I think the cold is no longer at that dangerous level. Now you can enjoy my new story comfortably, maybe with a thin blanket over you. Let us once again get ready to board a new flight of enjoyment.
Our destination today is one of the most popular and most visited places by foreigners in India – Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
Let’s begin our journey.
This journey gave me a complete experience of:
Flight delays
Expensive airport food
Free meals due to delay
Taxi system in Kolkata
Metro exprience to Airport
DigiYatra convenience
Chaos at gates
And unexpected turbulence
🧳 From Varanasi to Kolkata
I was in Varanasi and suddenly had some urgent work in Kolkata. Due to the short notice, I could not get any train tickets, not even in Tatkal. So I decided to travel by flight.
As we all know about the recent Indigo crisis, I was worried about cancellation. Thank God, my flight was not cancelled, but it was delayed by 2 hours.
Since I am already familiar with such delays, I was not surprised. I accepted the situation, stayed calm, and started searching for a seat. That day, the airport was fully crowded. Not a single seat was vacant because almost every flight was delayed.
Finally, I found a seat in one corner. It was actually broken, so nobody wanted to sit there. But I managed and waited peacefully for my boarding announcement.
☕ Expensive Tea at the Airport
After waiting for about two hours, I bought a cup of Assam tea which cost me ₹200. I was shocked when I heard the price of coffee was ₹300.
Then I realized one thing:
The smaller the airport, the higher the prices.
🍛 Free Food Due to Delay
At last, our flight announcement came, and we were given a new gate number, totally different from the earlier one. The new gate was on the ground floor, while I was sitting on the first floor.
After going down by lift, I saw a huge crowd of people carrying food plates. Each plate had about 75% basmati rice and 25% matar paneer sabzi. It was provided free of cost because the flight was delayed during lunchtime.
Since my stomach was not well, I did not take the food.
After some time, the crowd reduced, and I went near my gate, showed my ticket, and waited for the Indigo bus. Elderly people were seated in wheelchairs a little far from us.
When the bus arrived, we all boarded it and reached the aircraft.
🛫 Takeoff Delay Like a Railway Crossing
After boarding, the flight started moving toward the runway but suddenly stopped for around 30 minutes. It felt like waiting at a railway crossing.
Varanasi airport has only one runway, so takeoffs and landings happen on the same strip. We were waiting for other flights to land first. After all landings were completed, we finally took off.
In less than one hour, we reached Kolkata Airport.
🚕 Taxi Confusion at Kolkata Airport
I rushed to book an Uber because I had to reach the bus stand quickly. My last bus was scheduled about 45 minutes after landing.
At the taxi stand, I noticed that Kolkata has a different system. Instead of the taxi coming directly, they asked me to go to a specific pole number (like Pole 10 or Pole 15) and wait there.
This was new for me.
Finally, I got my taxi and requested the driver to take the shortest and least traffic route. He asked for ₹100 extra, and I agreed.
🚬 Disappointing Taxi Experience
While driving, the driver received a phone call and became angry. To release stress, he started smoking while driving. This disappointed me a lot. At least he kept the cigarette outside the car window, but still it was unsafe.
Due to heavy traffic, I unfortunately missed my bus. That night, I stayed at my relative’s house and reached my destination the next morning.
After finishing my work, I booked another flight to return to Varanasi from Kolkata.
Security check was smooth and well organized with multiple counters.
