I know lot of us always wonder about the experience in Indian Airports esp DELHI. We have been told the airport got a new shape, new employees and new managment system. Here is an excerpt from nepalnews.com <http://www.nepalnews.com/home/index.php/top-column-hidden-menu/15606-plight-of-a-nepali-at-indian-transit.html.>

    

Plight of a Nepali at Indian Transit

By Dr. Sanjaya Gajurel

Tuesday, 27 December 2011 18:21

 

 

In this 21st century, the obvious question is whether we still deserve the abusive treatment by our neighboring country, India.

It had already been eleven years that I had not visited my country Nepal. The excitement rushed in as I was visiting my family in Nepal after that long span. On top of that, I was not worried about my visa and ironically, the saying in Nepali “even a river returns after twelve years” was getting materialized this time. The US Embassy in Nepal has always been unpredictable granting visas. My mother was denied a visa even to attend my Ph.D. graduation in the United States. In this Nepal visit, the heartrending incidents at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, India, incited an acrimonious flash-back. 

Going back in 1995, I vividly remember Nepalis being harassed by Indian custom officers at several check points on the Nepal-India border. On the way to Jaipur, India, I was exulted; why not? It was my first visit to any other country and I was attending Regional Engineering College (REC) in the pink city. My joviality, however, could not last long and my confidence went into a tailspin. The adrenaline level dipped as I went through psychological torture at the frontier. My luggage, consisting of just few new Jeans along with other regular clothes, got screened through many check points; frequently stopped by the Indian custom officers; some of them probably fakers. Logically speaking, there cannot be more than couple of checkpoints within that mere distance of about a kilometer. The officers were brazenly demanding money for my luggage to get through irrespective of the stuffs that I carried. Being incapacitated, I and my father acquiesced and paid IRs 40 at each check point. The rip off continued even in the bus to Gorakhpur, India. I was actually more tormented by the poignant scene of other poor compatriots being robbed. They were trying to earn meager sum of money through drudgery in India.

Recently, in October 2011, I had a layover at Delhi during my visit to Nepal. I was thrilled to visit the highly publicized Indira Gandhi International Airport despite rumors had it that the travelers used to be crammed in a small room without any facilities waiting for their boarding pass for the next flight to Nepal. I double checked with my travel agent “Peaceland Travel” and was assured that after the renovation of Delhi airport, things are different. They were right from their perspective but not looking at International airport norms. 

My flight to Kathmandu was booked in such a way that I would be claiming my luggage only at the destination. I reached Delhi via Gulf Air and walked to Air India counter. I saw bunches of young Indians there. I was initially delighted to see the younger faces thinking that these people would be the responsible sophisticated people exposed to International norms. Unfortunately, though the Delhi airport has adopted the latest technologies, the mentality of the people there has not progressed. I found them swearing in their dialect not heeding their clients in the queue waiting for the service. Finally, after half an hour in a queue comprising of only three people, I was told to wait for the personnel from Gulf Air to take care of the luggage first. Does that make any sense to you? Why should you as a traveler be worried about your tagged luggage to be transferred from one airline carrier to another?

After another half an hour wait, a Gulf Air personnel came and got away with our (there were other Nepali passengers too) passport info and baggage claim receipt. An hour elapsed and then a guy from Air India appeared. He feigned helpful and wanted us to follow him to get our boarding pass. I didn’t see any logic behind it; why should I follow him to get my boarding pass instead of him getting one for me. I hesitated for a while but I had no other choice. “If you want to catch the plane, follow me”, he said. I needed to get to the plane to make it to the auspicious festival (Dashain) day at Kathmandu else I might got stranded in this chaotic airport; I don’t know how many hours or even days.

We followed the guy who appeared to be friendly. Now, he wanted us to fill out the declaration form and checked out our own luggage from the baggage carousel. What the hell? Wasn’t Delhi just my transit? Even worse, in that declaration form, we needed to enter the name of the hotel where we never stayed in. I was totally lost and exasperated but helpless. My declaration form got marked (accepted); however, I did not find my luggage at the baggage claim which is still in untraceable state. Some of them in our group collected theirs. Most of their luggage again went through screening right there, a flagrant trap to steal money complaining about the stuffs in the bag which were actually validated earlier through all other Airport check points. Now, we were finally in the Air India ticket counter. The guy in the ticket counter asked me if I was going to Kathmandu. He was actually thinking of ripping a meek Nepali guy off some money. When my answer was yes, he wanted me to pay for the weight in my carryon luggage where as two foreigners in front of me with larger carryon luggage than mine were never interrogated. Where else on earth that can happen? That made me so vexed that I became very vocal after that which finally got me the ticket. Now, I could not help thinking about other ingenuous compatriots who were returning to Kathmandu with meager amount they earned at Bahrain from grueling hard labor. The fret still continued after getting the ticket. We had to fill up another declaration form and submit it to the officer before going through the security check. At the security, the officers were asking if I worked at US; how much I made, how many electronics gadgets I got, and other totally unrelated ridiculous questions. The same luggage was passed through security checks at other airports without any infringement. I had a laptop and a camera as electronic goods, still they were complaining about them, thinking that they would end up getting some money out of it. With all those hassles, I had to run to the gate to get to the plane in time. I didn’t find any luxury time to saunter through the highly touted Delhi airport. 

