This may be very much true. But to a business traveler, the experience seems to be slightly different.
Just arrived a few hours ago after a long trip with a massive 8 hours of layover in Dubai. I'm currently in Kolkata, or Calcutta as still known to most of us. Calcutta's name had always have an exotic echo in my soul - first time I heard about the city was in Jules Verne's "Around The World in 80 Days". As a 10 years old kid, for some reason I was fascinated by the name of the city and by the strange exotics it had to be offering.
The Indian parliament had changed the city's name from the better known former version to Kolkata about couple of years ago mainly in an attempt to return to the original version which was distorted under the British colonial rule.
The city is massive - depending on different accounts 14-17 million people live here making it India's second, world's 14Th. biggest city.
On the Emirates flight I took from Dubai to Kolkata I started to make some observations about this fascinating country. Here is a summary;
1- Before the take-off there was a rather unusual extension added to the usual in-cabin announcement which I actually hoped to have misheard. The cabin crew was informing us that they were going to spray us with chemicals -supposedly- against insects! A measure taken at all international flights arriving in India as I was informed.
The stewardesses started smoke bomb like things and toured with them in their hands all around the cabin which resembled a bit the passing of the Olympic torch. "Free Tibet!". Ehm... A quite ill-timed habit; but still fashionable amongst intellectual circles. ;)
Now - I don't know about the possibility of importing insects to India in my luggage - or maybe in my hair? - but this is surely some of the most stupid things that was ever done to me. Ever.
2- On the plane the food was incredibly spicy. I mean it was spicy. Maybe I should disclose here again that I'm from Istanbul - a city that has a extensive cuisine culture where a quite big portion of it comes from Middle East. So I know what spice is all about. But this was something different.
The appetizer was a package of mixed spices fried in palm oil and rather than appetizing the thing has started the "party" in my stomach.
Then there was two kinds of salad - both of them were of course spiced. Then came fish fried in creamy curry sauce accompanied by rice cooked with saffron. Then came dessert - something I couldn't eat that was done with something called -I'm quoting- saffron milk.
As digestive, there was another package of mixed spices which I only could dare to have a smell at.
Result: A stomach completely paralyzed . As Peter Sellers in Pink Panther would say: "There is a "beump" in my stomach".
3- The customs was pretty straight forward - except for the form that needed to be filled out by everyone - including the Indians. Why would a country want detailed information from its citizens about where they are coming from, how long they are going to stay in India, whether they still work abroad or not?..
Result: A few desperate looking Indian guys, probably construction workers returning from Dubai, who are not able to read or write asking people in the line to fill out their forms.
4- The airport is really small if you consider the city's size. Just 3 lanes for luggage collection if I'm not wrong. The procedure overall was quite slow and bureaucracy wise complicated.
The airport is very much run down; reminding you about what you hear about India rather that what you see on TV commercials about India.
The car park was a mess - the sections in the car park was lined with cut and bound together bamboo trees (are they called "tree" indeed?) where the -again from bamboo tree made- primitive gates was opened and closed by dedicated men beneath.
Result: I know that India isn't very rich if you consider the revenue per capita. But given its sheer size and industries developing at a mind numbing speed, it certainly has the money. Is it really that difficult and expensive to build and maintain a good airport?
The airport is where the first impression about a country is established and first impressions are difficult to break.
5- The city looks very desperate and poor. The driver that was sent by our host to pick us up drove us through such an odd route - which must be the best route anyway - that if we had taken a taxi, I would have been really really suspicious about the driver's honesty. Such run down streets that go narrow and then wide and then again narrow and then become high way like with no obvious system.
Also what is significant is the constant feeling as if you are walking in a dust cloud. There is dust everywhere. It is very evident. The air is foggy and it smells like dust. And your throat soon gets uncomfortable.
6- Taxis: Their designs must be at least 40 years old. There are also taxi like carriages drawn by a bicycle.
7- The "Cold" - today it is about 21 degree Celsius in Kolkata. Yet most of the people are wrapped in warm clothes. There are even quite a few people with all kinds of warm hats. This strange sight becomes less surprising when I remember about the article I saw in an Indian daily on the plane to here. The article was about the cold wave in India and 50 people frozen to death in the last week. The article mentioned that the temperatures dropped to as low as 4 degrees. (above zero - Celsius). Well - this certainly is a point where relativity matters.
8- Safety - in our ivory tower - one of the Hyatt's in town- is very well maintained. So well that it raises questions about the safety in the country. Two level security when entering the hotel ground. Indian Army soldiers with automatic rifles hidden behind thick barricades. Of course, since the terrible happenings in Mumbai, merely one month has passed.
9 - When leaving the security measures behind, you seem to leave the real India behind as well. It sadly reminded of the British colonial time images where the British elites watch a polo game on a glowingly green grass ground in their royally contrasting white suites ignoring the poverty being endured just a few hundreds of meters away. A pleasantly lit garden with fountains where smiling hotel attendees are waiting for you. The dusty air however couldn't be left outside.
10- The people are extremely polite and helpful and probably related to that; very good service at the hotel.
11- The dinner; another "beump" in my stomach. An exploding kind...
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