🚇A Confusing but Memorable Metro Experience in Kolkata
THere is another memorable event from my journey, though it is not directly inside the airport but still a part of my airport story. I had decided to take a cab directly from the Esplanade bus stand to the Kolkata airport because I was not feeling well and wanted to avoid any hassle, but suddenly the bus stopped at a place I could not understand at all, as the roads and surroundings were covered by buses everywhere. I making me feel like I was trapped inside a cage made of buses. Being new to Kolkata and unwell, I could not even book an Uber because I did not know the name of the place and there was no empty space for a taxi to stop, so I had no choice but to go inside the nearby metro station , which was only visible in front of me. To reach the airport, I knew I had to change from the Blue Line to the Yellow Line at Noapara station, but I could not find the Blue Line entrance at Esplanade and only saw the Green Line Metro station, which I had heard was connected underground, so I entered it hoping to reach Noapara; however, the metro suddenly stopped one station before Noapara at Dum Dum and everyone was asked to vacate the train, leaving me completely confused and helpless. I asked several people how to reach the airport but no one could guide me properly until I met a couple who were also going to the airport and told me to wait for the next metro going to Noapara and then change to the Yellow Line metro for the airport. Finally, when I asked a police officer which station ticket I should take to reach the airport, she replied with just two words, “Jai Hind,”
🏢 Full Airport Experience with DigiYatra
This time, I experienced the airport from the beginning. All departure gates are on the first floor, where cars can directly reach, just like many Tamil Nadu airports.
I entered quickly using DigiYatra.
DigiYatra app allows entry without standing in long queues. You just upload your flight details and selfie. It is available on Play Store and works in many Indian airports.
Inside Kolkata airport, I found every variety of food. From this, I understood that people of Kolkata are very fond of food.
Security check was smooth and well organized with multiple counters.
🚻 Toilets & Gate Chaos
I searched for the toilet but found that cleanliness was not as good as in some other airports.
Near my gate, a big chaos was happening. Passengers going to Imphal were angry because their gates were changing again and again. A heated argument occurred between Indigo staff and travelers.
Due to people moving away, I finally got a seat near my gate.
✈️ Final Flight Experience
After one hour, boarding started. As usual, people were in a rush even though everyone had assigned seats.
I boarded last and requested an emergency exit seat, which was already vacant, but they demanded extra money, so I refused.
The flight took off. During the journey, I experienced strong turbulence. Surprisingly, there was no announcement from the pilot asking passengers to fasten seat belts. In my previous flights, pilots always warned passengers even during little turbulence. This shocked me
Every journey teaches something new. And this one gave me many stories to remember.
Thank you for reading my airport story.
#transport
See you soon in my next travel experience ✨
It had been a long time since I last traveled by air. I usually prefer trains, but this time, due to an urgent situation and the complete non-availability of train tickets—even Tatkal—I had no option but to choose air travel.
I have already shared my full journey experience in my post “Airport Stories”, where I described the difficulties I faced and some new and unexpected things I observed. In this post, however, I want to focus on a very important and often ignored topic: airline refunds—how long airlines make us wait for our own money, and how much they deduct as cancellation charges, sometimes even when the mistake is not ours.
The Reality of Airline Refunds
Hello brothers and sisters,
Today I am here to share my personal experiences regarding refund processes of different Indian airlines. These experiences clearly show how different airlines handle customer complaints, refunds, and accountability.
Air India: Helpful Staff, Complicated Refunds
During my interaction with Air India, I found the ground staff to be quite helpful and cooperative. However, my experience with their refund process was disappointing.
Due to an error on the airline’s part, I was unable to board my flight. Despite this, I did not receive a full refund. After multiple emails and follow-ups, the airline still deducted ₹25 without providing any clear justification. The amount may seem small, but the principle matters—especially when the mistake was not made by the passenger.
This contrast I found between helpful staff and cunning financial department under one umbrella
SpiceJet: No Response Until Escalation
Among all airlines, SpiceJet gave me the most frustrating experience initially. I tried contacting them through multiple official email IDs listed on their website. I sent emails and waited for four days, but there was absolutely no response.
Eventually, I filed a complaint on AirSewa, a government grievance portal. Only after this step did I receive a response—interestingly, from the same nodal officer whose email ID I had already contacted from day one. After the complaint, SpiceJet processed a full refund, which shows that escalation sometimes becomes necessary.
IndiGo: Responsive but Slow Refunds
IndiGo Airlines stood out in terms of customer communication. Their customer care team attended my calls and responded properly. However, despite this responsiveness, I still had to wait up to 14 days to receive my refund.
