Bombay, Tuesday, 1995-10-31 18:00 local (Z+5.5)
Took a walk around the hotel grounds this morning and looked over the fences into adjacent areas. Things have changed in the last few years. The area is more built up now, and the swampy field on one side of the hotel is no longer filled with untouchable hovels. There are still a few left, but not the mass that used to be there. I wonder what happened? Maybe it's now possible to walk outside the hotel without being mobbed by beggars. I may try later. The hotel grounds aren't as sumptuous as they used to be. The small zoo is gone, although there is still an aviary, and the putting green has disappeared. The pool and tennis courts are still there, but they look a little seedy. The hotel is definitely going downhill.
It's amazing how many people this hotel employs. There are doormen whose ONLY function is to open the doors at the front for guests. Other employees greet the cars, open the car doors, carry the bags. There are also elevator button pushers. All they do is stand in front of the elevators in the lobby and push the up button when they see you coming. In addition, there is a uniformed guard on each floor 24 hours a days.
In the last several hours I've received 6 copies of the same fax. First we couldn't get the company to send any. Now we can't turn them off. The schedule has me running back and forth within India and then a couple of round trips to Paris. Unfortunately they'll use the Nikko Hotel in Paris, which means I can't transmit and there are no laundromats nearby. Oh, well, I'll just keep piling up the messages, and as for the laundry, I sent out the rest of my dirty clothes in spite of the cost.
I'm not looking forward to tonight, or to tomorrow morning, however you want to look at it. Our wakeup call is set for 02:30, show at 03:30, depart to Delhi at 05:00, then return here, then go back to Delhi, then deadhead back here. So, three operating legs entirely within Indian airspace. Hopefully as I get used to this captain I'll be able to understand him better. It would help if he would speak up, but in addition to his accent he speaks very softly. If he sticks to the standard leg switching, I'll get to fly two of the three legs. Flying is easier than communicating.
I spent a couple of hours at the pool earlier this afternoon. That picked up my spirits some. Plus, progress has come to India (at least to this hotel pool in India) in that women can now go topless. One of Tower's female flight attendants took advantage of the change.
Well, time to go to bed, without supper even since I'm sleepy and not particularly hungry.
Terry