Day 17 of Lockdown!

Mauritius – not just any other ordinary (Stopover/Transit) destination:

This was my first visit to Mauritius, though I was just a hop, skip and a long jump away from this exotic and a dream destination.Yes, having spent over a decade and a half in Johannesburg I never had an opportunity to see this fabulous Island of a Country.

Be that as it may, providence provided me with a perfect chance to visit this country that was a French colony in the decades gone by. Though I had a stopover of just 21 hours, I decided to make full use of this time.

Travelling to Johannesburg from Mumbai on Air Mauritius, along with my friend and associate, Madhu Kongovi, the flight took off on time. This early morning flight had us totally drained of our sleep as we took a late night flight the previous day to Mumbai from Bengaluru. I hadn’t travelled this route (overseas via Mumbai) in more than a decade and hence was ignorant if there were any transport facilities between the terminals. When enquired, we were told to take the public transport to reach the other Terminal. Booked an Ola cab and reached the other Terminal around midnight on 15^th November. Our flight was only at 06h40 on 15^th to Mauritius. With more than a couple of hours to kill before the check-in counter opened, I employed a couple of ways from my bag of tricks to tide over.

Once the counters opened, we checked in and on crossing over to no man’s land (after emigration formalities) we reached the lounge where we spent the next couple of hours before the flight. Dead tired that we were and also famished due to long interval between flights, the food at this lounge was just what the doctor ordered.

This done and dusted by the time our flight was announced, we lazily strolled towards the flight and boarded leisurely.

Friendly and courteous flight attendants were at our service from the time we entered the aircraft and served sumptuous food with a plethora of drinks to wash it down with.

Dozed off the rest of the flight post breakfast, only to wake up close to landing time and the sight of a typical tropical flora.

Immigration formalities took a longer time to my liking since most of the passengers, other than Mauritians, had to be issued visas on arrival. That done, we got a few stuff for our friend whom we were about to meet.

Mahen Appadoo, a major logistics contractor, had come to the airport to receive us.  Warm guy, we hit out with him instantly. He took us to the hotel where we were given transit accommodation for a night as our connecting flight to Johannesburg was only the next day at 10am. We freshened up and while Madhu went along with Mahen, I lazed about in the hotel and relaxed before they returned along with a friend of Mahen, a Vimal Ramloll.

Our next stop was Port Louis, the capital city. Using Mahen’s clout, we could meet up with one of the Ministers of the recently elected Government, to discuss some business projects.

This done, let me introduce Vimal properly. Mr Vimal Ramloll, owns a company named Chiselmet and the uniqueness of Chiselmet is, it specialises in restoration of colonial buildings and furniture.

This said, Vimal chaperoned us around two of his present projects, in Port Louis. First, an imposing Theatre, which had been dilapidated over time and is being restored completely.

Aptly named as “The Theatre”, construction for this structure began around 1820 and inaugurated on 11th June 1822. This is one of the oldest theatres in Southern Hemisphere. 

The maintenance of this building was totally neglected over the decades. Restoration of this building started over a year ago and will continue well into 2020. The work that Vimal and his team has started with, needs special mention as he has left no stone unturned in his efforts to bring this building back to its old glory.

Some of the pics of this great historical monument:

 

 

We then drove down to his unit, ‘Chiselmet’, where he showcased us the painstaking process of restoring these fittings and fixtures like dados, panelling and cladding, tiling, etc.

Some of the pics are below, courtesy Vimal’s Chiselmet:

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, many of his workers are from Bangladesh and many of them have adapted to Mauritian way of life, as they are known to do so worldwide. Few of them speak rusty French (which is the official language other than Creole and English) and their supervisor was pretty fluent in both Creole and French.

Post this, we had a good snack at a bakery/restaurant in downtown as we were famished by then. This reminded me of the many Irani joints in Mumbai, where, I had the pleasure of hogging on their Maska Paav and Tea. Here we had a couple of chilli bites and maska bun as well.

Next on the list was to visit one of the resorts owned by Vimal, which was a good distance from the city. The roads and the topography reminded me of my life in Goa.

                                                                                     

He gave us a quick tour of the resort and I must say, it was really an excellent place to relax, relax and relax. Refreshed with a couple of drinks, on we proceeded to our next venue of interest.

