Travel on Air India (Air India)

Member Name: travelnotes

Product:	Air India
Date:	04/07/00 (1934 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap; you're going to Asia.

Disadvantages: Depends on who's telling the story.

Some people think Air India smells of curry but I saw things differently.

On the London underground, everyone was making their way home from work; I was going to Asia. To Japan to be exact.

Direct British Airways and JAL flights were too expensive and the cheapest flight Trailfinders could give me was one via the sub-continent, on Air India. I didn't care if I had to go via Antarctica and the journey would take me three days, as long as it was the cheapest flight. I would need my money later.

Glimpses of soft, tanned flesh so mischievously revealing from under colourful saris, the stewardesses on Air India were a pleasure to fly with. Dark mysterious eyes twinkled and the faces were radiant. The happy feeling was contagious and as a passenger I felt like a welcomed guest; a friend even.

There were three crew changes on the way to Tokyo and each time passengers were treated to genuine smiles and pearly-white laughter.

I was limited to mere touchdowns in Delhi and Bombay, but on the strength of such brief contact I vowed to return for further enlightenment and to discover the land behind the sari and piped santoor.

I look forward to the Air India take-off again; the boiled sweet and orange-juice that is served in a paper cup. The moustachio and turbaned Indian on it (the Maharajah), subtly welcomes you on board with a bow.

Fate had taken the old man next to me to London some 21 years previously. Now he was returning to the sacred soil of Lord Krishna on his British passport. Hindus were rewarded for the faith with specially prepared vegetarian dishes, and after he had explained his reasons against taking the life of an animal for nourishment, I felt slightly guilty enjoying my paupettes of lamb in walnut sauce.

The Bombay approach was a lush of green around meandering, muddy-brown waters. I could see hills and close-knit, shanty-settlements on the airport perimeter. The streets were a hive of
activity, everyone busy about their business. And they drove on the left.

"The outside temperature is 27 degrees Celsius. Fasten your seat-belts and extinguish all cigarettes please. Thank-you for flying Air India."

The connecting flight from Bombay stopped at Calcutta and Bangkok before landing at Narita airport, Tokyo.

Footnotes:
Air India: (AI)
India's national carrier flies to Abu Dhabi, Ahmedabad, Amsterdam, Bahrain, Bangalore, Bangkok, Calcutta, Calicut-Kozhikode, Chennai-Madras, Chicago, Cochin, Copenhagen, Dar-es-Salaam, Delhi, Dhahran, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Goa, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Los Angeles, Mauritius, Moscow, Mumbai-Bombay, Muscat, Nairobi, New York, Osaka, Paris, Riyadh, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Thiruvananthapuram, Vienna and Zurich.

Website:
www.airindia.com

Summary: