My first air travel which became an international one! - Part 3 final!

"Jaane kya hoga rama re….." I joined the queue which moved towards the US customs and security checks. As the queue made a curve closer to the counter. I couldn’t see what was happening at the counter. The only thing I could see is, a person far in the front taking out his laptop from the bag and placing it in the plastic basin and then his watch and then his shoes and then.......... oh, is he removing his belt..? What the heck is this..? Should I strip to my shorts for the security "Checks"...?  Belt would have metal item so it is to be removed and kept in the basin. But still, I haven't seen such a procedure of removing belt for these checks. As soon as the queue moved forward, I could see the counters where customs personnel in navy blue pants and white shirt with their royal caps. There was a lady officer too. An Indian guy was standing 3 persons in front of me and I heard the officer asking him to dispose the shaving gel he had which was probably more than some specific qty which one can carry in his cabin baggage. Hopefully, I had all these stuff in my check-in baggage and I was not wearing a belt with my jean. I got through the checks quite easily and moved towards my gate A63. I still had 2 hours to go and I was feeling hungry. I thought of getting some food from the cafe there, but didn’t know what to take; rather I was not in a mood to experiment the new stuffs I saw at a cafe. So managed with my cookies, cashew nuts and dates which I carried. I saw a small book shop near the gate so got in and was 'browsing' through them and I got to see some of those books which were "banned" or meant "precious" in India ;-) Should I buy one...? hmm... nope, would buy on the way back.

Around 12 noon I boarded the United Airlines UA-941 which would reach Chicago O'Hare Intl airport at 3.15 in the afternoon after a non stop 9 1/2 hr flying. The cabin crew were not that interesting compared to Lufthansa, few ladies in their 40's may be :( I felt damn sleepy and decided to sleep after the breakfast which consisted of a veg burger, apple, banana, strawberry and the like. Quickly finishing it, I slept. A few hours passed and hearing some noise, I got up and saw t they have started serving lunch. Not much to say about the "asian veg meal"....Sigh!! I was sleeping through the rest of the journey. As we were approaching Chicago, the air hostess gave us a declaration form for customs check and I ticked "foodstuffs" as I still had those nuts and dates with me. As the plane ran through the runway I saw something interesting. The runway was built over a subway or rather the subway was built under the runway...hmm.. whatever, it made me remind one of the forwards I got as an email. Yes, that place was Chicago and I am experiencing it! Chicago is also called as 'windy city' and found that it is damn cold and with the wind it would be even worse. Weather forecasts say “5 Fahrenheit, feels like 1 F. Chicago is one among the largest airports in the world, so lets see what does this have for me...

My connection flight to Minneapolis was at 5PM and before that I had to collect my bag and go through the immigration checks and get my I-94, a legal document which would bear the last date of my stay in US. I had to catch a train from the international terminal to reach the immigration check. The queue for these checks was divided into two. One for US citizens and green card holders and the other for tourists. I joined the second queue; the officer had some basic questions and verified my finger prints. He stapled the I-94 to my passport "OKKK! I AM NOW IN THE US!!" I moved forward following the "connection flight sign" and had a walked through the customs to whom I handed over the declaration form. They asked what food do I have and I replied cashew nuts, and immediately they asked "raw or roasted". For a second, I got confused as to what to answer (tired and sleepy, it happens..!!) and I smiled and replied "roasted". I moved to the baggage check-in area and tried to spot my flight from the display. Alas! It has been cancelled.........! I enquired to an African-American lady crew standing near the display the reason for cancellation. She said it has been cancelled due to bad weather at Minneapolis and added that I need to check at the gate for my next flight. One thing to mention is that the lady looked very funny and even speaks in a very funny accent and the figure, OMG! as if a baby elephant standing on its 2 legs!!