Finally, I arrived at Kathmandu airport and reported my lost baggage to Air India. I waited for their follow-up call but in vain. The number I was given for contact just kept ringing without any answer so I went to the airport after few days. I was surprised to find Air India’s counter located inside the airport security. I had to ask the security personnel and wait for Air India’s representative to check for the baggage status; worse, after few visits, they wanted me to contact the country manager at Hattisaar, Kathmandu in person. The country manager wanted me to contact Gulf Air and American Airlines – my previous carriers. The unfounded flustering news that I heard from country manager was there were several other travelers whose baggage is stranded at Bahrain Airport. It is easy to understand one or two misplaced luggage once in a while but that many lost luggage is beyond my comprehension. Are they negligent or is there a cartel that takes advantage of the lost luggage containing valuables? Hesitatingly, I tried to contact both Gulf Air and American Airlines few times but I was consistently transferred to Air India – my end carrier.

While returning from Nepal the first bizarre incident happened while boarding Air India to Delhi at Kathmandu. There was an extra security check setup at the staircase of the airplane itself. I was totally clueless but submissively yielded to them. The plane landed at Delhi airport and again at the Air India counter, I ended up with the same sets of people. What a nightmare! They noted down the passport and ticket information and asked us to wait until someone from the airliner brought the boarding pass. There were few other travelers who were stranded there for more than six hours waiting for their boarding pass so as get in to the facilitated travel lounge. Worse, they were not even made aware of their missed flight. One American lady was laughing at the banner scrawled with “World’s #1 Airport”. “Kathmandu Airport though very small is far efficient than this one” she said. Hours passed. When we got the boarding pass, there were only forty five minutes left for us to get through the security and got on to the plane. We had to run for our flight again without being able to savor the much-hyped hi-tech facilities at Delhi airport. 

There are stark evidences of India's wrong motives towards Nepal; time and again they have been taking advantage of Nepal's dependency as a landlocked country which has in fact exacerbated Nepalis’ antipathy towards India. In this 21st century, the obvious question is whether we still deserve the abusive treatment by our neighboring country, India. Putting it in another way, are we bound to endure their mistreatment? Since the mentality of so called sophisticated people has not yet changed, I would like to request both Indian and Nepali government to be serious about these abuses. This also depicts bigger picture on how India always has inner motive to put a crimp in the development of Nepal feigning to have worked towards Nepal’s interest.

(Gajurel, a Ph.D. in computer engineering from Case Western Reserve University, USA, works as Computational Scientist at the same university. Email: sanjaya.gajurel@gmail.com)

One thing I don't understand is that despite the fact that Indians always create trouble at the airport, why do Nepalese prefer to go via India?

I have gone to Nepal via Korea and Quatar. I never had any trouble in these route. Why don't Nepalese skip India?

The story needs some consistency first..

It's not clear as to whether the author has gripes about the Delhi Airport System in general, or specific to how they treat Nepalese passengers, or both! It seems more inclined towards the latter, as the author mentions his past experience at the Indo-Nepal border, and the conclusive sentences indicate a bigger picture of India's (and the Indians') discrimination toward us.

However, following statement sort of contradicts that impression:

"One American lady was laughing at the banner scrawled with “World’s #1 Airport”. “Kathmandu Airport though very small is far efficient than this one” she said."

(She should 've had a delightful experience -- why sarcasm!)

Regardless of what the author's intent was, here are some of my observations based on my personal experience transiting through Delhi airport 4 times in the last 3 years:

1. Whether it's an airport or any public facility, systems in India don't align with the systems that we're used to. Things need to be taken with a grain of salt, at times! (I hate the smell there, more than their treatment, really).

2. The treatment that we typically get from others is a reflection of our own attitude. (I'd ask everyone to ponder into this before deriving a conclusion!). This is generally the case everywhere, and very much so when it comes to Delhi airport matter.    

3. We, in many cases load ourselves with a sense of prejudice when we approach India/Indians/Indian systems. Need to get that thing out of our head, at least in the context of 'transiting flights through India'. A Frenchman, at the airport, shared with me a story of how he got ripped off at Delhi airport on his way to Thimpu (via KTM). I proudly carried around my green Nepali passport and didn't have to pay a penny to any of those crooks a single time. A fellow Nepali passenger must have thought  I frequently travel, and asked me the same question (laid out in a vague statement -- type) thrice:

"Yo airport ma Indian le Nepali lai dherai dukha dinchha re hai?"

