For an eternal railfan to take a flight to a domestic destination means cheating your core hobby.Given a chance, I would have taken the train to Kerala, with wide options like the slow 16345 Netravathi Express, the crawler 11081 Kanyakumari Express, Mumbai-Trivandrum Weekly,the poor man's chariot, 12201 Kochuveli Garib Rath, an awkwardly timed Trivandrum Rajdhani, a crack superfast with limited stop like the Sampark-Kranti Express or Mamata Didi's obsession the LTT-Ernakulam Duranto.
Since it was a new job, getting Privilege Leave was out of question and it had been long since I had been to Kerala in hot summer. My preferred months are Dec and Jan. This time around, we had a family function and my parents were already booked for both to and fro journey on Garib Rath.Last minute tweaking of my leaves ensured, I had an opportunity for a whirlwind tour of Kerala by flight and return by Garib Rath with my parents. So there was yours truly preparing for my maiden flight journey between Mumbai and Kochi.
I had booked my tickets online by Spicejet SG131 to Kochi departing Mumbai at 8:35am & reaching Kochi at 10:40am.Tickets came really cheap at Rs 3600/-. I had done web-checkin to ensure I get a window seat. 8A, it was for me and hoped to avoid the wing in front of my window.Since my luggage was already taken by my parents, I simply had to walk into the airport. With security checks and other formalities on mind, I decided to be early than be on time for my maiden journey.
Accordingly got up at 4am, finished the morning chores and left home at 5am. As soon as I came out of my Complex, an Indica driver stopped by me and asked,,''Station''. I smiled and got in the front seat by the driver.That was a good start for the day. We reached Dombivli station by 5:10am and I took a slow train coming from Kalyan, it was a DC EMU departing at 5:08 am.First Class was empty and I set an alarm for 5:45am to ensure I don't miss my station. But I couldnt sleep with LHB SG coaches of Gorakpur-LTT Express keeping me company on the UP Fast line hauled by the customary WCAM3. I also spotted Indrayani Express with WCAM2. Finally got down at Vidyavihar at 5:55am. The only bus available in the depot was Route 322 to Mahant Nagar, Vileparle. It was the one I wanted to board.Another window seat and the bus driver started the bus at sharp 6am. It seemed he had a heavy doze of NFS Games last night and all I could hear was pumping of gas and hard braking. We vroomed to the Domestic Terminal building 1B by 6:30am.
Last I had been to the domestic airport was almost 7 years ago before the modernisation work was undertaken. First impressions were great. I entered through the Terminal 1B's Gate 1. After the check for ID and E-ticket, I went straight to the web checkin counter of Spicejet and collected my Boarding Pass.The process looked extremely streamlined with luggage being tagged and sent over the conveyor belt. I sat back on the ergonomically designed chairs for a few minutes to soak in the views and admire the transformation it had been through.
I strolled on the Concourse for sometime to see the various Food outlets and then decided to go in through the Security Check. Since I was without any luggage, I passed through the metal detector and my cell phones and keys through the X-ray machine in a matter of seconds. It was 7:20am & my flight was at 8:35. SG131 is a connecting flight between New Delhi-Mumbai-Kochi with an arrival of 7:40am at Mumbai. I was hoping that it would have reached on time. In the concourse for boarding passengers, I saw an ad of Free Wi-Fi in the Airport. I decided to put it to test. As I turned on the wifi on my phone, I was redirected to a login page to put my credentials like my phone number after which the webpage asked me to send an SMS to a mobile number and wait for a unique code. I got the code in few seconds and was on the Wi-Fi highway in a matter of few seconds. Wifi was provided by YOU Broadband and was offering a good speed. I made it a point to access the airport website to check the arrival of my flight from Delhi. I wasnt disappointed as it was on time and had landed. Since I had time on my hands, decided to use the Kiosk of CSIA,the gents washroom and then loiter around seeing PYTs.