I saw a huge crowd at the gate. They put me on a wait list for the next 2 flights. I had to call up my colleague, Sreedeep, in MPLS and inform the situation, but had no coins with me to make the call. My banker was kind enough to advance me $100 and $50 notes and some travellers cheque!! I got the money the previous day of my travel and didn’t have time to get smaller denominations. However, I bought a bottle of water from the shop for $3.00 and got the change. Then, I called up and informed my colleague of the situation. 4 hours passed but my ticket was not confirmed. In between, I called up my pick up cab service at MPLS and informed them of the cancellation and that I would let them know as soon as I get a confirmed one. I called them up again for the third time and this time even before I introduced myself, the lady on the other side said "Hi, Rajath” she recognized my voice. It was almost 9 and I walked around the airport and saw a general help desk and there I asked for a confirmed ticket as I didn’t want a wait list again! That lady was nice enough to give me a confirmed one at 10....... NEXT DAY MORNING!! 5pm to 10 am means a 17hr stop over..!! I further enquired whether I would get free accommodation for that night at some hotel to which she replied that, once you are in US you are a domestic traveller and they don’t provide accommodation to domestic travellers. Wow! Even so nicer, huh!!

I roamed around the airport and it seemed like that I have seen these places before. Yes! One of the sequel of "Home Alone" where the family rushes through the crowd towards their gate. That was Chicago airport. A huge skeleton of a Dinosaur was kept near the helpdesk. I wandered every nook and corner of the airport and watched the Audi's and Limo's cruising outside in the cold streets. I walked towards the end which leads to the car parking lot, but being alone didn’t want to take any risk venturing outside. Another interesting fact is that, one of my friends, Vinod, was in Chicago at that time, which I came to know only after a month of my arrival! Had I known that earlier, I wouldn’t have to spend this F***ing 17 hrs here! I decided to sleep at my gate premises and found a comfortable long seat where I lay down on my stomach with my shoulder bag under my chest. New place, will I be able to keep myself and my bag safe here? I didn't see much security officers at that time. May be because of low traffic, fewer officers. I saw a young couple in their mid teens making space at the ground, right below the gate counter. They spread a sheet and this girl lay down with her head on the boy's lap. Soooooooo young couple, even guys and gals in their 20's hardly do this (or rather get a chance like this :P) in India. Probably they might be dating eachiother. I spotted them smooching at a time even though my eyes were off from them :P "Labom ko labom pe sajaao......"  Ok, its time to sleep and wondering whether to curse or not at this situation I slowly went to deep sleep hoping for a new day, new things at a new place........

Thanks a lot for spending your time.....

My first air travel which became an international one! - Part 2

Aaj mei upar.. aasma neeche…(?) how come..? Aasman tho phir bhi upar hai, just 35000ft above sea level doesnt mean "aasman neeche hai!!" Heights always inspired me. We have a light house very close to our school, where we used to go quite often during the lunch breaks and while some of my friends were afraid of going up, I was always the front runner for that.

Back to our journey, I was eagerly waiting for the dinner (and the drinks!) that would be served. Since the airlines serve food, based on the destination time, and it would be around 9.30 PM local time in Frankfurt. The seating arrangement was 3+4+3 model. Two air hostesses were serving on one side while another group on the other. One of them looked up to my seat number and said "Hi, I have a special meal for you" Special meal… for me..? I wondered what was inside the packet she gave (or lol!! did she mean something else.. !) I opened the packet only to realize that it was an Asian Vegetarian meal which was mentioned in my itinerary. …huh!! I really don’t know who played on this, my company or the travel agent. Socha tha kuch non-veg khayenge, magar mila "idli sambhar". Well, it was not idli-sambhar, it had some rice, curry, side dishes and pickle. I "adjusted" with that and asked for a cup of apple juice. I was following Sreedeep’s (my colleague for this transition who left for Minneapolis a week earlier) advice to take as much of juice as possible. He also said it would be ok to have some hot drinks too, but he wouldn’t recommend it. Again, I didn’t want to spoil my first trip with something which I am not much comfortable with...so took a pass this time, but next time I would surely :D