I was indifferent each time he asked (told?) me that question.

Really, it depends on how you view it! You could very well run into some jackass that tries to degrade us and our dignity. But that doesn't mean you'd generalize everything and everyone based on that encounter. Can't that happen anywhere else?

4. Regardless of the terminal's improvement, the transit area must have been designed and operated with 'solitary confinement' in mind! It's ridiculously compact and uncomfortable. You can walk outside the area and tour around, but there's nothing entertaining -- they hardly divert your attention.. Unfortunately, that's where the passengers end up spending most of their transit hours. (Have a book handy to kill those threadbare hours..)

5. If you dislike something, and you know it's wrong, then you should yell. Yelling works, given that it's aimed at the right person, and you back yourself with the right argument(s). If you can't yell, then maybe gracefully avoid that airport. (Might think twice about KTM airport too, in that case).

In summary, to *not*  have an atrocious experience at the (Delhi) airport, we should refrain ourselves from being too critical, and put away the premonition that we get mistreated based on our passport and/or the nationality.

I wouldn't blame the author for getting irate as a result of the lost baggage, though..
We don't know if that really fits in the big picture of 'discrimination' however!!

~@~
    

 right on dhoti_prasad!!!!

STOP FLYING VIA INDIA

end of story.

no much how much time and money i save, i never EVER never Never EVER fly through India. I never have I never wil.

 dont fly via india 

Avoid delhi airport as much as possible. Really it is not worth it. I would not want to spoil or start my nepal visit with it. If the reader already had knowledge n idea of wat kind of experience he is going to recieve, why did he not jus avoid delhi? Unless it was unavoidable.
But i would not stereotype all indians due to such incodents. I know our ktm airport is no better also unless u know some1 inside. Rite??

 Yes, avoid transit through India. I understand people might be trying to save money, but I have always found transit through Doha, HK, Korea cheaper and much more easier.

Avoid India transit and suggest others to do so.....let's them lose business....

We need to have our own Nepali representatives in political positions to avoid situations like this.

Hi  Dr. Sanjaya Gajurel ,

My experience with New Delhi airport has been almost exactly same like yours. Almost 90 percent same. When I read your posting I felt as if it was my own. It was just horrible. I will never ever travel through Air India and esp. through Delhi Airport and I suggest all nepali people not to Go through INDIA - Delhi airport even though the ticket is 100-200 cheap. I swear, it doesn't worth it. 

It is not good to generalize the whole country but they gave me so much trouble that...I have to say ...I hate indian. [Disallowed String for - bad word] indian !!!

 I will read it tonight.

Too many jargon words. Keep in mind that the simplicity is the best way to express

Now come to the point:

-Hard to understand where Mr Gajurel is trying to put the blame on. As SHA JHA mentioned. Is Mr Gajurel trying to blame on IGI airport system or Indian attitute towards Nepali or Indian governmnet or everything?

- Looks like Gajurel has travelled well in India. So he must have known the Indian systems very well. And if he knew all about Indians, then why did he choose to travel through Delhi one more time? Did he run out of options? OR did he just tried to save some US dollars?

- I see that American lady suffered too at the airport. So how come Mr Gajurel is blaming Indian's bad attitude towards only Nepali?

I have travelled many times via Delhi and I never had any major issues there. May be I was lucky ! But I always ran out of luck at our own TIA. So looking at our own TIA I do not have energy to blame on other airports or other politics. If I do not get repect at my own land, who is going to respect me?

The best solution is: If you do not like Indians, avoid them, stay away from them !

To those people that are taking a higher moral ground here and who claim to have never experienced anything like this in India or TIA:

It is not the plight of Dr. Gajurel that particularly enrages me. It is the thousands and thousands of nepali migrants that either live in india or in the middle east that I really feel for, who are unaware of fees, laws, and lack of necessary skills. If you have traveled with them, you'll know that many of them can barely talk or write in english. I have personally helped many of them fill the forms at airports. It is bad enough that they get ripped at our own airports through our security personnel. I am sure you'll also see how they are treated in middle east airports but at least they don't get ripped like in new delhi. For someone living in US with comfortable lives, it is easy to say Avoid india, but it is not so easy for our fellow compatriots who toil blood tears and sweat just to save a few extra rupees. So, that avoid india route is probably not applicable to everyone. Please ponder over this.

Having heard in recent times the improvement in indian airport, this is a huge step backwards, and our outlook towards our neighbor shall not change very easily. I agree with Babal Khate that we need people in position to bring such issue in light, but i am not sure supporting Darshan Rauniar in US is going to change the fate in New Delhi. It has to come through common folks like us to start campaigns.