At 7:45am announcement for boarding for SG 131 was made from Gate 6. All the junta on the concourse sprung into action. I wanted to catch the glimpses of the inside of our airport so decided to get in line after the initial anxious crowd got in. After getting my Boarding Pass stamped by the Security Girl, walked into a Tata CNG low floor bus in the typical maroon color associated with Spicejet. The bus was airconditioned and to get an unhindered view I decided to take the last window seat as most other seats were laterally placed with little or no opportunity to view the world outside.Our bus left at 8:10am towards the Spicejet aircraft which was no where to be seen. There were many Air India Express, Jet Airways, Indigo aircrafts, with their respective ground staff working. In 5 minutes I could see my SG131 waiting to get me on board. I was praying that my window seat was as seen on website with a clear view and did not have the aircraft wing obstructing my view. Airfield was such a vast expanse of land in the middle of Mumbai that had our builders and encroachers had their way, it would have been taken over in a day. Jokes apart, the area was really well maintained and I am sure if the same discipline is maintained all over our city, it would be more civilized to stay put in the Maximum City. But as Kareena Kapoor says in 'Jab We Met', 'humse hi to bheed banti hai'.....
I boarded my maiden flight from the front entrance near the crew cabin and there were two beauties welcoming us on board..hehe...I took my seat 8A with a young couple seated on 8B and 8C.Luckily my window had an unobstructed view and it seems like the plane was filled to the brim with all the seats taken. The aircraft had all sorts of people inside. Behind me were seated a set of mallu bachelors returning from Gulf and were speaking in pure Trichur mallu slang. In front of me were seated 3 foreigners with an infant. I seemed that the couple had their mother for company for a leisure trip of Kerala. There were infact many infants inside, which I could recognise from the mere orchestra of their cries emanating from every corner of the craft with each putting up a show to match the other. It was 8:25am and the customary announcement by the Cabin Crew about the flying squad members accompanying us to the destination. The boarding stairs were disconnected and the aircrafts doors were sealed. Accompanied by the announcement in Marathi, Hindi, English and Malayalam were the instructions for safety in Hindi and English by a beautiful airhostess. She walked around with poise and checked each passenger for having the safety belt/harness in place. At 8:35, we started moving towards the International Airport at a sedate speed. The aircraft was a Boeing 437 and had a seating capacity of 327. Spicejet is managed by the company which owns the Southern India's biggest media conglomerate, 'Sun Network'. In 5 minutes we were on the taxiway to get on the Main Runway. I could see a poor Kingfisher aircraft languishing in a corner alongwith hordes of other International Airlines. We were third on the list for departure with 2 arrivals expected on the Main Runway. While waiting on the taxiway , I could see the incoming flights and the slums bordering the airport. The new International Terminal is taking shape faster and I am sure that by March 1st, 2013, we would have a new terminal building in place. Finally at 8:50 we made a 90 degree turn to enter the runway and then started our run to touch the sky. I simply loved the vroom of our twin jet engines and the speed it attained in a matter of seconds.The scenary in my window seemed to move faster than I could capture in my mind and finally the friction between my aircraft's tyre and the runway vanished and we were airborne.The excitement cant be explained, but only experienced. While making web checkin, I had ensured to book the left side window, because the landscape would be visible down beneath only on the left side as we would be solely flying over the sea and land would be on our left side. All these minute pre-work ensured that I could see the Bandra-Worli Sealink,the Worli seaface, Marine drive, Colaba and Alibag all go past below at amazing speeds.My interest in geography helped me in identifying the Murud-Janjira fort and the Konkan coastline. The landscape below was soon disappearing underneath the sheath of the white clouds as we were gaining altitude. The rivers and rivulets were shining in the morning sunshine and the beach sand looked golden from top. The first 10 minutes of the flight is such an experience when you can see the clouds below you and feel like a bird flying high up in the air.
Inflight magazine, Spiceroute had some nice writeups keeping me engrossed. One thing that comes to mind is that the speed experienced while gaining altitude is no where to be seen after you end up above the clouds. The earth below and your aircraft seem to move at a very slow speed but that because the lateral distance between us is so much that we hardly recognise the speed at which we are moving. I tried hard to figure out the topography below but it was increasingly becoming difficult. I tried to bury myself in the magazine. The airhostess' started distributing the onboard breakfast. I hadnt ordered for any as I had left home with a heavy breakfast and a jumbo meal was awaiting me at Kerala. It was 10:25am & our flight attendant announced that we were approaching Kochi and asked all of us to be seated with our belts on.
