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Hot Hotspot, In Indore. May'14

 
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sumantra
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Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 5:03 pm    Post subject: Hot Hotspot, In Indore. May'14 Reply with quote

Hot Hotspot, In Indore. May'14


93.1 Introduction

http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14677.html

Much like in my last trip report
92. Jabalpur, if I May, in May'14
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14641.html
I apologise to the reader for the lack of pictures corresponding
to this trip as well. This was among the two trips, where the
picture folders got corrupted, on my USB hard disk. What I have
with me here, is a motley collection of a few snaps, from my cell phone.
The appalling apology done with, let me get started with the trip
report itself. This was for an examination, for which we were
travelling in a fairly large group.

93.2 At the Airport

For the regular reader, what does a trip report by Sumantra bring
memories of, especially when he is travelling in a large group?
Yes, a bunch of wacky teachers. 25 people, to be precise.
For the large number of metallic trunks we had to check in, the
process usually got done in two stages. First, an Air India
manager got us a dedicated check-in desk, where some sample
trunks were weighed (or often, a sampling of the lot, followed by
an extrapolation), and while one of us paid the ransom at another
counter, the rest of us got busy at the OOG counter (the `Out of
Gauge') counter, where the trunks were separately X-rayed: a
counter at the Eastern end of the terminal building.
I got busy at the latter part, where the sharp end of a trunk
managed to pick up an argument with my shirt, and the latter
emerged second-best, in the short duel. A colleague looked at me
(or rather, my state), and commented that it was a `Two-tear system,'
after all, which led to my shedding a few tears, at a part of
the fabric getting shorn off.
Another colleague, a physicist, was marvelling as to how a
student simply did not know the units of solid angles.
``And they want degrees,'' he started a pun.
``See, it should not be degrees, or Steradians...it should be ohms.''
He made the sign of a holy chant, to pun with `ohm', and continued,
``Ohms, since it is representative of the Resistance to learn.''
The discussion shifted to our respective duties in the previous round of
examinations, which had seen quite a few of us on duty. One of us
had been to a small town in Rajasthan, named Sikar, quite a few times.
``He is a Sikar-seeker,'' we concluded.

By this while, we had got the first part of the job done.
``Oh, what I relief...'' I exclaimed, as I helped heave the last
large box onto the conveyor belt.
``If you want to relieve yourself, do it there,'' a helpful
colleague pointed, out, pointing to the toilets, a short distance away.
I was reminded of a sign in our organisation, which correlated
the two activities. Relieving oneself was possibly indeed an act of upliftment.


93.3 Another trip to Indore!

The itinerary for this leg of the journey was as follows:

Set out 23 May (Fri) for Indore from New Delhi
AI 636: Air India (A320) [Seat: 04F; PNR: HYFVN]
IGIA T3, New Delhi - Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore
New Delhi (DEL) - Indore (IDR)
[06:00 pm - 07:30 pm]

Yes, as the regular reader would recount, ever since I started
writing trip reports, I have been lucky to have about a trip a
year to the Economic capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
82. Indore on Jet's Props, Feb'14
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14356.html
59. I Adore Indore: May-Jun'13
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic13589.html
36. Indore again in 2012, April
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12937.html
33. Indoor/Indore in 2012
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12835.html
9. Mostly Indoors, in Indore
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11533.html

As we waited in the impressive terminal building, our plane came in.
Our ride for the day would be SD, the `memory card' plane VT-ESD.
This is an old ex-Indian Airlines double bogey classic A320.
The bird looked quite young and sprightly in the new Air India colours.
This has been in an all-Economy configuration since quite some time,
and puts in yeoman service in routes with low executive class demand.
Once again, I was pleased to see a very neat and clean plane.
I have often suspected that someone seems to feel
for these older planes, and maintains the interiors much better
than the newer A319s, A320s and A321s. This plane was obviously
not based in Delhi at the moment, but I have generally seen this
extra care for the interiors of older birds to be more prevalent
at the Delhi base, than at other places. It was a pleasure to see
the fabric neat, clean and fresh, and the plastic surfaces clean,
with no grime marks around. I wish I could also say this for many
of Air India's newer planes. And yes, as usual, we would have a
full flight. About two-thirds of the passengers were to disembark
at Indore, with the rest going onward to Mumbai.