While this may fall within their stated policy, it still feels unreasonable when passengers are waiting for their own money.
Final Thoughts
These experiences made me realize that airline refund policies are often more stressful than the journey itself. While some airlines respond quickly only after escalation, others communicate well but take a long time to process refunds.
As passengers, we deserve transparency, accountability, and timely refunds—especially when cancellations or missed flights happen due to the airline’s own mistakes.
I hope sharing these experiences helps fellow travelers stay informed and prepared.
Topics Table
Airlines
Refund Amount
Timeline
Customer care Response
Indigo
Full
14 days
responded, but late refund
SpiceJet
Full
5 days
no response and no pickup of calls, but got refund after complaining at AirSewa
AirIndia
425 rs deduction, after acknowleging, still, deduct 25 rs
4 days
responded, but registering complaint is difficult, but possible through conversation
Hello readers, share your valuable feedback with us, and don't forget to share your exprience and your sufferings during refund
I have been travelling by train since childhood. Over the years, trains have changed, railway stations have changed, and even passengers have changed—but one thing has evolved in the most unexpected direction: food.
It has been a long time since I started travelling by train—from my childhood till today. Over the years, I have witnessed many changes in trains as well as railway stations. One thing I clearly remember from my early journeys is a constant excitement: eating food on the train(aaj train mein kucj khayenge!). It was always a small but special joy, something different from home food.
As time passed, the “premiumness” of trains increased. People slowly shifted from sleeper class to higher classes in search of comfort and security—things that, ironically, the government often fails to provide consistently in sleeper class. But during this transition, I noticed something very strange: as the class of travel improved, the quality of food actually declined.
To maintain “security” and a “hassle-free journey,” local vendors were gradually banned from selling food on platforms and trains. The logic sounded reasonable. However, the reality turned out to be the opposite.
Today, passengers in lower classes often get fresher and warmer food from local vendors, while those travelling in premium trains are forced to consume cold, pre-packed, partially cooked food supplied by train vendors. This food is not only tasteless but can also be harmful to health.
Even trains like Vande Bharat, Tejas, and Duronto Express—which sound more like luxury hotels—have a total ban on local vendors. You pay in advance, you eat in advance, and you regret in advance.
I remember once travelling in 2nd AC with my family. Suddenly, our coach turned into a mini stock exchange. People were shouting—
“Dio! Jaldi dio! Jaldi de yaar!”
For a moment, I thought there was an emergency. Turns out, it was just jhaal mudhi at Jaleshwar station. The vendor had to get down there, so everyone wanted to buy before the train escaped. We also joined the crowd—not out of hunger, but out of lack of faith in IRCTC food.
Train vendor food mostly arrives cold, tastes confused, and makes you question your life choices. By the end of the journey, the food feels like a punishment for choosing comfort.
And now, let’s talk about the biggest crime—tea.
Yes, even premium trains fail to provide proper milk tea. Instead, they give you a DIY Tea Kit:
One tea bag
Warm water
Amul milk powder
One wooden stick to mix emotions and regret
Now you tell a tea made up of fresh ingredients and warm is better or all prepacked stuff with warm water is better.
If I draw a graph, it will be crystal clear:
📈 Ticket price goes up
📉 Food quality goes down
A perfect hyperbolic curve of disappointment.
This entire experience reminds me of a famous quote by Raghav Chadha (AAP MP):
“Indians pay taxes like England but receive services like Somalia.”
Sadly, when it comes to train food, this feels painfully accurate.
Please also express your views on this topic, and don't forget to share your most memorable train journey with food.
Today, I want to discuss something interesting that I recently noticed while reading Indian newspapers—both Hindi and English. Many newspapers, especially Hindi dailies like Dainik Jagran, have started highlighting key lines to draw readers’ attention to the most important points. This is quite different from the newspapers we grew up reading during our childhood.
In today’s world, newspapers are no longer the primary source of information for most people. We now have much easier and faster ways to consume news—through short videos, reels, and instant updates that require minimal reading effort. However, this was not the case earlier.