Looking down I could see that the topography had changed dramatically, we were passing over the Niligiri Hills and then over the vast expanses of green dotted with red tilled roofs of houses. The foreigners infront of me were all excited to see the greenery and I guess we were instructed to take a round about before landing. That round-about at a comparatively low height was different perspective of looking at Kerala from the heaven.
On a different note,in economy class seats are cramped up and I would anyday take a train like Rajdhani or Shatabdi if i have time on hands for the sheer pleasure of watching the scenary go past you as well as the fact that it feels so comfortable in those trains, all with meals included.Finally our descend started and we landed on the first greenfield airport of India, the Nedumbassery International Airport, also one of the first kind in India for being built by PPP.After a perfect landing, we veered off the runway to the taxiway at good speed to come to a halt on the tarmac. The alighting stairs were attached and off I came back from my maiden flight experience. On the tarmac was Saudia Airlines and Air India Express.The Kochi airport is built in typical Kerala styled architechure. As I walked into the terminal building, and out into the muggy and humid Kerala weather, I saw many chauffers waiting with placcards for Vivanta by Taj, Le Royal Meridian and other star hotels. I didnt take a prepaid cab, but ventured out to take a diesel auto from the stables of Piaggio to the nearest bus stand which was 8 kms away at Angamaly. The station complex is actually away from Kochi city and was built recently as the old airport built on Wellington island is now used solely by airforce.
My auto travel lasted for 20 minutes and I payed Rs. 100 for those 8kms. I wanted to catch a bus to 'Irinjalakuda' which is in Trichur District. The buses from Angamaly were to places down south as well as to north or central kerala like district headquarters.Since no direct buses to Irinjalakuda were available, I took a KSRTC bus to Trichur which had 3x2 seating. Decided to get down at Chalakudy which was a 12km journey and paid Rs 12. We took the NH47 which was a rubberised 6 lane road. Roads are all rubberised and are smoother than concrete ones in Mumbai. At Angamaly and at the airport, I saw the low floor buses bought under the JNNURM by Kochi Corporation and an old double decker bus still in operation. I got down at Chalakudy at 11:30am and took another bus to Irinjalakuda again a distance of 14kms and paid Rs.12. From Irinjalakuda, I took an auto to reach my ancestral home in 5 minutes by 12:10pm. Later during the day I rode my uncle's Bajaj Discover 125cc and a short 5 minute boat ride to complete all modes of transport in a day.
Since it was a new job, getting Privilege Leave was out of question and it had been long since I had been to Kerala in hot summer. My preferred months are Dec and Jan. This time around, we had a family function and my parents were already booked for both to and fro journey on Garib Rath.Last minute tweaking of my leaves ensured, I had an opportunity for a whirlwind tour of Kerala by flight and return by Garib Rath with my parents. So there was yours truly preparing for my maiden flight journey between Mumbai and Kochi.
I had booked my tickets online by Spicejet SG131 to Kochi departing Mumbai at 8:35am & reaching Kochi at 10:40am.Tickets came really cheap at Rs 3600/-. I had done web-checkin to ensure I get a window seat. 8A, it was for me and hoped to avoid the wing in front of my window.Since my luggage was already taken by my parents, I simply had to walk into the airport. With security checks and other formalities on mind, I decided to be early than be on time for my maiden journey.
Accordingly got up at 4am, finished the morning chores and left home at 5am. As soon as I came out of my Complex, an Indica driver stopped by me and asked,,''Station''. I smiled and got in the front seat by the driver.That was a good start for the day. We reached Dombivli station by 5:10am and I took a slow train coming from Kalyan, it was a DC EMU departing at 5:08 am.First Class was empty and I set an alarm for 5:45am to ensure I don't miss my station. But I couldnt sleep with LHB SG coaches of Gorakpur-LTT Express keeping me company on the UP Fast line hauled by the customary WCAM3. I also spotted Indrayani Express with WCAM2. Finally got down at Vidyavihar at 5:55am. The only bus available in the depot was Route 322 to Mahant Nagar, Vileparle. It was the one I wanted to board.Another window seat and the bus driver started the bus at sharp 6am. It seemed he had a heavy doze of NFS Games last night and all I could hear was pumping of gas and hard braking. We vroomed to the Domestic Terminal building 1B by 6:30am.