Though it was not very cold inside, yet I covered myself with the blanket they provided but kept on switching TV channels to reach something which I have interest in… Ah! I got a tamil one, but since it was not thaaaaat interesting I just watched it for some half an hour and switched over to audio music … It was a 10 hr flight from Chennai to Frankfurt. I really didn’t have any idea how to keep myself engaged these 10 hrs. Though we started an hour late, the pilot announced that they expect to reach on time (churukkam paranjal oodi ethum ennu!!) I slowly fell asleep an hour after the meal. Some 4 hrs passed and I wanted to pee, seeing the lavatory free, I got up and without disturbing my co-passenger I moved towards the lavatory. I looked out for the "push" or "pull" sign on the door to open it but it was a sliding one. I got into the lavatory and closed it. The lights got brightened and……………….!!!

I knew I couldn’t sleep for the remaining 4 hrs and so kept myself engaged by simply walking up and down the economy class and in between I took some juice and enquired about the destination and the time it would take to reach. I kept my eye on the TV screen where the flight-altitude levels etc were been displayed. I was watching constantly the altitude level this takes and the places over which we were flying. At times we felt a slight ups and downs in the plane which reminded me of my cousin, Lal, an IATA guy, who told me that there would be something called "air gutters" through which the plane passes and you would feel as if you are traveling on the "kochi" roads!!

As hours passed, I could see the early morning light (kizhakku vella keeri!!) in the horizon. Man, it was such a beautiful sight that I am running short of words to describe it!! I think we could see the morning rays a little bit earlier and brighter than the people who are right below on the surface.. does that makes sense..? whatever…!! I could see from the window that the aircraft was literally blowing apart the clouds as it roared ahead and it was a fabulous sight to see the sunrays passing through the clouds overhead to the clouds below. And the shadow they create on the lower level clouds..ah! what a fantastic scene, HEAVEN, it is!!!

Our pilot announced that we are just 20 minutes to the destination and requested us to "fasten your seat belts, switch off your mobiles. But still it took another 10 minutes since the air traffic controller didn’t permit us to land and we had to take a small round over the city. And the city had many sky scrapers and well structured roads with plenty of flyovers. We can hardly see any vehicles on the road. This place seemed to have a warm climate, however was not sure. I was wearing a white Armani slack body hug and army-green color jean with my brand new Woodlands shoes! (boasting a bit :P) with a jacket folded and hanging down my elbow . The aircraft landed safely and I made the first step of mine and a giant leap for my dreams!! Oops, did I talk Neil Armstrong?

Passing through the gate amongst the crowd, suddenly I saw a face and felt like I have seen him somewhere else. Aey! Wasn't that Yashin….? Oh yeah that's him! Along with him I saw Jally and Rajendran, but Alex was seen missing. Wondering who these guys are…? they are my office colleagues who are back from Minneapolis/Fargo after a 2 weeks onsite visit. Hardly we had a chat (office grapevine) with them for sometime than Alex, our manager came in. I greeted him and we exchanged all sorts of news in the office and how my trip was, had any difficulty at the terminals and bla bla bla… We chatted for some more time as my connection flight was at 12.45 and the time was hardly 9 o’clock.

Alex said he would take me to Terminal #1 as that was the place where I get my connection flight and on the way I saw some more "foreigners" again..! may be this time more Europeans he he… ! As we moved following the sign boards he told me that we would talk to the officer at the counter and confirm the terminal and get the gate number. The officer was answering another passenger’s queries and inspite of that I moved close to him for my turn. Immediately, Alex called me from behind and said that you have to wait for your turn behind the yellow line on the floor. I looked down and saw the yellow line. He continued that there are some social manners which are to be followed in a foreign country. This is not India where you can make a crowd at the counter and overtake the other person. That sounds good and logical! No rush, no noise, everything calm and cool. I wonder why Indians does not have the patience to wait for a while. Alex accompanied me to the terminal and wished me a happy journey. I thanked him and joined the queue for the security check and as I knew that the security checks for US departures were very strict, I was eagerly waiting to know what was in store for me at the US Customs Department!!!