There was a time when the internet was not easily available to everyone and was mostly limited to large offices or internet cafés. During that period, newspapers were the main source of information about what was happening in the world. People depended heavily on them for daily updates. Newspapers often came with ten pages or more, filled with long paragraphs that readers had to go through carefully to understand the context of the news.
Today, in this fast-paced lifestyle, newspapers seem to be adapting to changing reading habits. By using yellow highlights to emphasize important lines, they help readers quickly grasp the essence of a news story without reading lengthy paragraphs. It reflects how even traditional media is evolving to stay relevant in an age of shrinking attention spans.
You may think a small component of Blogger can’t do much harm. But let me tell you—this tiny thing has the power to destroy your entire blog UI.
Yes, I’m talking about a single, innocent-looking tag:
</div>
It all started when I was happily coding for my blog, feeling like a professional web developer. While reviewing my code, I noticed something ugly sitting there, staring at me:
</div>
I thought, “What is this doing here? It looks broken. It’s ruining my code’s beauty.”
So, like a brave developer, I deleted it.
Without even clicking Preview (because confidence), I continued improving my blog design. After finishing everything, I proudly clicked Update.
And then…
💥 BOOM.
My entire left sidebar contents vanished. Gone. Like it never existed.
At that moment, I experienced all five stages of grief:
Denial – “This must be a Blogger glitch.”
Anger – “Who designed this editor?!”
Bargaining – “Please just come back, I won’t touch the code again.”
Depression – stares at blank layout
Acceptance – shuts down computer
Yes, I literally turned off my PC and went to sleep.
The next day, full of hope and fear, I decided to rewrite the entire code from scratch. This time, I was extremely careful. After every small change, I checked the preview like a paranoid developer.
Then I saw it again.
That same suspicious </div>.
I remembered deleting it yesterday… and remembered the disaster. But still, my brain said:
“Nah… this time it will be different.”
So I deleted it.
And once again— 🎩✨ the sidebar contents disappeared like magic.
Even while typing this blog post in "compose view" , Blogger keeps warning me again and again— only because of </div>.
At this point, I’m convinced Blogger is emotionally attached to this tag. Remove it, and Blogger takes revenge.
if you are thinking i am superlative towards the same, then the answer is "no", as i also tried to remove </li>, </p>, even the <div>, nothing happens to my blog layout
It’s hard to believe, but this is the truth:
A single </div> can control your entire blog layout.
You don’t need hackers. You don’t need malware. You just need to delete one </div>.
Even chatgpt and gemini, had to bow down before it, i just simply asked for a thubnail containing </div> , they produced these images.
Watch the video below to witness the immense and terrifying power of </div>
I have fulfilled my promise today — creating a Subscribe button, collecting subscriber email lists, and automatically sending email notifications whenever a new blog post is published — without using any third-party apps or websites.
When the idea of automatic notifications first came to my mind, I searched inside Blogger itself for a built-in widget that could do this work for me. Unfortunately, earlier this feature was available through FeedBurner, but Google has discontinued that service.
After that, I explored several third-party solutions that could do the same job. One popular option I found was Follow.it. It works well initially, but after using it for about a year in the free version, I noticed a issue. The email notifications were sent to subscribers without showing my actual blog content. When a subscriber clicked the link, it redirected them to the Follow.it page first, where my post and link were displayed. This broke the direct connection between my blog and my readers.
then, i also explored other sites for the same, i also found zapier for this, but it demands for money, and also i found difficult to run it, as its steps are very much complicated and couldn't be understandable.
Then, At last I chose to build the entire system using Google’s own tools — to collect subscriber emails and send automatic notifications whenever a new blog post is published, all without depending on any external platforms.
If you have a little bit of coding knowledge, this method is perfect for you. And even if you don’t know coding at all, you can still try it — because I have explained every step in a very simple way, so that even a complete beginner can follow along easily.
Without any unwanted talkings, we start our process from here.
