My opinion about the Madras international airport

This is my 100th post..yipee.

What a way to start....

I certainly have a gripe against the folks who run airports in India.

I went with my folks to drop my grandma at the Madras intl airport yesterday night. She was leaving for the U.S to visit her son, as in the norm for a lot of old parents who have their progeny in different parts of the United States. We got to the airport and the sequence of events that followed had me mighty pissed for the rest of the night.

1. No room for the car to park so that you can unload luggage. There's this police patrol car that keeps blaring - 'eay Santro, munadi po..eay Ambassador, luggage erraki vechutaena kelambu...' And this tow truck that keep repeating the same instruction but did not bother to tow a vehicle away inspite of a lot of them blocking access..the road being a no parking zone.
2. If you are looking for a luggage trolley, you have to use all your strength to pull one that is stuck to a line of trolleys. And a stupid braking mechanism to boot.
3. The crowd was chaotic, the place where you made phone calls, near the information board stinks of dried up piss.
4. The crowd was reminicent of the queue that is seen at the Mambalam railway ticket booking counter.
5. The cops would not let us in to escort my grandma (she's 73 years old and flying solo)because of security reasons - entry of visitors is banned, barked one cop. We had to beg folks to take care of my granny. Few of them promised to do that. Dunno what happened after she went inside.

The word ban has no meaning now-a-days. Ban the word 'ban.'!!

There used to be a system where you could buy an entry ticket for 50 bucks and go inside. Not anymore. The rest of the area around the airport- don't get me started.

Madras is an important hub for trade but one look at the airport will make you think twice. The reasons?

1. Poor infrastructure - I did not set foot inside the airport due to security reasons but travellers who have been inside will have 'nice' things to say about the place.
2. Poor traffic management. The road that touches the terminals is clogged with vehicles unloading baggage.
3. Poor customer service- rude personnel who don't give a shit about you.

I could go on and on...

Who do we have to blame for this?

I hope things get better after they finish the contruction that's going on at the airport.

Dare i hope?