A reminder to forget

Only once have i flown out of the Mangalore airport. The choice of airport was basically because of the lower airfare to Ahmedabad compared to my other option of flying from Kozhikode. Then late 2008, I was living at Kannur and it was just an hour extra to drive.

I found the airport small and very comfortable. I had never walked along the airstrip all the way to the craft before. Even Kozhikode airport was far far bigger. Strangely after boarding the 'Air India' flight i found the airport wall was very close to the runway. Even though i have no clue whether the wall played any part in the accident that occurred two days back, i had this feeling, what would happen if there occurs a small error during take-off or landing on this strip. There were again two strips and i am not sure on which one the accident happened.

A news link

This story sort of confirms my thoughts are actually pointless and the length was fine enough.

Still... This accident news which took away 158 lives, was the first thing i heard on my first morning in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Paris. Since i didn't know the exact reason the news haunted me whole day even in the enchanting city.

For most including me, this will be just another news that will be flushed out of the memory soon.
For those who were flying to meet the dear and near, for those who were working in the middle east to make their children would smile, for those who had dreams, for those who have lost their beloved..

May the 158 souls rest in peace.

The three euros

Few stuffs are hard to believe. I have bought 1Kg Tomatoes for 2.5 Euros and a flight from Pisa to Maastricht-Aachen Airport for 3 Euros. A Mc-Chicken costs 3.2. So how can even a cheap airliner provide a 1000 mile flight for 3 Euros? The cheapest train ticket costs 100+Few of the notable cost reduction mechanisms i found are
1. You have to do a web check-in, a print a boarding pass for your own. So reduced number of staffs and fixed costs in the form of printing machines
2. For every check-in baggage you have to pay around 4 Euros extra
3. They have some add-on taxi offers (from 20 to 40 euros were profit sharing happens i guess)
4. Ryan air doesnt fly to busy airports. Moreover some of the airports they are flying does not warrant taxes.
5. There are no daily flights in same route, which means efficient utilization of flights
6. Different mode of payments are charged in different ways. Mastercard debit is free while visa cards we have to pay around 5 euros extra
7. By canceling you literally dont get anything back

The worse part is the number of complaints you see regarding the delayed and canceled flights. Even to talk at the customer desk you have to pay. Still when Lufthansa's and air KLM charges few hundreds of euros i guess it is worth taking a ticket for less than 10 plus have a travel insurance for say 5 and get alternate flights (get it reimbursed by the insurance) in case the flight is canceled.If air travel can be provided so cheaply, how come the indian providers are all running on losses and why they keep on increasing the charges.
More to come once i experience Ryan air!!!

Lets go Dutch!!

That was the only one thing i knew about the dutch. 'Lets go dutch..' I had wondered what sort of a country it is.. when a family goes out to eat dad pays for his food, mom for hers and if the son is old enough he pays for himself.

Now after a week at Maastricht, Netherlands i know what it is being a dutch!!

House of the president,Maastricht University Jo Ritzen
The prez calls everyone home for dinner, greets everyone personally, asking about the facilities and other professors at the university treating you like someone special.

At the university you can walk in to anyone's office. I have always had the privilege to walk in to the offices of university's back home (thanks to my dad) and even at the IIM its the same. Here i just had to walk to deans office,he walks with me to my office and takes care everything is fine. A nice feeling to have when you are away from home. I wonder how a graduate student in India will feel (or whether he will dare to) walking to university Vice-Chancellors office. When my dads office was accessible to anyone anytime, i had wondered why he was doing that (The land were you have the SFI's :P).. But now i realize what European education will do.

Train to Amsterdam central
I took wrong train from Schipol to Amsterdam Central. The ticket checker tells i am on the wrong train and explains how to get back. Fine till now. Can you expect an announcement made in train for us when change over station was reached. It did happen.

Every single person greets you on the way., have a good day or have a great trip. I can imagine how they would be feeling the way we treat them on our land.

Overall when you have these nice people all around, its a nice experience working. I have a polish guy, German girl another Romanian guy and the dutch working with me. Feels great and

I am loving it the dutch way!!!!

Million Dollars Hit My Mailbox

I had only heard about the african guys who had saved all their fortune and all i needed was a bank account and few thousands of rupees to get it transferred to my account untill i received this mail.

This time it was an Iraqi guy with 44.5MUSD. Just search for this Dr Eric Chuenge and all he wants is someone to share half his fortune.

God knows why noone has accepted his offer :P

Anyways this is the mail i received. I am not trustworthy; if you are, please mail to his private email :)


from Dr. Eric Li Ka Cheunge <ericli.ka@emory.edu>reply-to dr.ericcheunge@yahoo.com.hk
toinfo@hangseng.hk
date Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 10:16 PM
subject I am Dr. Eric Li Ka Cheunge Independent Non-executive Chairman of Hang Seng Bank Ltd, Hong Kong. I have a business project for you to handle for me from my bank. All i require is your trust and honest. If interested in my offer, contact me for more details on private Email: cheungeeric943@yahoo.com.hk mailed-by emory.edu


I am Dr. Eric Li Ka Cheunge Independent Non-executive Chairman of Hang Seng Bank Ltd, Hong Kong. I have a business project for you to handle for me from my bank. All i require is your trust and honest. If interested in my offer, contact me for more details on private Email: cheungeeric943@yahoo.com.hk