You have to understand that for doing all of these things, we require 3 things,
one google form, who collect your suscribers email and all of the things,
then a google sheets, where all emails and other things are noted down automatically whenever any viewer click the submit button of google form,
and the 3rd thing, a tool who repeatedly viewing your site for any new blogs and sent email to suscribers listed down in google sheet.
Step 1: First create your google form (subscribe us form)
If you have multiple topics in your blog, and you want that your suscribers receive only its interested topic blogs
Then, you have to add a section in the google form, for better understanding, see the below video.
Step 2: Link with it a Google sheets
in google forms
click on "Responses"
click on"Link with sheets"
Select on "Create a new spreadsheet"
You can provide another name for it or keep as it is.
Then after few moments, a new spreadsheet open and you can view the following headings like "timestamp" and other "questions" as headings given in google forms.
Now whenever any suscribers enter his/her email or its details, it automatically note down here.
Step 3: Google sheets
in same spreadsheet, click on Extensions
click on Apps script
you can view following headings in left hand side: "Files", "code.gs", "Libraries", "services"
Click on "code.gs"
paste the following code
Enter your Spreadsheet Id and sheet name
Generate Google Apps Script Code
):SHEET NAME:
click on run button in google apps script, [this button present at the top, where you can see 'Run', 'Debug', 'doPost']
Step 4: Creatioon of tool that intervally check your "suscribers" list in google sheet and sent greeting new suscriber
“Kursi ki peti bandh lijiye… this is not just a flight, this is a story.”
Hi my viewers, how are you?
I know you are shivering in this cold, and still reading my blog. While reading my blog, you may get a feeling of warmth and full enjoyment.
It is my first time that I got a chance to visit various airports for my counselling process in a very short time. As you know, due to massive cancellation of flights, I was unable to get a direct flight to the allotted college. So I had many indirect flights. Because of this, I got a chance and opportunity to experience the architecture, interior design, interior facilities, and cost of each thing in the airport.
As you know, when we were children, most of the readers didn’t have affordability to board flights. We only had a chance to see airplanes passing above our heads. We and our family used to come out of the house to see the aircraft and say, “See that aircraft, it is going to that place.” And we continuously watched the aircraft until it disappeared.
But now, the standard of living has increased in almost every family, and most of them can afford flights—not all the time, but in emergencies, when you don’t get any train tickets and get nothing even in Tatkal.
Today, I am here to share my stories of various airports which I got a chance to visit during my journey, and I will tell the unique points of each which attracted me. Kursi ki peti bandh lijiye, we are ready to take off on the flight of enjoyment.
As the story starts, I got allotted a college in Trichy during severe winter and a busy period around Christmas, where all trains were booked. Rarely do trains go to that area from Varanasi. It may also be due to Tamil Sangamam inaugurated by Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. Due to Tamil Sangamam, we got an extra train from Varanasi to Kanyakumari via Trichy.
Now only two trains are available to reach Trichy:
One is Kashi Tamil Express (16368) from Varanasi Junction to Kanyakumari
Another one is Banaras Rameshwaram Express (22536) from Banaras to Rameshwaram
Both run only on Sundays from their initial stations.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get tickets for any of the above trains, and I was forced to book flights, as our government only gives 7 days to reach the allotted college. At the same time, the Indigo crisis was also going on, as only Indigo provides a direct flight from Varanasi to Chennai. But it got cancelled citing bad weather conditions. It frustrated me so much; hence, I booked another flight from Air India (Varanasi to Chennai via Delhi).
Now my journey starts, which you were awaiting. I took an auto at 12:00 PM. Fog was everywhere. My legs were shivering due to extreme cold, and I packed my whole body in sweaters and a cap. It took almost 1 hour to reach the airport, and after walking inside, I got rid of shivering and felt some warmth.
Varanasi Airport
Here, there is only one departure gate (meaning gate to entry) and one arrival gate (gate to exit). I smoothly entered with no big crowd. After entering, we go to the right and then left for the security check. Now the real crowd was encountered. There was no proper line; everything was very haphazard. The security personnel somehow managed it.
