GMR Sucks!!

Iam a hard core patriot! Not exaggerating, but one of the reasons i took up this Dubai job was because i thought here was an Indian company in foreign soil doing business - much like how a Brit might have felt working for East India Company! So, this note is more a " feel bad" thing.

Now to the point - was in Delhi recently on a business visit. Ya, things are getting better and there is a emerging Indian, middle class is growing, shopping malls everywhere and all that! But god damn it - i was still taking a damn Cycle Rickshaw to travel from my Guest House to the Office everyday for the 4 days i stayed there - off delhi in Ghaziabad.

Now to the real point!! That's the state of our infrastucture and particularly the Indra Gandhi International airport, Delhi. It sucks big time! Was early to the flight ( 5 hours instead of the regular 3 before the flight; my eagerness to get home i guess). Dint find a place to sit at the lobby - no chairs - dint bother me - so drew a luggage trolly and sat on it in a corner - next to a garbage can - we are like this only. (PS: The garbage can was because that was the only calm clearing around, in case you were wondering "weirdo"!) Was reading a book when this guy come near close and plonks a sandwhich into the bin and says it loud "shit - its fucking terrible" - a whiteman - obviously not liking the Coffee Day sandwich.

Looking around then did i realise what the airport was- a museum of 1970's collection plastic tables and televisions, a shop selling coffee , a medical shop that will not have benedryl, a kashmiri handicrafts store that also carries about 12 second hand books ( thats your book shop by the way), a few other completely useless things like a Yo China food place that just serves just pepsi, and loud boarding announcements for entertaintment, maybe a few roaches to kill if the boarding annoucements bored you. Truthfully, post immigration, maybe its a little betterm but then what with the immigration ques, youre not going to get there untill half hour before youre flight.

And what got me was the lousy advertsing/banners ( id kill that agency that did it) of GMR that said cute things like "better lighting coming up"; "bigger smiles coming up". I had looked up Wiki and this is what they had to say " Delhi Airport has been going through major upgrades since Fraport, Airport Authority of India, Eraman Malaysia, and GMR Infra. have been granted the contract to manage and build the airport over a 35 year time". 35 years pal; hear that "35 years" - i guess GMR is on schedule!!