Hindustan Times
Silence at the Zurich airport
Browsing through the various shops of life that the sculpted modern civilisation presents every day — school, work, conference, columns, stories, managing, meeting and so on — finding peace has become elusive.
So elusive, in fact, that the business of providing it through books, CDs and other mediums run by self-appointed gurus has become a full fledged multi-billion-dollar industry.
My two non-billion-dollar bits to this industry — travel. To me, nothing beats a comfortable (read business class) travel abroad, preferably to the East, though Europe is not bad either. Of course, you need to go through the interrogation and the humiliation of applying for a visa, which in a later piece I plan to show is the biggest barrier to not only the idea of One World, but globalisation — in all its forms — as well.
My personal journey to peace, through the wreckage that society defines as aspiration and the debris of affluence it leaves behind, has been mixed. There is, of course, an inner yearning, a call to centre. But marrying the day-to-day distractions and being able to listen, leave alone follow, the call has been a challenging task.
Which is something that Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto uses every day to not only centre himself, but as a tool to centre the company itself, he told the huge gathering at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. You can see his interview here. I found him to be completely at peace, unfazed by the questions leaders on the other side of the dais or our auto reporter Sumant Banerji asked.
Returning to travel, in less than six hours after the summit ended, I was on a flight to Zurich and have some confessions to make.
* Swiss Air is the best business class airline I have travelled in so far. The seats are roomy, you can sleep, excellent movies, great service and terrific food. * As you leave the pressures of immigration and jostling through lines behind, a very helpful staff puts you at complete ease. * In the three-hour transit at Zurich before boarding a flight to Dublin, the business lounge is comfortable, spacious. And very, very quiet.
It is 6.00 am in the morning and this physical silence is just, how to define it, it’s just so Silent. It envelopes me through the misty window to my right where a colourful bus carrying a picture of a train that showcases the country’s beauty. The smell of fresh coffee permeates the visible mist and tantalises desire.
And despite the cups tinkling as two early morning fellow travellers enter the lounge, the silence remains untouched.
I envy Alok, Komal and their two delightful children who live just 10 km away from here, but who I still can only call — the immigration rules do not allow this silence to flood beyond this lounge. Wish I could stay here for longer, but have to pull up my reluctant body and walk to Gate B-27.
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
Loading ...Posted by Gautam Chikermane on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Filed under Research · Tagged Dublin, Europe, globalisation, Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, modern civilisation, Rajiv Bajaj, travel, Zurich airport
Ok rich boy you rubbed your business class in all our faces
Travelling the cattle (oops the aam janata) class is sometimes a real hassle. I hate to be stuck up in the middle of a 3/5/7 seat arrangement. I also hate those stupid non stop India - US flights makes me want to jump out after 12 hours of being stuck in a tube. My worst experience was with Continental airlines Mumbai - Newark in which, apart from the now to be expected brusque treatment from the gora memsahibs , after dinner we were stuck with our breakfast trays for the next morning and asked to stash it under our seats. ya you heard it right. and then the next day I was literally starving in the morning. there was no tea no juice no other refreshment. i practically had to steal stuff from the crew area. aaaand, pl hold on to your seats, we were asked to pay for liquor, heeeey bhagwan what has this world come to. I mean i was stunned and extremely saaad. I was looking forward to having a jolly time and this boooo hoooo. even the toilets were dirty. Pl think twice befroe travelling by this airline.
But I had great experience with other asian airlines - singapore, malaysia, even korean and also Qatar. decent flights. and free booze. I wish I could travel by air india the next time. I heard the inflight live entertainment is unbeatable heheh
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Gautam Chikermane Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Vikram: Rich boy — me? Wish it were true! Just to set the record right, I did not pay for the trip. It was an official trip of a not-for-profit organisation where I am a volunteer.
And by the way, its is not unlikely that you, even in a business class, would get stuck in the middle seat. I got stuck in Luftansa once. And on the Zurich-Dublin route this time — absolutely pathetic.
I too think the US-based airlines suck. Particularly the economy class where I have mostly travelled. In fact, going to the US has become such a pain and humiliation that unless it is absolutely necessary, I’d rather give it a pass.
The best airline — until my recent Swiss Air trip — I found (particularly in the economy class) is Korean Air. Or maybe, since it was in September 2001, just days after 9/11, and the huge aircraft was hugely empty and I got to sleep on a four (or was it five?) seat row that I still remember it. But sleep aside, I also enjoyed the food — and have been looking for it ever since in Delhi.
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Deb Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
The pain extends to not only US airlines, but most airlines and I dare say also the hospitality industry of most Western countries, in stark contrast to those of the East. I used to travel a lot till a few years back, mostly to SE Asia/Africa and occasionally to Europe. I found both the airlines and hotels of Western countries totally inhospitable. The staff of most Western airlines would treat you as if you were a freeloader, being downright rude. Those of African ones (like Kenyan Air) were a bit better but by far the best were the SE Asian ones, among them Thai which was the one I used most. And not only in inflight service. I remember an incident where my Delhi-Bangkok flight got delayed due to late arrival at Delhi of the Air India (what else?) flight from Mumbai. I landed at Bangkok just a few minues before my Thai flight to Phnom Penh was to leave and, lo and behold, a Thai attendant was standing right at the aerobridge gate to receive me and zip me through the airport to my connection (it’s another matter that my luggage got left at Bangkok - thanks to Air India!). Some ‘Asian’ airlines like Emirates, though, which had reasonable standards of service a few years back (even if almost totally staffed by Europeans) have fallen to more ‘Western’ standards.
As for hotels, most hotels in Europe would serve you a ‘cold breakfast’ in the morning, and that too only if you’ve hung the ‘breakfast card’ outside your door at night. Else, since many small hotels don’t have a lavish buffet breakfast a la Asian hotels, you can go hungry. And at one hotel in an English town, I had to drag my luggage all the way to the third floor across steep stairs (it was a converted castle), only to reach the smallest hotel room I’ve even set my eyes on in my life - about 4×9 ft. with the minuscule toilet jutting in one side!
I’m happy to be in Asia, thank you very much.
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Well, Zurich airport opens only at 5-6 in the morning. It does get a little crowded after that.
And talking of airlines, have you ever tried LAN? Bloody good!
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