People there were unable to understand where to put their baggage for checking and where to go for self-checking, but we anyhow managed to pass it. Then we searched for our gates (each gate is allotted for flights, and only that gate can be used to board your booked flight). These gates are opened only during boarding time; otherwise, they remain closed.
We had enough time to sit at the airport and got a chance to see what was happening around us and what features were present in the airport. You can easily get food items near your gates, but prices are almost 20 times higher than outside the airport, like tea costing ₹100–150, and a water bottle of less than 1 litre (usually Vedica, a Bisleri premium bottle) costing around ₹80. As we were full and had our own bottles (water bottles are allowed in almost all big airports), we didn’t need to buy anything.
A very strange thing I noticed in almost all airports is that restaurants inside the airport don’t have washrooms. They keep red wipes or tissue paper to clean hands. For proper washing, you have to go to the restroom (toilets), which are usually far from these shops or very few in number, meaning you have to walk more to use them.
In Varanasi Airport, near the restroom on the first floor, there is a children’s area where toddlers can play (a play area made for them). Here I also encountered many foreigners from every corner of the world. Such a big number I had never found in any airport at one place. It may be due to Modi’s influence.
After some time, our flight boarding started. I also want to mention that Air India and Air India Express are two different flights operated by the same company. The only difference is their premiumness. Air India provides bigger seats and charging facilities at each seat, which are absent in Air India Express.
I was totally afraid that my second flight from Delhi to Chennai might get cancelled for any reason. But I was shocked when our flight landed at the airport—nothing was visible. We were unable to know when we reached Delhi due to smog. We couldn’t see adjacent flights. At that moment, I thought that if any flight can take off and land in such conditions, then it can do it in any weather condition. Because among all airports, Delhi truly deserves the tagline “Bad weather reasons.”
". and then i start doubted the indigo(which cacelled my direct flight).
New Delhi Airport – Confidence Turns into a Challenge
At New Delhi Airport, I was completely relaxed. We had one full hour, and our second flight was from the same terminal, so I thought there would be no problem at all. I was traveling with my father, who has an operated thumb, and I believed everything was under control.
But this confidence turned out to be my biggest mistake.
Here, the real challenge started.
Even within the same terminal, there are almost 62 gates, and our boarding gate was number 54. Suddenly, we realized that we had only 20 minutes left and needed to cover nearly 3 kilometers. During this stressful moment, Air India staff were extremely helpful, especially during the security check.
That was when I learned an important lesson: for every flight boarding, you must pass through security again—even for connecting flights.
Fortunately, horizontal escalators were available, which reduced some of our workload. Still, we had to run on those moving walkways. Somehow, we finally reached our destination gate. We were gasping for breath, completely exhausted—but also deeply relieved. We had reached just in time, almost missing the flight.
Soon, we boarded our Air India flight to Chennai. The aircraft was filled with South Indian passengers, happily acknowledging each other with cheerful conversations. During the flight, we were served dinner, which felt comforting after such a hectic experience.
After a comfortable two-hour journey, we finally landed at Chennai Airport at around 9 o’clock.
Chennai Airport – A City Within a City
Near the exit gate of Chennai Airport, there is a WTI cab reception, and just opposite to it, a prepaid taxi counter. I asked there about a nearby bus station from where we could get buses to Trichy. They suggested Kilambakkam Bus Station, which is around 31 km from the airport and costs nearly ₹1000 by taxi. It felt a little expensive, but they mentioned that Trichy buses run very frequently from there.
However, someone from our flight suggested Tambaram Bus Station as another option, where Trichy buses are also available. The WTI cab staff then asked us to wait, saying that an official would come and take us to our booked taxi.
After exiting Chennai Airport, we entered an adjacent building and took a lift—probably to the 4th floor. Interestingly, on the 2nd floor, we saw Ola and Uber cabs. That’s when I realized something unique about Chennai Airport: there is hardly any difference between the ground floor and upper floors. Cars move seamlessly everywhere, and you only realize you are above ground when you walk to the edge and look down.
