T3..hmmmmm!

Tiring, Troublesome and Typical Delhi: that’s T3.

In this last year, I have had to travel a lot , and fortunately or unfortunately, it was always via Delhi and generally through the T3 terminal. The first time I entered this new monstrosity , I was overwhelmed. The size, the grandeur and the very ‘international’ feel to the terminal do fill you up with a sense of pride , even if you don’t belong to Delhi. But once the very teenage-y crush like curtains are drawn, and you really see the place, it’s not difficult to miss that inconvenience is written all over. For some it might take a few trips to realize that, and for some, like me, who have a habit of judging everything, it will probably take only a few minutes for the place to unravel.

I got off the taxi and kept running around looking for an entrance to the departure area. After wasting oodles of my energy and a lot of time, I saw this insignificant little sign saying that departures are on the first floor, and lifts are available for the same. I managed to find the lift with ease and went up to the first floor. Now, I had to understand which gate to enter from. Almost all gates had huge queues in front of them , with no clear beginning or end to them. Finally I found a gate that had a smaller crowd at it, but I was told by the security personnel there, that this is the entrance to the international departures. I lost all hope and desire of catching my flight , because by the time the long queues would’ve cleared , either I would’ve fainted or my flight would’ve taken off. Seeing my crestfallen face, I was let inside through the international gate (which by the way had no demarcation to differentiate it from the domestic departure gates) and he said I could walk to the domestic departure counters inside.

After this started one of the longest and boring walkathons of my life. The first stage was finding the counter for my airline, so that I could collect my boarding pass. It took me probably 15 minutes to reach there and then I was greeted by the snootiest airline staff I have ever met. They were behaving as if I am traveling for free and  they were doing some charity work by allowing me in their flight. Anyway, after a round of fake pleasantries being exchanged ,with a strong bitchy undertone to the whole conversation, I got my boarding pass.

The next step in this journey was getting to my boarding gate. It was a challenge to locate the entrance to the gate area. It felt like I had walked half way across Delhi and only then did I manage to see this small board saying -’15 minutes to the departure gates’ or something to that effect. Since there was nothing to eat or shop in the area close to the gates , i loitered around here and there, waiting for my boarding announcement. But (please bear with the sarcasm) ,as expected, the announcements were being made in such a clear voice and and at such a high volume, that people in Bangalore would’ve also heard it. So with 20 minutes left for my scheduled boarding I decided to proceed towards my gate. I flipped my boarding pass to see that my gate number was 42 B .

Although, this is a description of my first visit to the T3, I have noticed that all my flights from this terminal have always taken off from gates that have numbers above 40. I have a genuine bone to pick with the authorities. Could they please clarify as to why and how, gate nos 1 to 39 are always busy. Why is it that no domestic flight takes off from these gates? And if it is a policy of some sort(the reason behind which, I would really like to know) , why is it that the announcements for domestic boarding are not made at least 30 minutes before the boarding time and in a clearer voice? I kid you not, but every time, I have walked to my boarding gate, even after using the pointless travellators , I have reached when half of the people have already boarded and this is when I panic a lot at airports and generally do things way before the scheduled time.

It’s not as if I don’t appreciate what the authorities have tried to do with this terminal. Delhi, being the capital, they wanted the airport to have as international a look and feel to it as possible. But, in doing so, they forgot a few minor details. They forgot to put up bigger and clearer signs at the arrival and departure. They forgot to purchase better announcement systems and forgot to hire a more cordial staff. They forgot that at the time of arrival, no one likes to walk half a kilometer through a maze of counters and the duty free stores(especially when you have just come off a domestic flight and no one would let you purchase anything from the duty free) just to get to their luggage, which then takes another 45 minutes to arrive. They forgot that no one, even in their wildest dreams, would imagine that even if they reach the airport 2 hours prior to the take off time, they would end up huffing and puffing and making it to the boarding gate only at the last minute.

I know all the ‘Daalhi’ people are going to kill me for criticizing their beloved T3 but sorry to say my definition of T3 does not match up to their’s.