Farewell n Senti!

Here I am sitting at the Bangalore International Airport between departure gate nos. 8 and 9 waiting for my flight Indigo 6E-115 to Kolkata scheduled at 11.50. Reading from my laptop there’s still 90 minutes to go. I will have to publish the post later on. Not because there isn’t a Wi-Fi network available but because the password is sent to your mobile and unfortunately my cell has decided not to receive any messages for the moment. By the way, BIA is by far the best airport I have seen (not that I have seen many but still..) Mr. Mallya sure has spent a lot of money on this. The airport premises including the ground area is huge, really huge. But I’ll come to the airport later on.
I was a little anxious as to how will I reach the airport from Arakere which is easily 50 km away. Shared car hiring services like Airlift charge Rs. 338 but I knew about the buses to the airport – the Vayu Vajra Volvo Bus Services or the BIAS (Bangalore International Airport Shuttle) Bus Service. I had read on the internet that the service is pretty decent. But then I didn’t want to miss my flight, and my experiences with Government services have not been that great in the past. So for the 11.50 flight I left at 7 in the morning. Anyone who has been to Bangalore knows how the Auto Rickshaws loot the passengers. For 42.50 on the meter, I had to pay Rs 70. Anyways, atleast he dropped me to one of the BIAS pick up points. BIAS-5 was waiting. I was impressed. For once, I had underestimated the Karnataka Govt. I approached the bus conductor to find out that the bus would depart at 8 and reach the airport at 9.30. Wow! That was quite early for me. I could have easily taken the 9 am bus which would have, taking into account the increased traffic, reached by 11 at max. That way I could've had another hour's sleep. But then, this post might not have come!
By the way, the BIAS service is quite regular. There’s a bus every 20 and 40 min alternatively. I wonder how many people travel to the airport daily! I was impressed when as soon as my bus left at 8 sharp, another BIAS-5 came and took its place waiting for the next set of passengers! Now you would think a Volvo Bus fully AC with such a regular service must be expensive. No way! 150 bucks for my ride! Way cheaper than any other transport available.
Coming back to the airport, the main airport building is quite beautifully built. Bangalore at 10 in the morning is never hot. It is a pleasant day. In fact, awesome breeze was blowing just outside the terminals. I wanted to sit there and enjoy but then it was pretty deserted ..dunno why..Reminds me of the famous lines by Davies: "....we have no time to stand and stare"
BIA doesn’t have a separate X-Ray Baggage Check. Its done at the Check in counter itself. I liked the concept. Saves time and harassment. Also the airport is fully commercialized with big branded stores. The maintenance is great and I have heard the Wi-Fi is really cool. (Mental note to myself: Dont buy or recommend Nokia 3110c ever!)
Its 10.45 now and all seats around me are vacant. Suddenly it dawns upon me that this might be the last of Bangalore for the rest of my life. Yes, my internship in over. IIM is a nice place to spend your PG years. I totally loved the 2 months of my stay in Bangalore. With the great company of the "Hum Pathar" Banglore intern junta (Bajo, Bhanu, Gautam, Julio, Kanchi, Manu, Neel, Nonedone, Onshui,Purr, Subji), the awesome climate of Bangalore, our amazing trips, about which I have already written in detail – this has been the best summer till date and it isn’t over yet. I am going home to family and old school friends. Thank you God!
Also thank You for stopping by here and commenting from time to time.
This is probably the last post on this blog.
Sayyonara! Au Revoir! Adieu! Tchao! Goodbye!!
Will miss you Bangalore!

P.S: I shall continue writing on my other blog Zeitschreift. See you there!