Last I had been to the domestic airport was almost 7 years ago before the modernisation work was undertaken. First impressions were great. I entered through the Terminal 1B's Gate 1. After the check for ID and E-ticket, I went straight to the web checkin counter of Spicejet and collected my Boarding Pass.The process looked extremely streamlined with luggage being tagged and sent over the conveyor belt. I sat back on the ergonomically designed chairs for a few minutes to soak in the views and admire the transformation it had been through.
I strolled on the Concourse for sometime to see the various Food outlets and then decided to go in through the Security Check. Since I was without any luggage, I passed through the metal detector and my cell phones and keys through the X-ray machine in a matter of seconds. It was 7:20am & my flight was at 8:35. SG131 is a connecting flight between New Delhi-Mumbai-Kochi with an arrival of 7:40am at Mumbai. I was hoping that it would have reached on time. In the concourse for boarding passengers, I saw an ad of Free Wi-Fi in the Airport. I decided to put it to test. As I turned on the wifi on my phone, I was redirected to a login page to put my credentials like my phone number after which the webpage asked me to send an SMS to a mobile number and wait for a unique code. I got the code in few seconds and was on the Wi-Fi highway in a matter of few seconds. Wifi was provided by YOU Broadband and was offering a good speed. I made it a point to access the airport website to check the arrival of my flight from Delhi. I wasnt disappointed as it was on time and had landed. Since I had time on my hands, decided to use the Kiosk of CSIA,the gents washroom and then loiter around seeing PYTs.
At 7:45am announcement for boarding for SG 131 was made from Gate 6. All the junta on the concourse sprung into action. I wanted to catch the glimpses of the inside of our airport so decided to get in line after the initial anxious crowd got in. After getting my Boarding Pass stamped by the Security Girl, walked into a Tata CNG low floor bus in the typical maroon color associated with Spicejet. The bus was airconditioned and to get an unhindered view I decided to take the last window seat as most other seats were laterally placed with little or no opportunity to view the world outside.Our bus left at 8:10am towards the Spicejet aircraft which was no where to be seen. There were many Air India Express, Jet Airways, Indigo aircrafts, with their respective ground staff working. In 5 minutes I could see my SG131 waiting to get me on board. I was praying that my window seat was as seen on website with a clear view and did not have the aircraft wing obstructing my view. Airfield was such a vast expanse of land in the middle of Mumbai that had our builders and encroachers had their way, it would have been taken over in a day. Jokes apart, the area was really well maintained and I am sure if the same discipline is maintained all over our city, it would be more civilized to stay put in the Maximum City. But as Kareena Kapoor says in 'Jab We Met', 'humse hi to bheed banti hai'.....
I boarded my maiden flight from the front entrance near the crew cabin and there were two beauties welcoming us on board..hehe...I took my seat 8A with a young couple seated on 8B and 8C.Luckily my window had an unobstructed view and it seems like the plane was filled to the brim with all the seats taken. The aircraft had all sorts of people inside. Behind me were seated a set of mallu bachelors returning from Gulf and were speaking in pure Trichur mallu slang. In front of me were seated 3 foreigners with an infant. I seemed that the couple had their mother for company for a leisure trip of Kerala. There were infact many infants inside, which I could recognise from the mere orchestra of their cries emanating from every corner of the craft with each putting up a show to match the other. It was 8:25am and the customary announcement by the Cabin Crew about the flying squad members accompanying us to the destination. The boarding stairs were disconnected and the aircrafts doors were sealed. Accompanied by the announcement in Marathi, Hindi, English and Malayalam were the instructions for safety in Hindi and English by a beautiful airhostess. She walked around with poise and checked each passenger for having the safety belt/harness in place. At 8:35, we started moving towards the International Airport at a sedate speed. The aircraft was a Boeing 437 and had a seating capacity of 327. Spicejet is managed by the company which owns the Southern India's biggest media conglomerate, 'Sun Network'. In 5 minutes we were on the taxiway to get on the Main Runway. I could see a poor Kingfisher aircraft languishing in a corner alongwith hordes of other International Airlines. We were third on the list for departure with 2 arrivals expected on the Main Runway. While waiting on the taxiway , I could see the incoming flights and the slums bordering the airport. The new International Terminal is taking shape faster and I am sure that by March 1st, 2013, we would have a new terminal building in place. Finally at 8:50 we made a 90 degree turn to enter the runway and then started our run to touch the sky. I simply loved the vroom of our twin jet engines and the speed it attained in a matter of seconds.The scenary in my window seemed to move faster than I could capture in my mind and finally the friction between my aircraft's tyre and the runway vanished and we were airborne.The excitement cant be explained, but only experienced. While making web checkin, I had ensured to book the left side window, because the landscape would be visible down beneath only on the left side as we would be solely flying over the sea and land would be on our left side. All these minute pre-work ensured that I could see the Bandra-Worli Sealink,the Worli seaface, Marine drive, Colaba and Alibag all go past below at amazing speeds.My interest in geography helped me in identifying the Murud-Janjira fort and the Konkan coastline. The landscape below was soon disappearing underneath the sheath of the white clouds as we were gaining altitude. The rivers and rivulets were shining in the morning sunshine and the beach sand looked golden from top. The first 10 minutes of the flight is such an experience when you can see the clouds below you and feel like a bird flying high up in the air.
