Its impressive that these taxis look so good. They are Hindustan Ambassadors. Built by Hindustan Motors they are India's national car. I hoped that's what I'd get but it looks like I'm going to be in a Ford van....

Said good-bye to Haresh. He is headed off to his brother-in-laws funeral. He says he will see me tommorw in Pune but I hope he takes it easy.

In Noida most of the auto rickshaws were really beat up. Here at the airport they look bright and shinny. Haresh tells me that there's a lot of so the drivers have to keep their taxi's looking good.

The Taxi Line

I'm surprised. It doesn't seem that crowed as we head out to the taxi line. I expected swarming humanity. There are three lines of incoming taxis - the three-wheel auto rickshaws, un-air conditioned cars and air conditioned cars.

In Mumbai

So, on the ground in Mumbai. You feel it right when you step off the plane. Hot and sticky – Miami comes to mind. Mumbai airport is nicer than Delhi's. At Delhi it was hard to tell if areas were being built up or torn down. Mumbai’s terminals are bright and spacious.

Even though we ate on the plane I was tempted by this fast food joint. They had some fried things that looked like doughnuts. I asked Haresh about them. He said they were flavored with garlic and salt. I decided to wait for later.

Approach to Mumbai

The west-central part of India that we flew over is part of an enormous plateau called the Deccan (‘South’ in Sanskrit). It appeared very dry – mostly brown and grey. The sky over the Deccan is deep blue and entirely cloudless. Approaching the Western cost and Mumbai there's a line of clouds piling up. There’s a range of low mountains called the Western Ghats that runs down the coast. I guess they block the wet ocean air from getting to the interior.

All of a sudden we’re down right over the Ghats. Some of the peaks are pretty impressive – and close! Ahead – the approach to Mumbai - looks misty. It’s a long approach into the airport. Mumbai is huge and packed.

Health Check

Matt has been scrupulous about posting health updates - at least on a certain aspect of his health. I don’t think I will be as regular (sorry).

Suffice it to say that I’ve been fine and I do intend to eat at a street vendor’s before I leave India. I agree with Matt that eating out every night is starting to feel heavy.

Super Dupper News

I called Kathy just before being picked up for my ride to the Delhi Airport (chronologically this post belongs a ways back).

Sister Sue had her baby last night! 8 pounds 2 ounces, no name yet (Buster is the place holder). Mom and baby doing great. Expected to be home this weekend.

Wonderful!

Cool Camera View

Like many airlines these days Kingfisher has LCD's installed in the rear headrest of each seat. On this flight they had a channel that I had not seen before. There was a down-pointing camera mounted on the bottom of the plane.

On the monitor you got a birds-eye view of what we were flying over. I kept this channel on the entire flight.

Kingfisher Flight Attendants

If I had to guess I’d say that the job description for a Kingfisher flight attendant must read something like “Female aged 22-28, slender, bee-stung lips, and looks good in tight short red skirt.” Things are a little different over here. I would have taken some pictures, but I didn’t want to get into trouble – here or at home!

Kingfisher Airlines

After grabbing a coffee in the VIP Lounge (Haresh has a Platinum Card) we boarded our flight with Kingfisher Airlines. Their symbol is a cool looking Kingfisher – not our familiar Belted Kingfisher but some colorful Indian variety. The airplane was good, a nice new and clean Airbus. They served a lunch (Indian – veg) on a two hour flight - also good.

Conversation with the Skycap

Amazingly we made it to the airport in time. The security screening process on Indian domestic flights is much more streamlined than in the US. It will be interesting to see the level of screening for international flights.
Haresh and I were inside the terminal by 9:35 - only to find that our flight to Mumbia was delayed.
While we were waiting in line one of the skycaps came over to practice his English on me. He asked where I was from and how I liked India. Then he pointed out the business class queue (I was standing in the line for our seats - economy class). Hearing that I was from the US he naturally assumed I’d be flying business class.
I assured him that I was actually booked in economy. He went away disappointed. What’s the point in learning English if the Americans are reduced to flying economy class on Indian airlines?

Ride to the Airport in Delhi

Our flight was due to leave at 10:05 and we were leaving ATS Greens at about 8:45 – a 45 minute ride into Delhi. This was the first time I’ve actually been concerned while being driven in India. Haresh must have told the driver to step on it. Lots of high speed weaving and beeping.

A Sad Start

I was surprise when at 7:45 the car had not yet arrived for my ride to the airport. I gave Haresh a call and he said there had been a mix up with the car service and that the driver was on his way now. Haresh is the most organized of people so it’s unusual when his plans don’t go off like clockwork.

When the car, driver (not Vinod) and Haresh arrived I found the reason for the early morning confusion. Haresh’s brother-in-law (his wife’s sister’s husband) had passed away the night before. It was a sudden and unexpected death. Haresh had been up all night working on funeral arrangements with his family in Mumbai.

It is typically of the extreme care that everyone here has taken with us that despite this wrenching personal situation Haresh managed to spare a great deal of concern for me. He was worried about sending me alone from Mumbai to Pune while he stayed in Mumbai with his family. These folks set a high bar for hospitality.

The Plan in Pune

Here’s the plan. I am going to be driving into Delhi this morning for a 10:05 am flight to Mumbai (Bombay) with Haresh Chetnani. We’ll drive from Mumbai to Pune where I will be staying until March 15th.

Taking Leave

After returning from dinner at the Bhutani’s I packed up most of my stuff and read a bit (Suite Francaise – great book. I know that one night I’m going to start reading and stay up until 4am). Up at 6:30 am to finish packing and meet the 7:30 pick up.

Matt got up I just as I was leaving so we got to say good-bye. Matt’s unabashed enthusiasm for everything we’ve seen, tasted and smelled in India is contagious. He’s the most congenial travel companion you could wish for – I have a feeling the next few weeks will be a lot less entertaining than the past two. I’ll miss our rides in with Vinod but remember Matt - we will always have our Valentines dinner at Dhyani’s Take Out.

Dinner at the Bhutani's

The night before my departure from Noida Matt and I had dinner with Man Mohan Bhutani and his family. Man Mohan is a VP at Fiserv Global Services. He is living in the same complex (ATS Greens) where Matt and I are staying. Due to some long conference calls back to the US Matt and I did not leave the office until after 8pm (our earliest leaving night this week I think). It was almost 9 pm by the time we arrived at Man Mohan’s flat.

Once there we meet Man Mohan’s wife and his two extremely cute and polite children (have to ask someone at work and get all the names). While we were waiting for Sareti (?) to get dinner ready (probably reheating due to our lateness) we were treated to appetizers and drinks. Matt had a Scotch neat. I was surprised – I would not have guessed Matt was a Scotch drinker.

The hors d'oeuvres included spring rolls, a home made mint sauce, tomato soup, a chickpea type of dip, bread sticks – and one incongruous item – Tater Tots! Matt said he thought of Napoleon Dynamite and almost laughed. Man Mohan and his wife were gracious and charming hosts and we got a great home cooked meal to boot. Back to our unit and Lokesh about 11:30.

Starting off the Blog

Well, for the last two weeks I've been leaning on Matthew to update family in friends on our joint adventures in India. See Matt's entertaining and erudite blog for an update -http://www.matthewinnoida.blogspot.com/ .

But now the intrepid duo is separated. Matt is holding down the fort in Noida but I've moved on to my next assignment in Pune in the state of Maharashtra. So for the new few weeks we will be posting in parallel.