Next one on the list was in Rose Hill, which for a long time was the temple of culture in Mauritius, thanks to Plaza. This magnificent old-fashioned Theatre and its Village Hall have hosted many a major event in the past. With the Party Hall finally being restored, the Theatre being renovated, will put these buildings to its former magnificence. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the time of the day, I couldn’t get inside these buildings to take a few pics.

 

Also, due to lack of time I couldn’t get more information on these and other projects. Perhaps in my next write-up, I will cover these better, with more information.

Great job Vimal! All the very best and hope you restore some more of these nostalgic buildings to its former grandeur.

Next in tow was our visit to Mauritius Club, where we met some of who’s-who in the Indian community of Mauritius. Celebration of Diwali festival at this club, was the highlight of the day, with some excellent live music ringing out some of the old Hindi numbers. While the elders’ eyes were moist and their faces brightened up from nostalgia, the youngsters too enjoyed the music in their own way.

Downing a couple of tots along with a plethora of short eats, we were full to the brim and almost ready to call it a day.

Mahen’s son was our designated driver and thanks to him, we reached our hotel safely in the night. Hit the bed almost instantly and dozed off just after reminding the reception to wake us up early the next day as we had to catch the connecting flight to Johannesburg.

This in short was the travelogue of my first, but certainly not my last, trip to Mauritius!

Thanks a lot to Mahen and Vimal for the excellent hospitality extended to us and particularly to me as I was a total stranger who was quite at ease in your company. Hope I get a chance to reciprocate this gesture of yours, in future.

My experience in Durban during Durban July Event - circa 2013!

Day 13 of Lockdown:

While sifting through various photos, from my avatar at South Africa, this one struck me right in my heart and made me realise what patriotism is all about.

Date: Sunday, July 7, 2013.

Event: Post Durban July, a prestigious, annual horse racing event at Durban, South Africa.

Location: Mt. Edgecombe Golf Resort, Durban.

Chronicle:

Compliments from one of our major suppliers, I had the opportunity to visit Durban July, a prestigious annual horseracing event normally held on the first Saturday of July. Hence it is aptly named and famous as ‘Durban July’ event.

This is one event where “All Roads Lead to Durban”!

Who-is-who of the country’s elite, celebrities, newsmakers and kingmakers alike, top businessmen and business executives, bankers and the like, can’t resist this event for all the money in the world.

Glitz and Glamour abound,

Dresses that cause traffic jam around,

Unique marquees of hosts that surround,

Makes one who is not used to these events, spellbound! 

That said about the event, my colleagues and I flew to Durban on 5^th July afternoon. We were joined by some more client representatives of our supplier and were driven down to this lovely Golf Estate at Mt. Edgecombe, where the Manager, Karl (a German gentleman, perhaps in early sixties), welcomed us with a drink and ushered us to our rooms.

After a quick snooze, I went down to see if I can get any company to while away my time. Luckily, our host Michael and his lovely family (wife – Kate, son - Paul and daughter - Stephanie) were there along with others as well and we hit off like old family friends. That they jelled with us very well is an understatement.

What started off with tea and coffee with some cookies soon graduated to beer and spirits as we moved outdoors into the open area, bordering the golf course and had a campfire lit to get the evening mood right and then, the guzzling went on till late in the night. Cautious with my drinks that I always am, I spaced my drinks well enough to let my liver do its job of metabolising the liquid and thereby remain sober, despite couple of multiple drinks.

Michael’s children, being under-aged for drinks, remained satisfied with fruit punches and mock-tails and nibbled on the short-eats.

Couple of hours after sundown followed by sumptuous dinner, couples started leaving the place wishing each other good night as they were afraid to oversleep or wake up with a bad hangover and mess enjoying the big event, next day. Couple of us stags, stayed well into the late night and Michael and Paul played impeccable hosts in giving us company till we called it a night!

Just as we went inside and got into a mood for a night-cap of Liqueur, one of the guests, whose wife had already retired for the night, came walking zigzag and we realised that he had not just one, but two too many. He was insisting us to take him to some nightlife spots in Durban, where he can indulge himself.