The `memory card' plane had come in a bit late, and instead of
the scheduled departure time of 06:00 pm, we would be delayed a bit.
We pushed back at 06:10 pm. The remote stands around us had
the impressive WA, the `wide aircraft', an A332, and two Air
India Regional planes on the two sides. To the Eastern side was
JB, the `quick turnaround' (`Just Back') plane VT-RJB (a CRJ-700
`masked bandit'), and on the other, was BO, the `smelly' plane
VT-ABO (an ATR-42-300), in the new Air India Flying Swan livery.
The flight time was announced as 01:25 hours.

There were three senior members of the cabin crew around the
front of the aircraft, two senior ladies, and a senior Sikh
gentleman. All three were nice and pleasant to passengers.
Ms. Shobhana was in charge of the cabin, and Captain Vaibhav Gupta
was in command. We took off from the new runway 29, after a
JetKonnect AT7 landed. We turned left after taking off, and
encountered constant light turbulence for a large part of the trip.
By the time the Captain switched off the seat belt signs, I was famished.
And let me remind the reader that this trip was in May 2014,
at the height of the Air India cost-cutting period, when the amount
of food dished out on short flights had reduced to an unbearably bare minimum.

As always, I did not have high hopes of the `refreshment' turning
to be filling enough, in those days of cost-cutting and austerity measures.
There was a choice of beverages, and much to my pleasant surprise,
the instant coffee was not too bad.
Accompanying it was a packet with two Paljee rock salt biscuits,
which were thankfully not rock-hard, but very tasty.

Captain Vaibhav Gupta made a great landing at Indore.
He slowed the plane down gradually, and made an about turn nearly at the 07
end of the runway. When we reached the terminal building,
there were two SpiceJet Q400 planes on the tarmac.

93.4 At Indore

This was a picture I had clicked of the impressive exterior of
the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore earlier in 2014.

We had come in to Indore in February 2014. I had clicked this
picture in the early afternoon of 14 Feb (Fri), 2014.
This trip has found mention in the following trip report:
82. Indore on Jet's Props, Feb'14
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14356.html

This was 23 May, 2014.
We had reached Indore in the evening, and with the lights on,
the land-side part of the airport had an interesting piece of artwork
on the wall, which was looking quite resplendent in the dark.
Perhaps, it depicted some monuments in and close to the city,
with some nice lighting behind the raised portions.

Frankly, I do not see why something which looks like the famous
stupa as Sanchi, is depicted on the right. Sanchi is close to Bhopal.


I had hit the bed quite early on Friday, after missing dinner.
In what would come as an absolute shock to the reader well-versed
with my scheme of things, I was to miss lunch the next day as well.
The next day at least, the complementary buffet breakfast at the
Hotel Ginger was quite decent. Orange juice, watermellon, bread
pakoDA, utthapa(m) with sAmbhAr and
coconut and tomato chutney, bread, butter and jam, milk and cereals
(corn and wheat flakes) and beverages.
The breakfast the next day would be similar in type.
The juice offering was a mango one, and the South Indian item was an
upamA, and the fruit, papaya.
Breakfast was also served at the examination centre.
While my colleagues hesitated, I did justice to all that was served.
samosAs with a nice semi-sweet filling inside, and
pohA, a snack based on beaten wheat, and fried savouries
sprinkled on top, with a dash of lemon. The lunch had
chapAtI (unleavened flat bread) with dAl
(pulses), a dry vegetable preparation, a curd/yogurt-based
rAitA, and Amras mango pulp, to round it off.
Dinner was an unlimited thAlI, various preparations served
all around a large circular steel plate (the `thAlI' itself).
Before that, I had paid my customary trip to Indore's
Chappan Dukan, literally `56 shops'. This area is famous for savouries,
typical of the region. Typical savouries of the region
have a sweet component, such as the shredded potato with raisins
and other dry fruits, and some are sweet and sour, with dried
mango powder (amchUr) giving the characteristic sour taste.