The building we entered was actually a multi-storey parking facility, where each floor is dedicated to different cab services or personal vehicles. On the 4th floor, we waited for around 15 minutes, and then our taxi arrived.
Here, I noticed something surprising—in many parts of Tamil Nadu, people walk barefoot or even ride vehicles barefoot. Not everyone, of course, but a significant number of people.
We boarded the taxi, and the driver was very friendly. He asked where we were coming from, and after about 20–25 minutes, we reached Kilambakkam Bus Station. The place looked more like an airport than a bus stand—a massive entrance gate with the station’s name written entirely in Tamil, with no English or Hindi written below it.
At the main gate, the taxi driver dropped us and demanded a tip. Since we didn’t have cash, we politely denied.
Inside the bus station complex, some people—walking barefoot—approached us and asked about buses going to Madurai and Trichy, speaking in Tamil. Since we were completely unfamiliar with the language, we replied, “No Tamil, only English.” They didn’t understand and called another person who knew a little English.
We asked about buses to Trichy, but he didn’t mention the price or whether the bus was seating or sleeper. Without explaining much, he took us to the Omni Bus terminal, where we were offered a non-AC bus, which we declined. We wanted an AC seating bus.
He then introduced us to another bus mediator who had only AC sleeper buses. We requested seating again, so he took us to another mediator from National Travels. They had only two seats available, numbers 17 and 19, at the back, and claimed it was a Bharat Benz bus, one of the best.
After waiting for nearly 30 minutes, we were taken to another terminal, as the bus arrived there instead. The conductor also struggled with Tamil but understood a little Hindi. Finally, he guided us to our seats, and at last, we could relax.
After completing our work, two days later, we continued our journey…
Tiruchirappalli Airport – Small Airport, Big Realizations
We were staying about 3 km from Tiruchirappalli Airport. At 6:00 AM, we booked an Uber, which initially showed a fare of less than ₹100. However, after accepting the ride, the driver demanded ₹170, claiming an additional ₹50 as an entry charge. We agreed, and within 15 minutes, we reached the airport.
On the road connecting the main road to Tiruchirappalli Airport, I noticed something interesting—blinking lights installed on both sides of the road, guiding vehicles toward the airport. The auto driver dropped us a little distance away from the main gate. There, I saw a large number of two-wheelers parked, which I assumed belonged to airport employees.
That’s when a realization struck me: airports are designed mainly for higher-income travelers, but at the same time, they provide employment to a large number of people from lower-income backgrounds. An airport is not just a place for travel—it is a source of livelihood for many.
We entered the departure gate and soon realized that we were very early. Our flight was Air India Express from Trichy to Bengaluru, and then onward to Varanasi. At the boarding pass counter, there was no Air India Express staff present. We waited on the seats, and interestingly, there was one more passenger sitting behind us for the same flight.
After waiting for a long time, I noticed a boarding pass machine, which looked like an ATM. We entered our PNR and last name, and all our tickets appeared on the screen. I clicked “Reprint Boarding Pass”, and the machine printed them one by one. Since we were two passengers with two flights on the same PNR, it printed four boarding passes. At that moment, I unknowingly ignored the second flight’s boarding passes, where the seat numbers were not mentioned.
Yes, you can print all your boarding passes at any airport using these machines.
We then proceeded to the security check. The security personnel scanned the boarding pass using a camera-like device, asked us to place our bags in trays, and advised us to keep water bottles in a separate tray. The process was smooth, and we cleared security easily.
On the way to our boarding gate, a girl stopped us and offered lounge access for ₹999, even without a debit or credit card. (A lounge is a comfortable waiting area with massage chairs, less crowd, and complimentary food—though some lounges charge separately.)
We chose to sit in the common waiting area just before our boarding gate. There, I noticed something thoughtful—charging sockets were placed just above the seats, though not on every seat, but alternately. This facility was missing in Varanasi and Bhubaneswar airports, where charging points were either far away or limited to the last row of seats.
