GoAir, India. 23-09-06

Go Air's A320's in one of their colours.

19th Oct 2006- Blessing ceremony for WAD. Group Photo with the MD of Go Air, Jeh Wadia. We were like one small family and the airline looked set to be different. I am extreme left with Meng my Engineering counterpart 3rd from Lt.

Mr Jeh Wadia is the handsome gentleman in the centre (brown shirt). Sadly many of the staff below have left Go.

VT-WAD (4th aircraft) had just arrived and Gautam Salaskar, our GM Cabin Crew was there to ensure that the cabin was as per Go's requirements. Gautam reproted to me as Exec Vice President.

Each aircraft that Go had was of a different colour.

One of the happier moments in GoAir as Exec Vice President Flt Ops.

During Lunch on a Saturday Vasuki, the MD's P.A, organised a cake and a small gathering in our cafeteria. On my right is Vasuki and on my left Sashi the only Secretary servcing Flight Operations. The staff were very closely knit and treated us foreigners well although, Vasuki loves to smear you with that gouey creamy stuff which she performs to all on their birthdays. Unfortunately she is no more with GoAir.

Vikram Imanandar - ex Naval Dornier pilot. Big guy, very strong, but I think my son Andy can flaten him.

Selected him for A320 course after much objection from Capt VK Sharma.
Called me from Toulose mid way through the Flt Simulator Training phase saying that he wanted to give up and come back. I spent quite a bit of time giving him encouragement and true enough after 2 extra sessions he made it. Now GoAir has a potential Captain. Praise God.

Wonder if Go appreciates this??? Indians to appreciate??

But do we worry - nay, we are a different generation, a holy people, we serve our Lord and give glory to Him that we can serve him such.

Diwali in Delhi 2006

Magic Airlines India

My time with Magic Airlines, India was from Nov 2004 to Mar 2006.
Based in New Delhi.
Magic was then a new start up LCC airline that was due to launch in Oct 2005. It had 4 Malaysians in the startup team namely:

Ng Fook Meng - VP Engineering & Project Head.
M Subramanium - VP Finance
S Murugesu - VP Commercial
Myself - VP Flight Operation.

It was about the same time as Spice & before Kingfisher were also seeking "NOC" (no objection certificate). Run by Nira Radia, a very bright, energetic and capable lady, who was also owner & Chairman of Vaishnavi, one of India's largest Corporate Communications firms. The Tata Group, if I am not mistaken, is their biggest client.
Unknown forces however, prevented the airline from being granted the "NOC", and we dismantled in March 2006. A sad day as the airline would have gone places and made a name for itself.

Some of the Magic's family are present below, in a Diwali gathering held at Nira's (Boss) farmhouse in Delhi. She joined us a bit later.

Below from left:

Muru, Meriam, Meng, Chari (Engineering) & Chandrasekara (Advisor ex- Indian Airlines)

Karuna Maam! Nira's (Bosses) sister with Chandrasekara & Muru.

When two Engineer's get together guess what the subject of their conversation would be??


From left: Subramanium, Chetan, Muru, Rejev Mohan (Director Corporate Affairs) and Meriam.


This time with me in the group.
From left; Rejev's wife, Subra, Muru, Chetan, Roland & Meriam

Delhi 2005/2006 - Chandigarh, Jaipur, Nainital

Delhi- Nov 2005

A Punjabi Wedding

Capt Rohit Kapahi and Kritik

We had the opportunity to witness a true Punjabi wedding on the 23rd Nov 2005.
It was that of F/O Rohit Kapahi with Krithik both of whom were know to us. Their parents Capt Kapahi & Renu were very dear & good friends of ours.
Rohit flew with me as F/O and Krithik was a Flight Stewardess recruited by MAS for their Indian sectors.
Of course Capt Kapahi was one of my B737 crew when with Jet Airways.
Below from left seated & facing camera: Krithik, Rohit, Renu & Capt Kapahi. Surrounded by family & friends.

Meriam (extreme right) taking a backseat view of the proceedings.

Close up of the Bride & Groom

Below, A mother's blessings on the couple. Renu in pink saree was Meriam's dear friend and help in settling down in Delhi.

Delhites perform weddings in grand settings with lots of lights and colour.

Chandrigah - Punjab

Sept 2005

Chandigarh is the best-planned city in India, the capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. About 250 km from Delhi it was a pleasant drive although as we entered Punjab it began to look more and more like Buntal in Malaysia. Lots of Bullock carts and violations to driving etiquette. Lots of road hogs and Sikhs.

A stop over for Brunch - Chapattis were great.

A neatly design huge square with shops all around. Fabric was beautiful and a fine array of carpets, etc.

Peaceful Breakfast at the Taj Hotel.

Sukhna Lake. Looking in the direction of where Shimla is located we see the mountain range in the background forming part of the Himalays. The hill stations Kullu & Manali with Rohtang Glacier are accessible from Chandigarh.

