini (which I picked) or Lamb Consomme.


And then they rolled out the cart with the main course. It was almost wasteful to see the sheer amount of food and options available. The main course service cart featured Lobster Benedictine, Dill Potatoes, Steamed Vegetables, Chicken Tikka Lababdar, Bhuna Gosht, Bhinda Ni Kadhi, Bharela Ringna Bateta, Sev Tamata, Turia Vatana, Fansi Dokhli, Vatana Nu Pulao, Khichdi, Doodhi Chana Ni Dal, Yoghurt, Roti, Papadum, Keri Nu Chundo, Pickles and Chutney. I started off with some of the Lobster with potatoes, but the Purser insisted that I sample virtually everything, making sure that he topped up my plate three times during the meal.

As if this wasn't enough, they then rolled out the dessert cart. Today this featured a Fresh Fruit platter on banana leaf with Watermelon, Melon, Papaya, Mango, Strawberry, Pineapple and Grapes; Orange Gateau; Malai Kulfi with Falooda; Aamrakhand and a Selection of Cheeses. I tried to stick with just some cake, but the Purser made sure that I sampled the kulfi (Indian whole-cream icecream) too.

Following this, the Purser came around to offer us a selection of very elegant Indian mithai sweetmeats and then handed out individual boxes of Saunf Aftermint and even Calcutta Paan! Maybe its just me, but somehow the concept of eating paan in First Class at 35000 feet had me collapsing in uncontrollable laughter. Still, the entire meal was out of this world. Now I truly knew how the lavish old Maharajas used to live! After 8.5 hours of this pampering, we touched down at Heathrow - far too soon if you ask me.

30 April 2004
OA 266
Airbus A300-605R
London Heathrow to Athens Eleftherios Venizelos
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I made the most of my short layover in London, heading out for drinks with VC-10 and Mrniji from airliners.net at the Green Man pub near Hatton Cross. Around 8pm, it was time to head back to Terminal 2 for my Olympic Airways flight to Athens.

Due to Alitalia going on one of its periodic strikes earlier in the day, the "wide open" redeye to Athens had now filled up to the point that it was no longer an absolute shoo-in for an interline nonrev. I spoke to the duty manager and she told me not to worry and that she would ask the captain to release the jumpseat if they wound up with no cabin seats. Fortunately it didn't come to that and they managed to find space for both myself and an Alitalia employee.

We were delayed almost an hour from Heathrow due to traffic congestion and were only airborne at 11pm. The crew did an incredible job handing out meals to a packed cabin in only 15 minutes so that we could salvage as much sleep as we could. While the chicken breast served was rather dry, the taramosalata appetizer was absolutely out of this world. Still, I was able to grab about 2 hours of sleep before we touched down at Athens just before 5am.


1 May 2004
OA 423
Airbus A340-313X
Athens Eleftherios Venizelos to Toronto Pearson via Montreal Trudeau
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I really can't think of a better airport to spend a morning at than the new one at Athens. There are plenty of distractions to pass the time, including a museum of artifacts excavated from the airport site, an exhibit of environmental factors at the airport and another museum on the life of Eleftherios Venizelos after who the airport is named. There are plenty of food options, including a McDonald's that features an amazing view of the runway and aircraft on approach. There are also free internet kiosks located all around the terminal if you simply cannot live without being online.

Of course, I could hardly go to Athens without visiting the Olympic store. I spent a good hour there browsing through overpriced "Officially Licensed Merchandise". I also picked up and mailed my obligatory postcard to flyerwife's 10-year old daughter. By then it was time to freshen up and get myself on the standby list for the flight to Toronto.

This flight was also pretty full, but they managed to find space for me - even though it was in the absolute last row of the Airbus 340 named "Olympia". We were quickly airborne for the almost 10 hour flight and the crew came around first with the drink and then the lunch service. I was absolutely blown away by the appetizer on the lunch tray. It consisted of a HUGE heap of smoked salmon, a generous mound of taramosalata and a nice succulent dolma. Very impressive. The main course was salmon steak with cauliflower and rice, and it was also quite delicious. Definitely two thumbs up to Olympic's catering.

Two thumbs down to them for IFE though. The sheer ridiculousness of the situation still makes me laugh. Despite having a 12-channel PTV system installed in every seat of the economy class cabin (including the dreadful underseat box that eats into the legroom), when they screen a movie they screen the same movie on all 12 channels. And when it is done, they rewind the tape and show the same movie again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Today's screening was "I am Sam" with Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning, a wonderful movie the first two times... At least the repetitive IFE encouraged sleep.

A second meal was served before we landed in Montreal, although the open sandwich it featured wasn't much to write home about. The 45 minute transit stop went by very quickly as we discharged half our passengers and took on some fuel for the quick hop to Toronto. The customs officer asked which country I had visited on my 10 days away and looked at me rather strangely when I rattled off the list, but I was waved through without any delays. My cousin was waiting to drive me home and I finally collapsed into a real bed after 43 hours continuously on the road. What an incredible 10 days it had been!