We ordered some food from a nearby shop that sold two types of samosas—potato-stuffed and onion-stuffed. One potato samosa cost ₹80, and we also ordered an egg patty for around ₹100. I observed that in Tamil Nadu, almost every food stall or restaurant includes egg-based items—they truly love eggs.
After some time, boarding for our flight began. We entered the boarding gate and joined the queue to board the aircraft. While standing there, I noticed a Korean-looking passenger holding a passport. He was continuously bitting his passport against a steel rod, and the front cover looked completely worn out, with no visible markings—only impressions. Out of curiosity, I asked which country he was from. He replied that he was from China and had traveled to Bengaluru for business.
Soon, my father and I boarded the flight and searched for our seats. After settling comfortably, my father suddenly noticed that the second boarding pass (Bengaluru to Varanasi) had no seat number mentioned. I panicked immediately and called my uncle for advice. He calmly told me, “Once you reach Bengaluru Airport, just ask for the boarding pass again—they will issue it.”
With that reassurance, we relaxed a little, and soon our flight landed at Bengaluru Airport.
Bengaluru Airport – Where Travel Meets Nature
Bengaluru Airport is truly massive. As soon as we landed, I saw a large number of aircraft from different airlines parked across the apron. An Air India Express bus arrived quickly, but it became full within minutes, and we were left waiting. During that time, I noticed how carefully the Air India Express staff were unloading luggage from the aircraft.
After a few minutes, another bus arrived. We boarded it, waited briefly, and then it dropped us at an open space, similar to a small bus stop. From there, we entered the airport building and began searching for Domestic Departures. Soon, we reached the security area, where we spotted an Air India Express staff member. When we asked about our boarding passes, he immediately printed them for us—this time with seat numbers clearly mentioned.
We passed the first boarding gate, and that’s when the first “wow” moment began.
I was completely astonished by the architecture of Bengaluru Airport. The entire structure is designed with bamboo, beautifully crafted, giving the feeling that you are walking through a small jungle. Man jeet liya—wah! It felt peaceful, natural, and unique, I never seen such a beautiful airport before.
Following the domestic departure signs, we reached the security check once again. The process was similar, but soon after clearing it, another security official stopped us to check our boarding passes yet again. Among all the airports I visited, Bengaluru Airport had the strictest security checks.
And then came the next wow moment—a stunning artificial waterfall (jharna). It looked incredibly beautiful and had multiple selfie points. We clicked a few pictures there before moving toward our boarding gate.
By now, our stomachs had started gurgling with hunger. We had eaten nothing since breakfast. I asked my father to first confirm our boarding gate and then proceed for lunch. Between the security area and our gate, we saw a long line of restaurants—most of them selling liquor. I had never seen an airport with so many liquor shops, not even Delhi. Many of these shops didn’t display signboards; you could identify them only by the wine bottles on display. No wonder Karnataka is often called the hard liquor capital of India.
We finally found a bakery and asked for a thali. The staff directed us to a restaurant at the corner called “Gully Kitchen.” At last, my father and I felt relaxed—we finally had a chance to fill our stomachs. The menu showed ₹400 for dosa and ₹660 for veg thali. We ordered masala dosa and were asked to wait for 10 minutes. There was also a takeaway option, but since we had enough time, we decided to eat there.
After 10 minutes, they asked us to collect our food, as it was a self-service restaurant. When I asked for handwashing facilities, they provided red wipes—similar to the himalyan wipes used your sister and mother to clean their faces after coming from outside. These wipes didn’t contain soap, only water mixed with alcohol, much like a sanitizer, along with tissue paper.
Our food arrived—a cylindrical masala dosa, stuffed with potatoes, served with four different types of chutney. We enjoyed it thoroughly, it was very much tasty, and enough for our stomach.
Soon after, boarding was announced. We walked to our gate, boarded the flight, and after a smooth journey, we safely reached Varanasi Airport.
Here, the story comes to an end.
I hope we meet again with a new journey and a new story.
Please let me know how you rate our story and don’t forget to share your own unique airport experiences in the comment box.
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