With just Michael and Paul besides me and this gentleman, we did some quick thinking and I nodded at Michael and said ‘let’s go’! Michael got the clue and told Paul to drive us around as I didn’t want to risk driving under influence.

So off we went, Paul, this gentleman and I in search of elusive nightlife in that part of Durban! Since I had already hinted Paul, he drove us in circles as the gentleman sitting in the rear seat, a bit drowsy by now, started to tell us where to go. He kept blabbering that we are hoodwinking him and not taking him to the right spots and insisted that we drive according to his directions.

We went round and round from Mt. Edgecombe to Umhlanga and back many times. By this time our friend in the back seat was close to dozing off and had kept quiet.

All the while, I was talking to Michael and Stephanie (she was a very worried little girl about her big brother and naturally so) and kept assuring them of our safety.

Couple of kilometres on the clock and a few liters of fuel burnt, we returned to the resort, at last, much to the relief of Stephanie, Kate and Michael. We helped the gentleman to his room and Michael, Kate and Stephanie thanked me for safe return. Paul narrated the story in brief and we all had such a hearty laugh at the gentleman’s expense before retiring for the night.

Next morning, post exchanging pleasantries, the gentleman and his wife avoided us like poison ivy as they just finished their breakfast in a jiffy and off they went to change over to their fancy dresses. The rest of us had a leisurely breakfast before we went to change our outfits and boarded shuttle to reach the Greyville race course, well in time before the first race started, to savour the hospitality in the host’s marquee.

What went on at the event was just about extraordinary stuff with a plethora of food that satisfied every palate, drinks of every kind flowed copiously, entertainment – out of the world, excellent races (I never bet though and have never done so), the hospitality was impeccable and I am sure we all enjoyed thoroughly.

Since it was winter time in South Africa and the sun had set early in the afternoon (Durban is in the east coast of South Africa), post noon races were under floodlights. This gave a different dimension to the event and;

We had joy, We had fun; and

We frolicked even after Sun

Even after the last race was flagged down, we still weren’t ready to call it a day. However, all good things must end and hence we returned by shuttle, dragging our feet, around 9 in the night, relishing every second of the time we spent at the event. I couldn’t even guess as to how many drinks I polished off over a period of 8-9 hours and so did many others.

On the whole, it was a memorable event as we stayed put in the Golf Resort for one more night before we packed to return to our bases. Spent out our last bit of energy, we just had enough strength to say goodnight and dashed to our rooms to go flat out on our beds.

Next morning was a different story. As we gathered around for breakfast, the hosts thanked each of us for our presence and bid farewell appropriately. The gentleman and his wife were, naturally, ill at ease and were squirming on their chairs.

To me, Michael and his family hold a special place in my heart as they took great care of me right from the time we landed till bidding farewell. Not for just making me feel comfortable by conversing in English only, as I was the only alien amongst their fellow countrymen but also for the simple reason that I being a vegetarian, they had gone out of the way in selecting choicest vegetarian food and snacks.

Thanks a ton Michaels! May God bless you all!

The hosts came to see us off as we were told our transportation to shuttle us to the airport, was waiting for us. Karl had arranged a surprise of mammoth proportions, for me, as we came out to board the shuttle.

Crux of the Story:

Since most of the guests and the hosts as well, were South Africans and I was the only foreigner in the pack, Karl had hoisted our Indian flag in my honour!

Man, what a feeling it was to be the star of the morning and with my beloved Indian Flag flying high above the ground!

With moist eyes, as I couldn’t resist the overwhelming feeling, I just held Karl’s hands and thanked him profusely for making my day happen, even before it began! The feeling what I experienced on that day is etched permanently in my mind and even to this day, just the thought of Mt. Edgecombe and Karl, gives me goose bumps and misty eyes.

No words, similes or metaphors can describe those moments aptly.

My sincere thanks to all those who made me experience that feeling.

Obviously, I have used pseudonyms of my friends to honour their privacy.

Day 10 of Lockdown in India!

Day 10 of Lockdown!

Impact:

As the curtains are drawn, signifying the end of 10^th day of Lockdown, my mind races as to what has been achieved by this lockdown.

On the one hand; it has been scientifically proven that the 21 day lockdown period, coupled with Social Distancing, would culminate in a break in the chain of Corona Virus’ spree of infections.

