In the 'City of Fog'

On the first day of the new year 2010, I looked out of the window in Delhi and stared at the swirling fog. I made a mental note: avoid flying in and out of Delhi in January. Travellers seem to be spending more time at the airport than all their flight times combined in half a year.

Then what do I proceed to do? I go and book myself about 6 flights in January! To be fair it wasn't by design. Things just turned out to be such that the travel, both work and non work, became inevitable. In the process I got to spend a lot of 'quality time' at the domestic terminals of Delhi and Mumbai airports undertaking one of my favourite pastimes - people watching.

As I'm back in the Fog-city Terminal 1D of Delhi Airport today and have a good free wi-fi connection, I must share the environs. There has been a sudden and dense fog since 8 AM which started clearing by noon. Flights are on an average three hours delayed. The shiny, new Delhi terminal has all kind of smart equipment to help airplanes land and take-off in poor visibility but this hasn't reduced the number of delays, cancellations and re-schedules. I wonder if any flight at all came on-time this month in the Delhi-Mumbai sector. Must check.

On the plus side, Delhi terminal, which is crazily over-designed as per reliable sources (although i've always seen it pretty busy), has loads of seating space and numerous outlets. So even with four hours of accumulated passengers I managed to find a little spot to sit with my laptop.

I'm looking around and this is what I see:

1) Lots of desi (read Indian) families at the food counters having Pizza, KFC-stuff, curry platters, Chinese food, any food. Urban Indians have discovered western fast food in addition to Indian street food and there is no stopping them, but this needs an exclusive post another time.

2) Lots of foreigners who are:
- Reading
- Checking their blackberries
- Having croissants and coffee at the Costa outlet
- Looking distressed
- Looking bored
- Looking disgusted
- Looking resigned to their fate; these are obviously the ones who've been in India long enough ;-)

3) Lots of kids, both Indian and Non-Indians, quite enjoying themselves wandering around the terminal, peering out of the windows at parked airplanes, eating internationally-branded junk food.

4) The Seasoned.Young.Urban.Travellers: They've I-podded themselves or plugged in their laptops. They have muffins and coffees next to them. Some are reading, some are in business wear (its a national holiday today so what are they up to ?!)

5) Japanese blokes- have got laptops open, oblivious to the noise around they are concentrating hard. More Costa coffees visible.

6) Our real Desi-Bhaiyas (semi-rural folk) are talking on mobiles, keeping their families/ friends updated on the delay. They look far less uncomfortable than I would imagine them to be. I guess in a country with over a billion people jostling for space you've got to learn how to adapt fast to your surroundings. These new budget airlines have turned small entrepreneurs into enthusiastic travellers. Regular air travel is getting less class-based and that's got to be good.

7) Non-Indian Bloke: Is filming the fog lifting off the tarmac, watching airplanes slowly becoming visible. In the US he would probably have been arrested for this.

8) The Hidesign, Fab India and the over-priced Home Accessories shops are nearly empty. Noticed that a nicely packaged, small Tulip-fragance soap, 'Made in Portugal' is available for Rs 650 ~ GBP 8.7 which is about double the price for my exotically fragranced Italian soap bought in Wimbledon last year!

There are also some cool German-made wine glasses at exorbitant prices. Not sure about target market for this. The foreigners can buy this sort of stuff from Europe/ US at same price. The Indians wealthy enough to buy this can go to Germany and shop there. Someone told me its the bored, wealthy house wives who buy this sort of stuff, and then take them out on their weekly Kitty Parties, or the more modern Salad Parties.

9) The Book Shop is full. The average Indian has discovered, or re-discovered (?) the joys of reading. When I was younger we used to go to distant book bazaars in Old Delhi to buy second hand books. We went often to the Annual Delhi Book Fair in Pragati Maidan. Later I started buying the pirated versions off the 'patri' in Connaught Place, or from the boys selling them at traffic lights. Now so many books seem affordable in their original versions that people are thronging book shops for both old and new titles. The range of authors is mind-boggling. There are, predictably, more non-Indian authors and titles than Indian. I was delighted to see the 'Amar Chitra Katha' book series at the terminal here. These are Indian legends with a moral for children, and maybe even for grown-ups. Looks like the new 'Indian spending power' is showing its clout and interest.

10) Small outlet of Croma Electronics Shop- lots of general interest in this shop. Mostly gadget-loving men doing an 'in-depth' research of a product they may or may not ever buy. No one is actually purchasing anything.

11) Indian family- Mummy, daddy and 1.5 yr toddler happily sitting by the window in food-court area and watching planes take off. Suddenly the daddy decides to take pic of the baby seated in front of window with planes taking off behind. He's not succeeding as the kid isn't getting it and wants to snatch the camera.....Oops. Another almost-identically dressed baby has now appeared. Think baby-families have made friends at the terminal. Carrying on with the Indian Railways tradition here ;-)

I must mention the Information Screens. It is decidedly better than the old airport - more screens at more locations. But there is something weird in the way they scroll. You have to peer hard to spot your flight. As is usual, there are more flights than what the screen is designed for, so you have to keep watching, eagle-eyed, right from 'Page 1 of 5' to 'Page 5 of 5' to spot your flight before it disappears off the screen again.

I have to say, I'm not too bored by my extra hours here. So far. Although its worrying that there is no ETD (Estimated Time of Departure) against my flight on the scrolling signs.  In fact the terminal feels cozy and warm today (as opposed to the last time when I was freezing and also caught a bug). Its almost too warm, maybe because i'm wearing thermals and a 100% wool sweater!

Mildly worried that my laptop battery might die and I've checked in the power cable with my suitcase (Yes, I know, no seasoned traveller EVER does that, but in my attempt to travel ultra light I often take this difficult decision.)

Finally, some random comments overheard:

Non-Indian man to others in his group: ' I have Immodium. Does he want Immodium?'

Non-Indian Woman at Costa, as Indian bloke breaks the queue: 'Hell-lo, I was waiting here first'.

Smart Indigo Air representative, yelling at the top of his voice: ' ANY BANGALORE PASSENGERS?'

Nicely suited Indian gentleman, watching me type away: 'Excuse me, are you using free airport wi-fi?'

I reply in affirmative and highly recommend it ;-)