Just follow the yellow sign!!

This was my first trip abroad and as expected I was quite nervous given I was travelling alone too. One of my uncles (Doctor Mama) who has done quite a few travels abroad made a very remarkable statement that I can never forget:

Be Cool Palani. You would need to worry only till you leave the country. Once you are out of India, there's nothing to worry about - everything will happen like Clockwork

It did sound comforting, but never expected that I would first hand experience the truth in this statement during the first trip itself.

Given this was the first trip, had followed the instructions of the Travel Desk guy to a tee - and had my travel pouch with all the relevant documents with the passport - invite letters, hotel confirmation, itienary, air tickets etc..etc..

After going through the checklist a dozen times - reached the airport and waited through the emmigration queue, confidently went to the Officer and handed over the passport with a broad smile on the face - and the first thing he asks, "Can I see your company ID card?" Whaaatttt....That wasn't expected - and I realized my ID had gone with the check-in baggage. Blushed and lamely stammered - "Sorry Sir, First Time, Didn't know". Luckily the Office let me pass with a warning. A big sigh of relief that my travel didn't end before it even started.

That kind of proved the first piece of mama's comment about having to worry only until you leave the country. Just so I don't start getting hate mails and dragged as a topic of debate on the Arnab Goswami show - let me clarify that I am indeed a proud citizen of India - but just that when it comes to dealing with government officials, be prepared to "Expect the Unexpected"

The flight had a stop over at Tokyo Narita airport - I had been sleeping all through and the air hostess had to wake me up to get me off the aircraft. I was still half asleep as I stumbled off the plane - and all that I heard was an official mentioning - "Follow the Yellow Sign". I didn't even look at the boarding pass for the gate details etc.. but just kept following the Yellow Sign blindly. After quite a long walk passing through multiple escalators and dozens of bright yellow signs I finally reach a Boarding Gate that reads "Los Angeles"!!! I still can't imaging how this was possible, with the no. of flights coming out and going out - no clue how blindly following the Yellow Sign took me to the right gate. The first thing that came to my mind then was mama's comments - "Everything will happen like Clockwork".

Hats off to the Japanese - haven't seen this happen in any other airport. Truly unbelievable experience - no wonder a small group of islands is ranked the third largest economy in the world!!!

Cheers,
Palani

Palaani's Travels

My penchant for travelling to new places probably comes from my Thatha (Grand Dad). During school days we have had many a trips to interesting places with cousins and each time Thatha would have collected facts and stories about the place we were visiting beforehand and narrate the historical and architectural importance of places as we visit them. Remember this was the pre-google / Wikipedia days. So you would need to go to the book stores - no Flipkart/Amazon either - search for these books and buy them to collect the information.

Fortunately my job gave me an opportunity to visit quite a few places around the globe - so far have been to 15 countries in 4 different continents. Recently when my Mom commented about recording my travel experiences - I thought I should capture them as short blog articles.

So here goes the starting of (hopefully) a series of short write-ups of interesting facts / events / experiences during my travel. Will try to keep these as short and sweet as possible - without turning them into boring essays.

Fasten your seatbelts folks - and hope you enjoy the ride.

Cheers,

Palaani