On the other hand; I see a lot of nincompoops strolling in the areas like, ISRO Layout (for example, near Kumaraswamy Layout), going about their morning walks, some without even proper masks and also on two wheelers, disregarding the lockdown principles.

I will be failing in my job, should I not appreciate the efforts of the staff and management of Star Bazaar, who have been providing impeccable service to the residents here. Excellent crowd management within and outside the establishment, adhering to social distancing and other requirements, they are striving to better their service each day.

Hats off to you, ladies and gentlemen, of the Star Bazaar!

Also in this area, there is a spurt of roadside vegetable and fruit vendors who have come from other areas as I can see very unfamiliar faces, causing concern to the residents. I am in a dilemma here as I can neither blame the residents as they don’t have a choice but to buy whatever is available as essentials, nor can we prevent these small businesses/opportunists (maybe a harsh word in the circumstances, but nevertheless apt as well) in setting up their shops.

All of a sudden, these small businesses are seen to be owned by a single community and spread over this area. These shops are open for the best part of the day disregarding the lockdown principles. Wonder where these people were during the normal times. Just an observation and I am certainly not prejudiced or judgemental. While many can dismiss this as poppycock, I request further investigations by the powers that may be.

Philosophy of being alone:

Many of us may be feeling lonely (despite being with our loved ones and spending most of the quality time with them) as our comfort zones (working in offices, being with our friends and favourite hangouts, etc.), have been taken away from us by this compulsory lockdown. Some of the bachelors/bachelorettes, singles but ready to mingles, forced ones to stay singles are left with no choice but to use their computers, handhelds, etc. burning the bandwidths in networking with their loved ones or friends, associates and acquaintances to shed out their boredom.

Be that as it may, the crux of this discussion was to know the difference between being alone and being lonely. There is a gulf of difference between the two words though sometimes many of us may use these interchangeably.

I dread to be lonely but I am at ease being alone.

Sounds queer, right!

Being lonely is dreadsome. I shiver even at this thought. It is a state of mind where, despite being in a crowd, you feel lonely for more reasons than one!

Being alone, is something I sometimes long for. I can accomplish a lot of things like reading, browsing, writing, listening to the music, watching a play on the (hitherto dumb) smart boxes, thinking about various things, planning something, gardening, cleaning in general and dusting off of the old relics and photos, drifting away in nostalgic moments, etc. to name a few.

Health OutPost Platform:

In the backdrop of the Corona virus outbreak, the company I am associated with in a consulting capacity, which is a social-impact enterprise, have put together a Data-driven digital outreach platform, Digital Health Outpost (DHO^TM), for the effective monitoring, containment, management and mitigation that can work at a National/State level. This can serve as a digital backbone for the city/state, for health related matters.

This platform can fit/integrate with what may already exist. It brings in the required Public engagement, primarily reaching the last mile.

It is a pity that such a brilliant product, which was conceptualised even before India thought of fighting COVID-19, has been languishing as there are many hurdles and bureaucratic red tapes to counter before anything can happen. We have tried every means to bring this to the notice to the powers that exist, but to no avail.

There are number of players who have brought out trackers for COVID-19 but, for us, tracker is just a miniscule innate component offered as a side snack, in this holistic platform.

It is still the early stages in many countries, for this virus to show its true colours and therefore, if there are any readers, whom we can request to assist us in reaching to these powers in any of the countries, it would be a great service to the public at large and humanity in particular!

Conclusion:

This lockdown has given us the required space and time to do various activities, hitherto pushed on to the backburner, feigning lack of time (?). What a great opportunity to do many things, if not all, that we normally brush aside in prioritising our routine activities. Impact of these lockdowns on the economies of all countries in the world will be immense and it will take a lot of time for many and most to limp back to pre-endemic stage. That said, it is still worthwhile than losing lots of lives to this infinitesimal virus which is but a protein particle covered by a layer of fat.

Happy lockdown!!

Day 6 of the Lock-down!

As we enter Day 6 of the lock-down, my mind races to find out what are the things I achieved being indoors.

Zilch!!

