We left Princeton for JFK at 5.30pm. Our flight wasn't until 11.10pm but we wanted to allow for traffic so we could get to the airport by 8pm. But as luck would have it, we didn't really run into any real traffic problems, so we reached JFK by 7.20pm. After a quick check in, we hung around with Indu and Venkat and I had my final latte in the US...! Oh, while checking in we found out our seats were an aisle and middle seat right next to the toilets...I smelled trouble right away...ha ha, no pun intended.
Anyway, after a very difficult goodbye to them, we went to the boarding area about an hour before boarding time, and i made my final round of calls on the cell phone to all our relatives. Boarding was supposed to happen at 10.10pm, but it came and went and no sign of any boarding announcement. Finally at 11.10pm, they announced and in we went. The seats were worse than what i had been afraid of.....they were so close to the toilets, Raga could reach out and touch the door from his seat. the seats themselves were so cramped and short on leg space, we were practically hunched over. Then, as if that wasn't enough, a guy with his little baby sat in the 2 seats next to us, a mom with 2 small kids in front of us, a couple with a bratty son behind us!!!! I have nothing against kids, in fact i love kids.....but this was a bit too much even for me. We were so tired we fell asleep soon after take off, or maybe I should say we tried to sleep. The toilet door must have opened and slammed shut at least once every minute, the kid next to me hollered all night long cos he was squishedin his seat (i don't blame him, i wanted to holler too), the kid in front kept saying "no".....all in all a bad night! Thankfully morning came about 6 1/2 hours later and we were starved having skipped the dinner, so we were really looking forward to a good breakfast. Well....bad luck, all we got was a bowl of fresh fruit and no spoon, so we picked it out from the plastic bowl and ate it. The guy next to me with a kid had ordered a kosher breakfast, well when they brought it he was not interested, so i took it. No hot towels, no socks, irritable attendants...Virgin Atlantic Airlines sucks!!!! Don't ever use it!
We landed at London Heathrow with 3 hours for our next Emirates flight to Dubai. I was excited at being able to browse the airport...no luck again. We had to go thru security again and it took 2 hours to get to our next gate. Then to top it off, Emirates had run out of boarding cards, so they made us wait 20 minutes by which time they had started boarding our flight. So the agent told us to go to the gate and get them printed there, which we did. Virgin Atlantic and Emirates are like night and day! Emirates was super! Awesome food, awesome service, cheerful (almost syrupy) flight attendants, constant barrage of drinks and food, individual TV's....just great! We arrived at Dubai airport quite refreshed after the 6 1/2 hour flight. The airport reeks of money...polished floors, beautiful stores, sleek carts, palm trees, lighted walkways, white robed sheiks, burkha'ed women with their beautiful kohl rimmed eyes peeking out....lots of moolah here, no doubt. We had to go thru secutiry again but still had time to check things out. Then it was time to check in for our 3 1/2 flight to Hyderabad, and wonder of wonders - the agent upgraded us to business class. Yippee! We must have looked pretty beat! I used to wonder and sympathise with all those business travellers, feeling pity for them having to travel so much - but now i know that they don't deserve any pity. Business class is fabulous! You get a cushy seat, you're plied with food and drink and wine and champagne, you can stretch out fully and sleep, its like being at home.....even better cos there is someone to wait on you hand and foot. Anyway, i tried to look very casual about the whole thing, like i travel like this all the time - but i was sooooo excited! I loved it!
Needless to say we arrived at Hyderabad feeling quite perky! Which was good cos we needed to be in a good mood for what followed! Since we were in business class, we were among the first to get out and make it thru immigration, which was a breeze. Then it took almost an hour for our luggage to arrive. There was utter confusion at the baggage claim area. A sign at one belt showed our flight number, so everyone crowded around the belt....then suddenly they changed it to another belt, so everyone charged to the other side....total pandemonium. So many suitcases look alike, people would take them off the belt, then realize it wasn't theirs and just leave it on the floor. I actually put a couple back. People were jumping over luggage carts trying to get their stuff. I have realized that in addition to a legit visa, people also need a large dose of patience and a good sense of humor in India. After a while i was thoroughly enjoying myself watching all the fun and chaos, in fact Anyway, after an eternity our stuff arrived and we went thru customs - again, a breeze. Went out and saw everyone waiting for us....it was quite the moment. My dad took a pic of this momentous event.
Then we went out to the waiting car - the driver got in and turned on the A/C...it was sort of warm, then jumped out and closed the door to start loading the luggage in and realized he had locked the key in the car and the engine was still running. A quick note to my non Indian friends - when anything like this happens in India, it usually invites a huge gathering of all sorts of people trying to help. And so all of a sudden there were hollers and screams and shouts, people showed up with wires and sticks and keys and chains. There were heated discussions, arguments and yelling. Little urchin boys hanging around were sent off scurrying for assorted weapons with which to open the door and they all came back with weird things....after 15 minutes of trying in vain, a smart aleck guy punched the slider thing that opens the rear window, then stuck his hand in and opened the passenger door. Neat! Everyone almost clapped! Then each and every so called helper had his hand stretched out for "baksheesh" - a sort of tip.Small change works.
Anyway, after all this drama we left and got home. The rest of the day was sort of hazy - we went and checked out our rental house, made a vague plans of things to do the next day. Just like i thought, the heat and traffic are going to be my biggest challenges. We tried hard to stay awake and fight the jet lag, but R and I HAD to take a short nap in the afternoon. We went to a couple of furniture stores in the evening just to get an idea of what things cost.....! All in all not a very productive day, but given that its our first day, thats OK. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
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