There's never a dull moment at the Chennai International Airport. Check in was open at the Oman Air counter when I arrived well in advance of the flight. Despite the web check-in and relatively few passengers the process took forever. Reason? Windows update of the terminals serving web check-in passengers! I appealed to the supervisor to allot another working counter. Even though the request was ignored for some time it did elicit a positive response after others too started making a similar demand. What surprised me is the lack of proactive action from the airline staff. Why should such matters reach a level where irate passengers get to the end of their tether? After the check-in was finally negotiated came the Immigration counter. The officer seemed more keen on what was happening in the next counter than what he was supposed to do at his. Socialising at the work place is prime. The passenger comes next.
The icing on the cake was the CISF security check. Firstly, there was just one baggage check line open and one security check gate. When I enquired why the baggage was not moving the bored CISF guy pointed to many bags not removed from the belt after his scan. Reason? There was just one security person taking his own time personally checking the passengers. There were tens of CISF personnel just hanging around and only one line for baggage and passenger! But, what stumped me was when I was asked to remove the small tin of talcum powder from my toilet kit! Can you imagine that talcum powder is prohibited from being carried in the cabin baggage? When I asked the lady CISF security supervisor I was shown a BCCA advice of 3 March 2022 that prohibited talcum powder in cabin baggage. When asked why that was neither mentioned at the time of check in or intimated through the airline the lady said that they are unable to publicize the large number of prohibited items!!
The flight was full and on time. The turbulence while the flight was across Maharashtra made me wonder if the political turbulence on the ground was responsible for the air turbulence. Well South of Mumbai the flight path took the sea route and everything quieted out. It was a pleasure getting a bird's eye view of the Omani coast line. Vast stretches of rocky hills, well laid out settlements and a lovely coast unfolded from the air.
The immigration in Muscat was a non-fussy arrangement after the flight landed before time at 1730. The officials are given an ambience to work in aided by technology and they work professionally keeping the requirements of the public they serve. The number of counters and the fast service ensured that the visa stamping was done in less than three minutes. The large number of passengers didn't matter. The systems, processes and staff were tuned to serve large numbers without inconvenience. The security and immigration staff were polite and helpful.
After immigration came baggage clearance. My bags were already on the belt when I arrived there. The next stop was at the Omantel counter to take a local sim. I was told that the 6 OMR plan would give me free incoming calls, 4.5 GB data and 100 minutes of outgoing calls even to India. I had to only given them my passport to get the activation also done.
The dollar company was my car rental service provider, with who I had booked a Nissan Micra for three days' tour of Muscat. I went to the counter and confirmed my reservation and told them that I would be there the next morning by 7.30 am for the car.
Once all this was done I rang up Mathew Zachariah, aka Binu, who had graciously agreed to host me in Muscat. Our families go a long way and Binu and I grew up together in Trivandrum, Kerala. In fact, it is he and his wife, Meena, who came to my rescue when I faced the gravest crisis in my life, that of the demolition of my flat in Maradu in 2020. Having seen the news on TV in Muscat he offered his superbly furnished villa in Panangad for "as long as I wished to stay". Such interventions in life show you that the Almighty manifests in many ways and through different people. The three storeyed villa of Meena and Binu in Al Azaiba was just a 10 minute drive from the airport. We spent the rest of the evening catching up and planning the itinerary in Muscat.
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