Other than seeing stupid forwards on social media, getting bogged down by messages of doomsday announcements due to COVID-19, forwarding stupid forwards, becoming another stupid link, in a chain of stupids, Zilch!

Having no personal social contacts with anyone else apart from my household members, is a first-time experience to many and most of us. Even the first circle of family living outside the house can only be contacted by Phone (Voice or Video) and not in person.

For so many people; their wish for a break has come true as they can do whatever they had thought to do (except go outdoors)! I want these people to reflect on their accomplishments or have they started of yet on their quest to achieve their dreams?

Be that as it may, this lock-down has given us all time to reflect on the happenings so far in our lives, make amends and move forward towards a better life.

If nothing has been done in the last 5 days, we can still think of the days to come and utilise this opportunity, provided by providence, to nurture our hobbies and move towards their perfection.

Some of them, to my humble knowledge, are listed below:

• a.      Learn a new skill – there are so many things that we would have missed out due to lack of time or inclination, in the past that can be rekindled and though not perfected, can be reasonably learnt. Who knows, this can perhaps become our favourite pass-time in our retired years.
• b.     Reading – There are umpteen free websites that offer many reading materials (both fiction and non-fiction, self-development, inspirational auto-biographies, etc.) which can make our lives better and also; of those around us, by practicing our understandings from these readings.
• c.      Dwell on our hobbies and try to better our skills – after all what best than to have our hobby as our life-skill. In times of need, we could make our life out if this and we will never get bored in life, again, if our hobb(y)ies become our profession.   
• d.     Learn a new language – this (though not simple) can be done a bit easily these days, what with so many online stuff available to assist us. All we need is bit of interest.  
• e.      Writing memoirs or travelogues – This can be quite interesting as we challenge our grey cells to remember and recollect all those events and incidents of yesteryears – good and bad, joyous and sad, exciting and dreaded, etc. If we have loads of physical copies of photographs, it is all the more interesting as the whole family can enjoy these in remembering the anecdotes around each of these photos.
• f.       Meditation and Yoga – Clampdown on moving outdoors, can be a boon for those of us seeking inner peace. What better time than now, to start meditating and yoga albeit in small doses to being with. Who knows, by the time the lock-down is lifted we might have achieved couple of levels of mastery over Self.
• g.     Going through the Religious or Philosophical Scriptures and trying to practice – This can have a soothing effect on those of us who are inclined towards religion or philosophy. Bear in mind, being religious and being philosophical are two different things. One can be either of them or both. Again, there are a lot of stuff available online to help us.
• h.     Lazing around – I am sure most of us are doing just this for now. For many of us, this is our default position. We all need this a bit to relax but this shouldn’t be the mainstream focus at times like these.
• i.       Challenging each other about things we aren’t used to – like staying away from those smart things that has made us as duds. Yes, I am talking about our smartphones. Penalty for not staying away could means some punishment like sweeping or vacuuming, doing the dishes, etc. This will be a great fun in times like these.
• j.       Any type of service towards the underprivileged in times like these, being safe and maintaining social distance, is perhaps the best some of us are embarked on. I  take my hats off to those who are in this stream of activity!

The list can go on to include many more. Everything is left to our imagination and there is no dearth for it.

Effect of this lock-down can be seen in some of the below;

i.                 Rebooting of Nature!

ii.               Birds’ chirpings can be heard distinctly now.

iii.              Air is devoid of pollution from fumes thrown by vehicles and industries belching out gasses from their boilers, but we still have to wear our marks to avoid COVID-19 infection.

iv.              Cacophonic noises blaring from vehicles reduced to nil.

v.               For some, irritable door to door vendors’ visits have come to a nought.  

I am sure, if we can utilise this God given opportunity in a positive way; we all can be better human beings, by the time the lock-down is lifted.

God Bless us all to be healthy, safe and secure, in these testing times!

Lessons from "Drama in Real Life" !

Met an old friend (my namesake) at Sagar Hospital a couple of days ago. 

He was attending to his brother who along with his family met with an accident, a head-on collision with a tractor coming the wrong way on Hyderabad freeway. 

Sounds familiar?

Yes, most of our vehicle drivers take shortcuts in avoiding travelling extra distance, to take a U turn (right thing to do).

