The morning commute from hotel to airport can be a slow process in the congested New Delhi traffic. My view through the taxi windshield is blocked by the tailgate of a seemingly  unmoving dump truck, stencilled with a message that reads: "Please Honk Horn". This is a request my driver enthusiastically carries out.
Close on our left side is a bicycle-rickshaw its sinewy driver holds his weight high over the pedals, poised to descend and propel his load of newly-minted roofing tiles forward another few inches. A young beggar rises on her toes to peer into my window, her large brown eyes search for magnetic contact with mine, as she taps her finger tips against the glass. A skinny cow, the colour of dirty snow, rubs its rump against our rear fender.
"What airlines today sir?" my driver turns to ask.
Several airlines shuttle passengers between Delhi, India and Katmandu, Nepal. They all charge about the same fares, so a choice between them is based on other considerations: schedule, service, and safety record. Royal Nepal Airlines was recently featured in our  national news when, in September of 2007, Associated Press reported that Nepalese maintenance officials sacrificed 2 goats on the Katmandu airport runway in front of a Boeing 757. The sacrifice was made to Akash Bhairab, the Hindu God of Sky, whose image is also featured on their aircraft. The plane later took off and landed safely in Hong Kong.
But it was never clear to me if this was part of a regularly scheduled maintenance programme, you know, like the 1-year, 3,000 mile oil and lube. Or was the sacrifice made to remedy a particular engine problem. Perhaps the sacrificing of a small chicken is necessary for a little tappet noise, maybe single goats for a persistent engine knock. Two whole goats seem like serious engine problems to me. At a minimum, there must have been flames, or at least heavy blue smoke, billowing out the engines.
Actually the practice of sacrificing hoofed and horned animals in front of combustible-engine transportation devices isn't as rare an event as one would think. I know my rural Minnesota neighbour has, while traveling the gravelled country roads, sacrificed several deer  at the front of his pick-up. Once the antlers and grill parts were removed from the radiators, the pick-up still ran, but he has never claimed any significant improvement in engine performance. Perhaps there isn't a Hindu God of gravel roads.
"I'll be flying Jet Airways today," I say to my driver. Our eyes meet in the rear view mirror. He seems relieved.
Jet Airways is Indian owned, but also an NWA partner, so I'll earn frequent flyer miles. And if any animals are sacrificed prior to take-off, they will be served to me on a dinner plate, along with a few vegetables and a steaming cup of Jasmine tea. |
