Traveling by air under scrutiny from Central Industrial Security Force men have never been easy for me. After a couple of bad experiences, I have given up using an aircraft for my assignments – wherever it may be within India. Instead I use train.
There are very solid and logical reasons for that. I work for Radio and radio equipments include a host of accessories, which looks like weapons if you are in front of an X-ray machine. Take for example a security man asking me to open the mic I was carrying. I said I need a screwdriver to do that. He even asked why I was carrying two when only one was sufficient. He asked me whether I am a singer. ‘No’, I replied. You must be an announcer, sorry anchor. Nope, I am carrying this mic to get other’s voices and not to announce myself. He was not too happy with the answer and took me to a corner and asked me to open the other equipments bag. I did and he had never seen a digital recorder or for that matter long set of cables that I carried. He called his boss and very hesitantly they let me off only to be recalled before I reached a coffee shop. They asked me which profession I was and I said I am in the worst possible profession – Journalism. They suggested I should change my plans to carry my handbag as a cabin luggage. I said I would cancel my tickets than risking the equipments to merciless baggage handlers. They were apparently satisfied at my observation about the baggage handlers and allowed me to sip the hot cappuccino, which turned itself to a tasty cold coffee. This happened in 2004. Now it is worse. Not only are the checks tighter but even the shaving creams, toothpastes and after shave lotions are not allowed. Any traveler has to find out a shop at the destination to buy these things first.
Now I have a camera, a tripod, couple of additional bi-directional mics and more cables to carry. I also need to brush, shave and take a shower. Air travel prohibits me from doing all these basic needs. Moreover, the air congestion at Mumbai and Delhi– two of the primary sources from where my reporting outside my home originates and ends – makes me sick of waiting for aircrafts, which never arrives. Many a times, aircrafts hover around Mumbai and Delhi airports for hours. I enjoy it if I am inside the craft during the day and that too if I have a window seat. I hate during the night with the same seat and vice versa when I have an aisle one. It is a free Google Earth preview, which in any case is far better than when viewed from your monitor.
So I had long made up my mind to use Indian Railways instead. The timings are impeccable and there are no rail congestions. There is no CISF to check my mics and cables and I can also use the lavatory even when the train starts or stops. The coach attendant never cares to show me how I should the oxygen mask or the emergency exit doors. The kitchen– also called as pantry car - staff does not provide me boiled plastic foiled food and instead gives me a variety of menus to choose from. In the meantime a host of other kitchen guys passes through with lot many snack varieties. I also need not switch off my mobile. I hear no announcement from the train driver except a long hoot which intimates me better be in than out. The surprise package is that the time taken to travel to Mumbai from Ahmedabad was the same as the aircraft I flew a few months later. So then why should I settle for something inferior and much harassed?
And the most important factor is the financial aspect. Though the airlines claim they fly you free, the taxes and other levies are almost double to the train travel. I have very little to spare for those taxes.
Binu Alex
There are very solid and logical reasons for that. I work for Radio and radio equipments include a host of accessories, which looks like weapons if you are in front of an X-ray machine. Take for example a security man asking me to open the mic I was carrying. I said I need a screwdriver to do that. He even asked why I was carrying two when only one was sufficient. He asked me whether I am a singer. ‘No’, I replied. You must be an announcer, sorry anchor. Nope, I am carrying this mic to get other’s voices and not to announce myself. He was not too happy with the answer and took me to a corner and asked me to open the other equipments bag. I did and he had never seen a digital recorder or for that matter long set of cables that I carried. He called his boss and very hesitantly they let me off only to be recalled before I reached a coffee shop. They asked me which profession I was and I said I am in the worst possible profession – Journalism. They suggested I should change my plans to carry my handbag as a cabin luggage. I said I would cancel my tickets than risking the equipments to merciless baggage handlers. They were apparently satisfied at my observation about the baggage handlers and allowed me to sip the hot cappuccino, which turned itself to a tasty cold coffee. This happened in 2004. Now it is worse. Not only are the checks tighter but even the shaving creams, toothpastes and after shave lotions are not allowed. Any traveler has to find out a shop at the destination to buy these things first.
Now I have a camera, a tripod, couple of additional bi-directional mics and more cables to carry. I also need to brush, shave and take a shower. Air travel prohibits me from doing all these basic needs. Moreover, the air congestion at Mumbai and Delhi– two of the primary sources from where my reporting outside my home originates and ends – makes me sick of waiting for aircrafts, which never arrives. Many a times, aircrafts hover around Mumbai and Delhi airports for hours. I enjoy it if I am inside the craft during the day and that too if I have a window seat. I hate during the night with the same seat and vice versa when I have an aisle one. It is a free Google Earth preview, which in any case is far better than when viewed from your monitor.
So I had long made up my mind to use Indian Railways instead. The timings are impeccable and there are no rail congestions. There is no CISF to check my mics and cables and I can also use the lavatory even when the train starts or stops. The coach attendant never cares to show me how I should the oxygen mask or the emergency exit doors. The kitchen– also called as pantry car - staff does not provide me boiled plastic foiled food and instead gives me a variety of menus to choose from. In the meantime a host of other kitchen guys passes through with lot many snack varieties. I also need not switch off my mobile. I hear no announcement from the train driver except a long hoot which intimates me better be in than out. The surprise package is that the time taken to travel to Mumbai from Ahmedabad was the same as the aircraft I flew a few months later. So then why should I settle for something inferior and much harassed?
And the most important factor is the financial aspect. Though the airlines claim they fly you free, the taxes and other levies are almost double to the train travel. I have very little to spare for those taxes.
Binu Alex
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