Instead, they switch on their headlights as if it's panacea for breaking the law and drive on the wrong side of the road, proudly.

Back to the story:

His brother and sister-in-law were in the rear seat while his nephew was on the front passenger's seat.

Ironically, many abhor wearing seatbelts in our country. Safety, road safety at that, is at a huge discount.

That said, how can we expect passengers in the rear seats to wear protective seatbelts?

As luck would have it, front seat passengers were wearing seatbelts but the impact being severe, driver was injured very badly. Passenger got away with minor injuries.

Luckily, his sister-in-law was saved as she perhaps, took evasive action and survived with minimal injuries like whiplash, bruises and cuts as she was awake during the night journey.

My friend's brother, however, had dozed off and was thrown on to the driver's seat on impact resulting in severe head injuries, fractured ribs, etc.

Could he have saved himself of these injuries?

Definitely!!!

All he had to do was to wear protective seatbelt.

It is all the more essential for backseat passengers to wear protective seatbelts, if they have strong tendency to doze off, while travelling by car.

For many, it is an unnecessary, avoidable and uncomfortable nuisance to wear protective seatbelts. When one hears of, or experiences such incidents, the importance of the seatbelts would come to the fore.

Bottom line:

Please wear your seatbelts, irrespective of whether you are a front seat passenger or backseat passenger and be safe.

I wish my friend's kins, speedy recovery!!

My travails during return journey from Johannesburg!!!

Compelled to reschedule my return journey from 26th Nov to 12th Dec, I battled initially to get an extension on Air Mauritius. Reason - Expensive options due to peak holiday season in South Africa.
Forced to scout out alternatives, one airline suited the budget.
Saudi Airlines!! One glaring thing one must get used to.... No alcohol on these flights and till you  conclude your journey! It didn't make a difference to me but to some it can be a journey breaker.
With the minimal difference between one-way and return options, I chose the return.
My grouse started when I tried checking in online. For whatever reason, I wasn't allowed to choose my seats for the connecting flight from Jeddah. Even the assistant at the check-in counter couldn't help me with choice of seats.
Proceeding further, agnostic of how the food on the flight would be, I was glad to have access to the lounge where I had my brunch, well almost!
Flight was at 11:00 and I was shocked 😳 to see that there was no entertainment console for such a long flight. Anyway, I was equipped with my cellphone full of content to keep me contented throughout the flight. But the plight of families travelling with kids, young and teens, was a sore sight, I wish to forget very quickly!!
The highlight of the otherwise insipid flight was the exuberant and enthusiastic hostesses, ever smiling and taking care of even minor requirements with great aplomb!!
I don't want to prejudge this attitude of the hostesses, as a means to cover-up the non-availability of basic amenities for a long flight.
Be that as it may, the in-flight service was top-notch!!
Probably that was the only saving grace of this airline.
Dog tired due to my hectic activities in Johannesburg, I could sleep well on the flight and this was one more feather in the cap for the airlines, as there was no entertainment console, by design, to disturb my sleep...
On landing at Jeddah, we were shuttled to the old block of structure which vaguely resembled a terminal building. Crossing over again through security check, I entered the duty free outlets, a pale comparison of duty-free shopping in terminals elsewhere...
Wading through these outlets, I was aghast and dumbfounded to see the crowd of at least several hundred in the cramped building.
Being a holder of Priority Pass, I quickly searched for the lounges and was ushered to the one just before the duty free.
On reaching there, I felt like dropping down from frying pan to 🔥!!
No access was granted to my card that is normally accepted in almost all airport lounges across the 🌏!!
Had to kill 7 hrs somehow but the density of crowd in the terminal was almost like travelling in Namma Metro at peak hours.

• After a good half an hour I could get a recliner seat and thank God for this!