93.5 Setting out from Indore

The itinerary for the return journey was as follows:

Set out 26 May (Mon) for New Delhi from Indore
AI 635: Air India (A320) [Seat: 02F; PNR: HYFVN]
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore - IGIA T3, New Delhi
Indore (IDR) - New Delhi (DEL)
[07:50 am - 09:20 am]

A 07:50 am flight meant...a very early start to the day.
Our team leader had announced well in advance, that we would set
out from Hotel Ginger at 05:30 am. Which meant a 04:00 am start
from bed, for most of us. We would start from the hotel at the
crack of dawn. A lame pun on a famous line from the Bollywood movie,
`` `Dawn' ko pakaDnA mushkil hI nahIn, nAmumkin hai''
(`To catch the Don/dawn is not just difficult...it is impossible')
To put it lightly, it took quite some effort on the part of our
team leader, and some volunteers (and some tears, as well), the
final member of the team entered the terminal building at Indore,
well in time, as the check-in had started. The check-in process
behind us, we went for the security check, and finally, went air-side.

Our ride for the day was SF, the `SaFe plane', VT-ESF. This is
again an old ex-Indian Airlines A320 with double bogey
landing gear, and in an all-Economy configuration.
The hardware showed its age, but the plane was spic and span: the
fabric looked and felt fresh, and the plastic surfaces were free
from grime marks.

Captain Rajeev Gautam was in command (with a lady first officer,
whose name was not announced), and the very senior Ms. Pithawala
was in charge of the cabin. We pushed back at 07:59am. The flight
time was announced as 01:10 hours. Just before us, a Jet Airways
B738 had taken off from runway 25, and we went all the way
towards runway 07, and took off from there, in the exact opposite
direction. The direction of the winds had changed then, I guess.
The rest of the flight went on in a predictable manner, with the
same `refreshment', and a nice landing on Delhi's new runway.
We were whisked off into vehicles sent from our organisation,
at the airport, and we reported at the headquarters,
were `de-briefed' (whatever that means, to the reader),
and after a quick pit-stop at home, we again reported for work!

93.6 {P/F}arting Shots

I have already apologised to the reader for the relative lack of
pictures in this trip report, and the reason for the same.
I conclude this piece with a picture of what announces itself
as an `All-day milk stall', whatever that is supposed to mean.
I guess I am quite mean.

This photograph was taken bang in the middle of the day's business hour.
I guess I should stick to minding my own business.

However, before I even do this, let me finally conclude
this piece with something that took place quite recently.
10 April, 2016 (Sunday morning).
At Hyderabad, an old derelict Indian Airlines A320 double bogey plane,
had an unfortunate fall from a crane, which was transporting the
hull to the establishment at Ferozguda, for training purposes.
This saw quite a bit of news coverage in the press, as well as on our forum.

http://www.ndtv.com/hyderabad-news/dramatic-pics-crane-carrying-air-india-plane-crashes-in-hyderabad-1372748
http://m.ndtv.com/hyderabad-news/dramatic-pics-crane-carrying-air-india-palne-crashs-in-hyderabad-1372748
https://amp.twing.com/v/ab312ab7-4a5c-4085-a332-927174f7c079
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/100416/crane-carrying-air-india-passenger-plane-crashes-near-begumpet-aiport.html

It saw quite a bit of activity on the WhatsApp forum as well.
Member GF1011 wrote,
``IMO, wrong choice of crane.
Contractor making the shift didn't account for side-ward stresses
acting on the crane boom because of the effect of the wind on a
large hollow tube''
Never one of the more decent people around, I replied,
``Thankfully, no one was injured.
While your comment was written with the technical details in all
seriousness, the words above resulted in a dirty double meaning
in my dirtier mind:
The crane operator on the shift, in the course of his side-ward
movements, experienced gastrointestinal stresses, and saw the effect
of passing wind...BOOM.''
I guess I should really stop, now.
---
Links to my 93 trip reports:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumantratrip/
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jbalonso777
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing this trip report, sir!
Its been a while.... Razz

The lack of food on the flight is clearly no issue for you as you described your Indore meal pretty well!
Lucky that you got 2 double bogey A320s! Its just a matter of time now, I guess....