Thanks for reading….appreciate your comments….To be continued in part 3

My first air travel which became an international one! - Part 1

"Sabr ka phal meeta hota hai..." was the first thing which ran across my mind when I was leaving the VISA lobby of the US Embassy at Chennai. The 5 hr wait gained me a VISA to the US!!  I gave my sister a real shock and surprise when I informed her that I would be flying to US in a couple of days. Infact, only my mom and my cousin knew that I am on for the VISA interview. Others thought that this was just an interview for a new job!

The day arrived for my first travel in the wee hours of December 7th. Having done all the packing, I waited for my cab to the airport which is an hour drive from the city. With just a "college" bag and a "more than a cabin" suitcase I entered my cab which came well ahead of its scheduled time. My cousins and some elder relatives wished me a bon-voyage. Very excited, but a bit tensed, I waved to them and I can see their image disappearing as my cab takes a turn. On the way, I was busy talking to my cab driver who was eager to know about my travel and all the while I was busy double checking if I had all the documents for my travel. I had to travel to Chennai and from there to Frankfurt and then to Chicago and then to Minneapolis, these "ands" huh!!

First time in an airport didnt really frighten me, thanks to Suraj, my best friend, who shared his experience going up and down Abu Dhabi and Trivandrum a couple of times and thanks to my friends in office who traveled abroad for project works. They too had their piece of advice for me! Having done with my baggage check-in and security check, I entered the waiting lobby where I could see a whole lot of people waiting for their turn. I had an hour more so just kept on wandering the lobby and done a couple of last minute phone calls.

It was the second time I am seeing an aeroplane real close. (the first time was, when I was 11 years old sitting in the KSRTC bus with my mom and sis at a traffic jam right near the old Cochin airport).

This domestic carrier, (our own Mallya's) Kingfisher was just a small one, but the interiors were well furnished and looked elegant. It took off at 9PM and I was excited at the acceleration it made when it pretty roared through the run-way. The take off was really superb, as it zoomed up I started enjoying the flight more. It was awesome felt when the aircraft tilted towards the left and then to the right until it came to its scheduled path. The tilts were very much felt as the carrier was a small one. The food served by the beautiful air hostess, Shefali was yummy and (hot). In 1 1/2 hour, the caption announced that we are entering the "Chennai sky". Flying low over Chennai took me a few years behind, when we (CA aspirants for coaching in Chennai) used to sleep at the terrace to beat the heat of Chennai and all of them looking at the aircrafts flying overhead and wondering who would be the first to fly over this apartment, and just then I became (a little bit :P) proud of myself and whispered  to myself "yes, I am the first!!"

As I moved to the International Terminal to have my immigration and other formalities, I made a phone call to my mom and to my another best friend, Krishnamoorthy who was in Chennai. He wanted to see me off at the airport. But, I said "no" since even if he had come there I could be with him for not more than 15 minutes. After waiting for an hour or so, I had my turn at the Immigration department. Having done with the formalities, I moved towards the gate where my first Boeing - 747 Lufthansa will be halting for the international travel. I can see a lot of foreigners just comfortably sleeping at the gate premises. May be some are Europeans or some Americans, but, for us, they are "foreigners!" My flight was scheduled at 2AM and I had 2 hrs left. I took a seat at the waiting lobby but wasn't feeling sleepy as the "overloaded excitement" overcame the then sleepy mood. After a while, I saw some passengers moving inside through the gate, just then a sweet voice announced that the aircraft has landed and would be ready in an hour for boarding. Patiently I waited and after about 45 minutes they announced the boarding and first preference were of course, to the business class, they said 'economy class' can wait.

The air hostess and the flight stewards greeted me as I entered the giant aircraft. I put my bag into the overhead cabin and fortunately I got a window seat. Just then an airhostess was hurriedly pushing in some baggages into the cabin and closing them. Yes, its time for the giant to take off. They advised us about the security measures to be taken in an emergency and bla bla bla. Slowly the giant moved on a reverse gear and yes, it is ready for another roar........!! GRRRR.....

thanks for reading...continued in the next post :)