The joy was short-lived. Since the seat was adjoining gates, I couldn't even catch a wink as the gate counter assistants were yelling at the top of their voices... Dubai, Dammam, Multan, Cairo (Kaheraa), Islamabad, Dubai, Etc..  as and when the flights were ready for departure... So primitive that it reminded me of the conductors yelling and attracting passengers for their respective buses at Bengaluru's Kalasipalyam bus stand in the yester years...
My ordeal didn't end here. I tried to locate the washroom for relieving and to my utter shock found only one block for men and another for women perhaps housing not more than 5 toilets each. One peep from the door, I withdrew and held back using a washroom till I got in to my flight in the wee hours of the morning, consoling myself *'All is well'*!
I'm sure there would be lots of people contracting UTI 😷☹️forced to use the facilities..with such pathetic infrastructure. My sympathies to them.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, my flight was announced.
I dashed towards the gates and was one of the first to board the flight.
Securing my luggage in the hatrack, I sneaked into the fresh (?) toilet to relieve myself of all the toxins that was accumulated over the last couple of hours.
Tears of relief rolling down from my eyes, I had a quick face wash and snuggled into my seat for the last leg of my return journey. Hostesses were equally charming as on my first flight but not as exuberant. Reasons could be the demanding Indian crowd on these leg of the flights into Indian cities. I don't blame the hostesses but ourselves for the apathy.
Had an excellent company in my co-passengers, a lady and a gentleman. Greetings and pleasantries behind us, I had a jolly good time with them and we exchanged our coordinates.
On the whole it was quite a journey with all sorts of  emotions running through and I was glad it came to an end a tad earlier as the flight landed ahead of schedule.
Hello Bengaluru!!! 
Home sweet home!

My cent or two, advice to travellers on Saudi Airlines:
1. Expect the unexpected chaos at Jeddah airport.
2. Be stingy on liquid and solid intake unless if you can bear the stench and risk UTI by using ablution facilities at Jeddah Terminal.
3. Don't expect liquor to be served in the flights or at lounges across Saudi Arabian airports, not even '0%' alcohol beers.
4. Lounges are the preserve of only Business and First class passengers unless you are ready to pay.
5. Depending on the aircraft features, I'm sure you will otherwise enjoy the experience with good team of host/esses. 

Draconian Divide & Rule Laws!!

It has been over 70 years since British left the shores of India. Of the umpteen laws of British Raj era, some have been more divisive between the States (Provinces) than others. One such law, each and every other State has passed (some during the erstwhile Raj, while others emulating neighbouring states) is the State Excise Acts.

States have the prerogative over control of Alcohol manufacture and trade in their respective jurisdiction. For the purposes of movement of trade, each such State is virtually a country with extremely tedious paperwork and bureaucratic hassles.

The control of alcohol business in different States, squeezing out every bit as excise duties and taxes to fill the coffers of the Raj, was the genesis of these draconian laws.

Strict vigilance and control over the manufacture, bottling and distribution process, is just the start of the chain of regulation. There is a team of Excise Inspectorate stationed in each of the Brewery, Distillery or Winery overseeing these operations. The establishment of Excise Inspectorate at various manufacturing centres is enshrined in the respective State Excise Acts, itself.

While at the distribution end, there are registers and paperwork, needs to be maintained by each and every outlet, be it a Liquor Store, Bar & Restaurant, Recreational Clubs, etc. and audited by the Excise department.

In addition, there are physical check-posts at the borders of each State ensuring the correct movement of alcoholic beverages. Many a State has enacted a Transit Clause in their Excise Laws, for movement of these goods via their State into neighbouring ones.  

Just imagine the huge resources spent/deployed by the States in ensuring compliance at various stages of the value chain. All these are ultimately paid for by the consumers of Alcohol.

One should bear in mind the enormous share of State Excise Duty in the State’s revenues. Added to this, certain State Governments have monopoly over the distribution (some at primary distribution levels while many others, at retail levels) and the stupendous amounts collected by these channels by porous Distribution Corporations, needs special mention.

At all these touch points, one can imagine the extent and amount of corruption that takes place, the greedy intent of State Governments’ in garnering more and more revenues by way of increased “Sin Taxes”  while the social purpose of controlling Alcobev industry take a backseat.

These draconian laws, added to the distribution monopoly in certain States, where manufacturers are not given a fair price for their products to be sold in that particular State, will definitely put the pressure on these manufacturers to find creative ways in recovering their costs and offsetting their margins.

My two cents:

Isn’t it time to do away with the State Excise Acts and bring about other means to compensate the States for their revenues?

Isn’t there a better way to moderate the distribution and sale of Alcoholic beverages?