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06:11 AM
Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
May 27, 2014
So some bright spark woke up in the corridors of power and had a sparkling idea. He decided in his bureaucratic wisdom to make New Delhi a silent airport.
When you enter the terminal there all these signs saying sssshh, this is a silent airport. You would think you are at a funeral. Everyone is speaking in whispers and you wonder idly what the wisdom of this exercise is seeing how the silence is punctured more than punctuated by loud voices from staff having a chit chat.
Anyway, there are now no announcements, not even ones for security cautions or anything. Just a blanket of electronic silence.
There must be boundless logic in it but is escapes me. Indians are not good travelers by air. Even at the best of times they have to be shepherded to their seats. Now they are lost like Mary's little lamb (have I got that right, well someone's lamb) and the airport is turned into a search and find multi-mission centre. MuscatMuscatMuscat,Jetjetjet,E
Ergo the point of all that silence is kind of lost and flights are getting delayed as passengers trot around aimlessly and as unsure as a newborn colt, listening to the bus station chirrupps from harassed staff.
You kind of miss the blaring announcements, it doesn't feel like an airport without that electronic cacophony.
Imagine if you will the happy chaos that exists when a gate is changed and all the signage is in English.
Imagine if a family is separated, a passport is placed and found, sorry, cannot announce it.
Can someone tell me the good part, there has to be a good part...ssshhhh, I am off plane hunting.
(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)
If my call is so important to them, why don’t they answer it for 22 minutes?
How come when I want to, but something specific online is the only item out of stock.
When I get into a queue or lane going fast, the moment I get in, it becomes the slowest and refuses to budge.
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