I had to make this "Lightning Visit" to my home town Coimbatore in late September 2008. The plan was for me reach there on thursday evening, spend a couple of hours with my folks and take a bus back on thursday night to get back to Bangalore by Friday morning. I booked my ticket in a Kingfisher Red aircraft that leaves at 1810 Hrs IST from Bangalore International Airport (BIA).
So far all my flight travels have been "On Business" hence I was always provided with a company car to get to the airport. This time since its a personal trip I had to make my own arrangements to get there. I was pretty determined to avail the bus service to BIA called "BIAS," which I always refer to as buffalo, only because it was cheaper than my air ticket to coimbatore. If I had to take a taxi it would cost me about 600 INR whereas my air ticket was 500 INR (though it came up to some 3 1/2 grand with tax).
A week before my journey, I did a google search to find more details on the buffalo services and couple of websits that had information on this stated "Buffalos ply from all parts of the city to BIA and you'll see a buffalo every 10 minutes. Cost will range between 90 INR & 120 INR." This sounded like a good deal to me because the frequency was good and the cost too. So I made my plans...
My Flight was at 1810 Hrs IST and in order to save time I did an e-check in on thursday morning. I left office at 1530 Hrs IST so that I will have enough time to get to the airport and also if I don't manage to get a buffalo after waiting for 30 to 40 minutes, I'll still have enough time to take the taxi to get there. I got out of my Office in Ulsoor and was waiting for a buffalo in the bus stop that was just outside my office.
I have seen quite a few bufallos pass by in the past, but for my luck I did not find even a single one that day. Looking at my watch every 30 seconds did not help as well. It was already 1600 Hrs IST and no signs of even a single buffalo. Then I saw this beautiful green taxi parked out side my office. I saw light at the end of the tunnel but did not realise thats because of an approaching train until I spoke to the Taxi Driver. I decided even if it costs 600 bucks I'll still take this taxi because I just had about an hour to get to the airport. When I approached the taxi driver and asked him if he could drive me to BIA, he said he's booked and is waiting for the customer. He even called one of his friends to check if he can come over to drive me down to BIA but unfortunately he was also booked.
I then said "Unbelievable" to myself and called the call center number that was written on the beautiful green taxi. The lady who answered the was polite as usual but told me that i"ll have to wait for atelast an hour and 15 minutes to get a taxi. She also recommended me to book a taxi atleast a day in advance going forward. I thanked her for her timely advice and hung up. Then this 'out of the taxi' idea struck my mind, why don't I take an auto rickshaw till Hebbal and there I will get a buffalo for sure.
"Genius" I said to myself and got into an auto rickshaw (for people reading my blog in the UK, an auto rickshaw is nothing but a Tuk Tuk). I told the 'Auto Driver' (he is not autoamatic but that's how they are called here) "drive as fast as you and get me to Hebbal." He said it will cost me 120 bucks and I told him "I don't care just get me there." It was already 1615 Hrs IST when I got into the auto rickshaw and my reporting time was at 1740 Hrs IST. The auto driver let his auto rickshaw flow through the gaps between vehicles and drove as fast as he can. On the way to Hebbal he asked me where I live, a little startled with the question I asked him "Why?" He did not bother answering my question but asked anohter question "You say some where in Lingarajapuram right? I know you." "How?"I asked him as I was getting more curious. "I have dropped you once to Lingarajapuram from your office." I was wondering how the hell can he remember a passenger he dropped and I haven't travelled in an auto rickshaw for may be 4 months now. Before I could ask him the next question, he gave me the answer, "I can very well remember you because of your moustache." "Paparazzis" I told myself and told the auto driver "That's nice, but please get me to Hebbal soon."
The auto driver said he can drop me in front of Bangalore Baptist Hospital and will not be able to drive me past the Hebbal Flover as he'll have to go a long way to take a U turn. I got down in fornt of Baptist Hospital and stood there in the bus stop hoping to get a buffalo. It was 1645 and no buffalos yet. I called up City Taxi to see if they can send me a taxi, a lady answered the phone and said I'll have to wait for atleast 45 minutes to get a taxi. I said fine send it anyways. It was 1655 no buffalos yet, then I got this 'out of the auto rikshaw' idea. I thought I'll take one of these buses that goes to the nearby villages if they go via BIA. I asked one bus conductor if his bus goes via BIA he said "yes we go through the main road but not uptill the terminal." I got into the bus thinking that even if I get till the BIA peripheral road I can some how manage to get to the airport from there. I bought the ticket which costed me 15 bucks and stood at the door peeping out to see if I can spot any buffalos.
The bus was going in the right direction for some time and after it crossed Yelahanka, the bus turned left and got into some other road. I know we should be going straight to get to BIA but was not sure of this road the bus turned into but why take a chance. I screamed at the conductor asking him to stop the bus. The conductor couldn't hear me as there was some Kannada movie playing in the television in the bus in full volume. I decided to get off the bus and jumped from the running bus. As I was waking back to the main road, I saw a buffalo pass by "HOPE!" if I have spotted the first buffalo on this road then I will definitely get another one in 10 minutes as the website mentioned.
Just before I got on to the main road, I saw an empty taxi returning to the city from the same road that bus went into. I jumped in front of the taxi, stopped him and asked if he could drive me to the airport. He said it will cost me 500 bucks, I looked at my watch it was 1715. I said "take what ever you want but get me to the airport in 15 minutes." On the way to the airport the taxi driver told me that his son has finished B.Tech and asked if I could get him a job in my company. I told him "I'll give you my e-mail address ask your son to send me his resume, I will forward it to the right people." Though he took a little longer than I expected he dropped me at the airport at 1735. I gave him my e-mail id, paid him 500 bucks and got out of the taxi. I did not spot a single buffalo till I got to BIA except the one I saw before I got into the taxi. As i was collecting my boarding pass, I got a call from this unknown number. I answered it and the guy in the other end told me that he is calling from city taxi and he is waiting for me in front of Bangalore Baptist Hospital. I told him "thanks for coming but I don't need your services any longer, you can go home early today."
I completed the security check and ran into the loo to change, I was going to my home town to attend a wedding. While I was changing my shirt in the loo, I noticed this guy who was standing and staring at me with an expression in his face that said "What the hell is that guy doing taking his shirts off?" I looked at the guy and asked him "What are you looking at? Never seen anybody change clothes in front of a mirror?" he just left without speaking a word. I changed and ran towards the terminal and got into the bus that will take me to the aircraft. The bus started as soon as I got in and I was feeling relieved that I finally made it on time. I was looking at the Boeings and the Airbuses standing there and was remembering my earlier flight experiences.
When the bus stopped, I had another shock awaitng. I was flying an ATR!, not a boeing nor an airbus. It was at that moment did I realized that Kingfisher Red does not mean some premium class but Air Deccan. There I stood in front of the aircraft wondering how am I going to manage till I get to Coimbatore because I'm sure my legs will not fit in those seats. One of the cabin crew members got me back to my sences, "Sir do you want to get in, we should be ready for take off." As I was still staring at the ATR is asked her "How long did you say the flight is?"
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