Inflight magazine, Spiceroute had some nice writeups keeping me engrossed. One thing that comes to mind is that the speed experienced while gaining altitude is no where to be seen after you end up above the clouds. The earth below and your aircraft seem to move at a very slow speed but that because the lateral distance between us is so much that we hardly recognise the speed at which we are moving. I tried hard to figure out the topography below but it was increasingly becoming difficult. I tried to bury myself in the magazine. The airhostess' started distributing the onboard breakfast. I hadnt ordered for any as I had left home with a heavy breakfast and a jumbo meal was awaiting me at Kerala. It was 10:25am & our flight attendant announced that we were approaching Kochi and asked all of us to be seated with our belts on.
Looking down I could see that the topography had changed dramatically, we were passing over the Niligiri Hills and then over the vast expanses of green dotted with red tilled roofs of houses. The foreigners infront of me were all excited to see the greenery and I guess we were instructed to take a round about before landing. That round-about at a comparatively low height was different perspective of looking at Kerala from the heaven.
On a different note,in economy class seats are cramped up and I would anyday take a train like Rajdhani or Shatabdi if i have time on hands for the sheer pleasure of watching the scenary go past you as well as the fact that it feels so comfortable in those trains, all with meals included.Finally our descend started and we landed on the first greenfield airport of India, the Nedumbassery International Airport, also one of the first kind in India for being built by PPP.After a perfect landing, we veered off the runway to the taxiway at good speed to come to a halt on the tarmac. The alighting stairs were attached and off I came back from my maiden flight experience. On the tarmac was Saudia Airlines and Air India Express.The Kochi airport is built in typical Kerala styled architechure. As I walked into the terminal building, and out into the muggy and humid Kerala weather, I saw many chauffers waiting with placcards for Vivanta by Taj, Le Royal Meridian and other star hotels. I didnt take a prepaid cab, but ventured out to take a diesel auto from the stables of Piaggio to the nearest bus stand which was 8 kms away at Angamaly. The station complex is actually away from Kochi city and was built recently as the old airport built on Wellington island is now used solely by airforce.
My auto travel lasted for 20 minutes and I payed Rs. 100 for those 8kms. I wanted to catch a bus to 'Irinjalakuda' which is in Trichur District. The buses from Angamaly were to places down south as well as to north or central kerala like district headquarters.Since no direct buses to Irinjalakuda were available, I took a KSRTC bus to Trichur which had 3x2 seating. Decided to get down at Chalakudy which was a 12km journey and paid Rs 12. We took the NH47 which was a rubberised 6 lane road. Roads are all rubberised and are smoother than concrete ones in Mumbai. At Angamaly and at the airport, I saw the low floor buses bought under the JNNURM by Kochi Corporation and an old double decker bus still in operation. I got down at Chalakudy at 11:30am and took another bus to Irinjalakuda again a distance of 14kms and paid Rs.12. From Irinjalakuda, I took an auto to reach my ancestral home in 5 minutes by 12:10pm. Later during the day I rode my uncle's Bajaj Discover 125cc and a short 5 minute boat ride to complete all modes of transport in a day.
