"Alan S" wrote in message
news:7sat249oi4v4um4jj2n5jh20dsj95cge94@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 17 May 2008 13:43:53 +0530, "grusl"
> wrote:
>
>>
>>In all fairness, Alan, the Central Industrial Security Force, which runs
>>airport security in India, is one of the most decent and hardworking of
>>the
>>disciplined forces in the country.
>>
>>CISF officers just enforce what rules they're told to enforce. Their
>>working
>>language is English and they can be very helpful people at unfamiliar
>>airports, much more so than gate agents.
>>
>>I doubt there was a bribe involved. I've had "discussions" about a second
>>laptop bag myself and eventually been let through. (Eventually I bought a
>>padded cover and just pop the laptop into my carryon bag).
>>
> George, I'll eventually be writing a separate blog entry on
> Indira Ghandi Airport. It was a fascinating and frustrating
> experience, both arriving and departing.
>
I do hope you'll spell it Gandhi.
> Here is just a brief description of my departure experience.
>
> Arrived at 3:30 am for the 6:20 Royal Jordanian to Amman. At
> that time I expected things to be quiet. Wrong. A large
> crowd was milling about on the sidewalk outside the doors.
> They were outside because I found that I needed my passport
> and boarding pass just to enter the building. The sergeant
> on the door had apparently not heard of e-tickets. So I
> rummaged through my luggage until I found the email with my
> Qantas itinerary on it. He begrudgingly let me in.
>
If it was 2004 I would agree. But every CISF officer has seen e-tickets now.
They're commonly used domestically.
> As I entered the door a guy appeared from nowhere and
> grabbed the larger of my two bags, literally out of my
> hands, and immediately threw it on a security x-ray scan
> machine where it disappeared into the bowels of the scanner.
> As it appeared at the other end a security man sealed a
> plastic strip around it to indicate that it had been scanned
> for checked baggage. I wasn't impressed because I had
> intended taking both as carry-on; that had been OK on the
> previous five flights. The security guy would not give the
> bag to me but only to my helper who had put it in the
> machine. He wouldn't give it back until some rupees appeared
> in my hand.
>
I'd say it was a porter who wanted to be paid for "carrying" your bags. It
does happen ... you have to hold on to everything. Delhi's much worse than
the south.
> I eventually found the Royal Jordanian desk, but only after
> another unsolicited helper showed me where it was; for a
> tip. There was a remarkable absence of signs, and the only
> working TV displays in that area did not show Airline
> counter locations. Maybe they do on other days...
>
Uh, not necessarily. Mostly it's TV with brief moments of departure boards.
You can see the mouse moving each digit by hand.
[snip bag tag story]
The only purpose of the tag is to provide a blank space for a stamp. It
provides no other purpose, so it doesn't matter what tag is used.
Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore
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