Experience of flying from Atlanta to Bombay on the day of the attacks

Sapna and I were embarking on a 6 week long vacation to India. All excited. Day before thanksgiving, sitting in Kansas City Airport about to board the flight to Atlanta in 10 mins. Suddenly the phone rings; it was Dad. He says that Bombay is on siege and that terrorists have taken the city hostage. It is chaos and that he is calling so that we are not surprised by what we see when we land in Bombay.

Strange. I said to myself. Hard to believe. Checked a few websites. But very little information coming in. However, one thing that was imminent was that something not-so-nice has happened and happened in a big way.

Somehow we spend the 2.5 hours trying to solve Sudoku. As soon as we get off the plane in Atlanta, all the LCD television screens (generously placed everywhere throughout the airport) were beaming live pictures of the scene in Bombay through CNN (inset CNN-IBN - The channel that I unfailingly watch each morning with my cup of tea).

We were quite unsure if our 18 hr flight from Atlanta to Bombay would take off in such circumstances. There was chaos and confusion and people were frantically on their cell phones trying to get a first hand report from families in Mumbai. ATS Chief Karkare and top cop Salaskar had already been slain by the time we got our eyes on the TV screens.

*Confession* The first (and perhaps the only) thing that struck me was "Gosh! I can't be missing the TV coverage of such an event. Such a loss. There was a sense of deprivation". Sapna couldn't fathom how such a thought could even be on my mind. But it is what it is.

Meanwhile, the airline (Delta) had already contacted the US State Dept, who had checked with their counterparts at the Foreign Ministry (GoI). We had been cleared to take off. However the American crew with us would have to fly back to the US on the same flight i.e. They fly 18hrs from Atlanta to Bombay serving the passengers; a new set of crew boards the aircraft which flies back after a 4 hr break in Bombay back to Atlanta; the crew of the first flight fly back rightaway. Sounds pretty tiring!

On a separate note, Delta scores a 3 out of 3 in my book. Awesome aircraft, awesome crew, awesome food, awesome masala tea, awesome personal entertainment system. In short, fly Delta. It is one of the best experiences. If possible, book your seats online in an exit row and you won't even realize that you've spent 18hrs on the plane. (You would be longing to get back into the aircraft for your next flight ........ That was an exaggeration!)

So all the passengers (not sure about the crew) were frisked like crazy by special task officers and some by sniffer dogs before we boarded the flight. All carry on baggage for each and every passenger went through tremendous screening using machines that I had never ever seen in my life. In short, they did everything to make sure that the right security measures had been taken at their end and that the passengers felt secure (At least, I did. Just that I was missing the coverage :( )

Upon landing in India, immigration was funny. The lady at immigration asks me where is your visa. (FYI - It had expired and I had an AP and a visa revalidation appointment at the US Consulate). I gave a terse reply to her question, "Madam, Indian Passport hai". Why on earth does immigration require people entering their own country to produce a visa of the country they are coming in from is beyond my understanding. Now that utterly confused her. Unsure as to why an Indian passport holder does not need to have a valid visa to enter India, he asked his counterpart sitting next to her. Thankfully he asked the lady to let us go since we had Indian passports. Welcome to India :-)

Side Note ... Bombay airport may have been recently listed on Forbes worst airport in the world list. But it has become quite slick. Clean restrooms, plenty of restaurants, lounges (e.g. IIFA lounge), duty free and so on. I wouldn't rate it as world class by any standard. But ya, definitely quite decent. No free Wi-Fi btw. Not too good. Strangely, not sure if it was even available for purchase.

So we got the baggage very quickly. At customs, one of the Pandus ask me what flight I have taken. I replied "Delta" and he goes "Kuchh hai kya duty ke liye?". I said no and simply headed out. The day when Bombay was on siege, anyone could have entered the city without any checks on the luggage via international airport.

Jai Hind! Jai Maharashtra!

No wonder then that: "Bade shahron mein aise ek adh hadse hote rahte hain. Woh 5,000 logon ko marne aye the lekin humne kitna kum nuksan hone diya."