Saturday, August 9. I was taking the Hyderabad Air India flight from Chennai domestic Airport. As I was at the entrance of the Aircraft through the Aerobridge, a young lady accompanied by a security man arrived there, anxiety writ large on her face. She told me that she was bound to Hyderabad, but by mistake, she had boarded the Delhi flight. She was seated on 17D. Another passenger with a 17D boarding pass appeared and asked her to vacate. It was only then that she was told that the flight was Delhi-bound. Promptly she was escorted to the �real� Hyderabad flight! If only there were no passenger for seat 17D, she would have landed in Delhi. She had crossed two Airline/security barriers and nobody bothered to confirm her destination. That much for our security preparedness.



My Hyderabad visit enhanced my love and respect for our dear Chennai. Wondering how? Excepting the roads inside the brand new Rajiv Gandhi Airport and the approach road to the airport, none � I repeat, none � of the roads is motorable. There are potholes and dips everywhere. Added to these were the boulders and pebbles, apparently strewn all over what once was a road, to fill the caverns! To make matters worse, the merciless skies had opened up and it was raining sixes and sevens. And, the streetlights were dead, because of a power-cut.

I had a half an hour interaction with Dr. Prathap Reddy, the founder and Chairman of the Apollo Hospital group. As we finished, he uncovered a packet, took a piece of dried sandal paste and handed it over to me. That was from Badrinath. He said the first early morning Puja and Abhishekam ( sacred bath ) of the main deity there was for and on behalf of the Apollo group. He also showed me the Vastra (a piece of yellow cloth} that had adorned the deity!

Those of us who have shopped at Pothys would know that the famous south Indian sweet Rava Kesari is offered to the visitors. They also distribute Tulsi saplings to the shopping public. During the Adi sales, the Retail leader was offering free vegetables to those who made a purchase. This was in addition to the declared Adi discount!