Looking forward to more from you!

Regards
Jish
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sumantra
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Posts: 4685
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jbalonso777 wrote:
Its been a while.... Razz
Yes, Sir Sad
jbalonso777 wrote:
Lucky that you got 2 double bogey A320s! Its just a matter of time now, I guess....
Yes...
jbalonso777 wrote:
Looking forward to more from you!
Thank you, Sir...I'll try to be more regular.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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ameya
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Sir for typing in this wonderful TR

Hope the years backlog is covered soon.

Interesting description of the trip as always

Why would ginger serve south indian breakfast in the heart of india ?
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Sir, for the kind words, as always!
ameya wrote:
Why would ginger serve south Indian breakfast in the heart of India?
Either way Sir, I am not one to complain in such matters:-)
Cheers, Sumantra.
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Spiderguy252
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Neat TR Sumantra! It's not the first time you've mentioned that the older AI A320s receive better treatment at the hand of maintenance than the newer birds.

Any guesses as to why this may be?

Thanks for the share! It was a nice read as always.
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you, Varun!
Spiderguy252 wrote:
It's not the first time you've mentioned that the older AI A320s receive better treatment at the hand of maintenance than the newer birds.
This completely beats me...and more so, in Delhi, rather than at other places!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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sri_bom
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting this report.

Its great to know the old A320's are still in good shape before they start going to the scrap yard from next year onwards. If I am not wrong they are the oldest birds still operating.

Since you are a food lover can you advise what is the Indore specality? As I see you having south Indian food Smile

Sri_Bom
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 11:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Srinivas, it is wonderful to see you back on the forum after a long time! May I also remind you of your tremendously long backlog, after the lovely pictures you keep on sending us on the WhatsApp forum!
sri_bom wrote:
Its great to know the old A320's are still in good shape before they start going to the scrap yard from next year onwards. If I am not wrong they are the oldest birds still operating.
...and a few days back, I flew the oldest...VT-EPB (circa Jun'16), and found it well-maintained, neat and clean, in spite of its age. It feels nice!
sri_bom wrote:
Since you are a food lover can you advise what is the Indore specality? As I see you having south Indian food Smile
As you know, I love all cuisines from the South Smile However, Indore has its own unique cuisine: a combination of the Maharashtrian influence (amchUr, dried raw mango powder, for the unique sour taste), and the city's own touch of sweetness. The Indore-style delicacies have a subtle combination of sweet and sour. The city is known for its savouries (indorI-namkeen) and pohA and samosA, which differ from the variants in other parts of the country in having the unique sweet-and-sour taste. This style originated in Indore, and has now spread to some other parts of the country, as well.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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stealthpilot
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting description as usual, altho you just glanced over Chappan Dukan- no food pictures 😱 The shredded potato with raisins sounds yum!
Great TR!
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stealthpilot wrote:
... altho you just glanced over Chappan Dukan- no food pictures 😱 The shredded potato with raisins sounds yum!
Sure, sure Smile Thank you!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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avbuff
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR sumantraji.... when it is aTR by you an elaborate description of food is a must.

Im just windering when will they make this Holkar International Airport Wink

thanks for sharing!
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

avbuff wrote:
when it is aTR by you an elaborate description of food is a must.
He he, thank you, Sir!
I'm just windering when will they make this Holkar International Airport Wink[/quote]at least as of now, Indore continues to be the commercial capital of the state, with good connections to Delhi and Mumbai. And they have a nice airport, as well. Do you really think IDR will have international flights, soon?
Cheers, Sumantra.
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