Sign board showing direction and distance to the hill stations and winter resorts.

The Taj Regency Hotel patio.

BioTech Park. A very well planned and well laid out city,

Jaipur - Dec 2005

Also known as the 'Pink City' which is the striking colour of the old city. Pink is also the colour of hospitality in Rajastan. Jaipur is an hours flight from Delhi and about a 4 hours by road (NH 8). Roads were good & superior to those we drove on elswhere in India.

To the south of Jaipur is Udaipur, which is also a beautiful city in Rajastan.

We had started of from Gurgeon in SW Delhi which is on the NH8 to Jaipur.

Below, stopover for early lunch. Driver Pradeep is on the right although I did all the driving.

Arriving Jaipur, a gloomy 'zoomed' photo of the Amber Fort as we are driving.

Hawa Mahal is a major landmark and a famous tourist attraction of Jaipur. The Palace offers a beautiful sight to behold. The literal meaning of Hawa Mahal is Palace of Winds. Hawa Mahal was built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799. It has 953 small windows decorated with tiny lattice work. It has 953 small windows decorated with tiny lattice work. These pink sandstone windows commonly known as "Jharokhas" are constructed in such a style, that it looks like a giant honeycomb.

City Palace is one of the most famous tourist attractions and a landmark in Jaipur. The beautiful palace was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh during his reign. It has outstanding art and architecture. City Palace complex covers a huge area, which is divided into a series of gardens, courtyards and buildings.

I am standing outside the entrance to this vast palace, in the photo below.

The Albert Hall Museum.

A morning photo of the Hawa Mahal which shows greater detail of the window design. The air circulation through windows represents the marvelous touch of Mughal designing, which keeps the Palace always cool. The small screened balconies and arched roofs with hanging cornices enhance the beauty of the Palace. As a matter of fact, Hawa Mahal is believed to build for the women of the Royal Families, since they had to observe strict "purdah" (cover). The small windows and screened balconies serve the women to watch processions and different activities taking place on the streets. Similar to palaces constructed in Udaipur.

Jal Mahal (meaning “Water Palace”) is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city

Amber Fort is located in Amer (Jaipur), which used to be the capital of the Kachhwaha clan, till Jaipur was made the official capital in 1727. The Amber Fort looks stunning, all-built in white marble and red sandstone. To add to its charm, Maotha Lake makes its foreground. In 1592, construction of the Fort was started by Raja Man Singh I. However, the Amber Fort took its present form during the reign of Raja Jai Singh I.

Nainital- Nov 2005

Nainital is a glittering jewel in the Himalyan necklace, located at a height of 1938 meters (6356 ft) above the sea level. A place which is blessed with interminable scenic beauty, Nainital is northern India's most popular hill station and health resort. What is uniquely special about Nainital is that it's splendid beauty is matched with an equally salubrious climate. Because of these reasons, tourists keep pouring in here round the year. This attraction of this tourist town revolves around its Naini Lake. However, it is not just the lake but the entire place which is quite developed since it is an important district in Uttaranchal and a flourishing tourism destination.

Nainital is 322 kilometres from Delhi. The journey took 6 hours the last 80 km up a winding road a good 1:30 mins.

 Nainital’s unending expense of scenic beauty is nothing short of a romance, as some of the photos below will indicate.

We made this journey just prior to the snow falls in early December that prevented further travel to the resort.
Left Delhi very early in the morning and stopped over at a place just after the outskirts of Delhi. This was to avoid the traffic jams in the Delhi area. It was winter and the temperature around 7 deg. in the Delhi outskirts.
Below:
Meriam, with our Driver Pradeep waiting for some b'fast. Quite a deserted restuarnt at that time.
Our didn't quite trust my Driver to take us up the mountains so I did all the driving. Pradeep lended the moral support and a sense of security in a foreign country.

Stopover for lunch at Rampur- just before the last 2 hours of driving to the top.

A journey which should normally take 3:15 hrs on Malaysian roads would take us close to 7 hrs. Here is the reason why. The UP roads were atrocious. Taken just after a rail train crossing in UP. We had to cope with bullock carts and other slow modes of transportaion along the way.
The yellow contraption is an vehicle of Indian design used by the poor in nthe rural areas.

Half way up the winding road to our destination.Nainital is behind the hills in the background. The winding road up the hills were tricky with none of the protection barriers we find on the way up to Genting Highlands in Malaysia.

Arriving Nainital - on the outskirts of the town.

Meriam freezing cold in the resturant at the Boat Club -hardly any heating.

The Boat House Club.

Me also feeling pretty cold.

The jewel. Beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise at Nanital.

The lake ringed by homes, hotels, shops, etc

On the way home a small cafe(??) at the foothills. Stop over for breakfast.