INDIA: Day 2--Getting to know the friendly skies of Kingfisher Airlines

The wind had died down during the night to a much lower velocity, and the skies were overcast but no rain was in sight. Before our flight, our guide and drivers drove us to the Cellular Jail, a site that is synonymous with the Andaman Islands, where the Indian revolutionaries, many who were highly educated, were incarcerated during the British Raj. Declared a National Memorial in 1979, the jail is a place of pilgrimage for many Indians because of the prominent role it played in the struggle for the country's freedom.

The Andaman Islands became a penal settlement for the British in 1858. When completed in 1906, the jail had 698 solitary-confinement cells in seven wings that resembled the spokes of a bicycle wheel around a center tower where two guards kept watch. The jail suffered major damage during a tsunami and later part of it was demolished to construct a hospital. Today, three wings serve as a grim reminder of what happened during its time in history. We have seen many prisons in our travels but never one as inhumane as this one. We would have voted the Hanoi Hilton No. 1 in that category if it hadn't been for our tour guide who told us how wonderful the Vietnamese were to it American prisoners, including John McCain, as they let them have parties, play games and go to church. (Believe that statement if you want.)

The National Memorial Art Gallery, which opened on May 28, 1993, contains local artists' depictions of life in the Cellular Jail. Each prisoner was required to produce an impossible amount of coconut oil each day. If the prisoner did not reach the quota, he took the punishment of flogging or other form of torture. The daily rations consisted of wild rice and two liters of water. Prisoners were confined in chain fetters, bar fetters or cross-bar fetters, each restricting movement more so they could not escape. From 5 p.m. to 5 a.m, prisoners were confined in cells that were 10-feet high, 7 1/2-feet wide and 10-feet long with one very high-positioned, small, barred open window. Prisoners were given one blanket each, and as we learned, when it rains, it is cold and damp.

On the lawn were the gallows with three rope nooses where the dead bodies were dropped into a basement. Outside the gallows was a place for last rites for those condemned to death for murdering a guard or another prisoner. The cell at the end of one wing was occupied from 1911 to 1921 by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a barrister. His cell had two barred gates, one on each side, so that he could watch the hangings. We need to do research on him because he was so revered that the airport in Port Blair is named after him. We also need to research Gubhas Chandra Bose, who disappeared after he was released from the jail on December 5, 1940, and was thought to have been killed by the Japanese, and Netaji, who is quoted frequently in the museum about justice and battling iniquity.

The Freedom Fighters, who fought for India's independence, were incarcerated from 1932 to 1938. In 1933, they staged a hunger strike and several flirted with martyrdom when the guards tried to force feed them.

After completing our tour, we drove a short distance through the downtown area of this city of 80,000 to the airport. A sign in the city park read, "More plastic. More wastage. Say NO to plastic," and a storefront sign offered Fashion Jewelry and Electronics so we finally found a store where both Ken and Sara could enjoy shopping.

The remainder of the day was spent in the Port Blair and Chennai Airports on our way to Delhi. In the Port Blair Airport, we learned too late that there were separate entrance gates for screening men and women, so a man could never do a physical search on a woman. Fortunately, the Indian ladies let us cut in line when we reached the gate so we did not have to go to the back of the line.

Our two flights on Kingfisher Airlines were as different as the three airports through which we passed. The airplane for our flight out of Port Blair was old and small with rigid seats. We were offered bottles of water but had to pay for snacks. When we flew from Chennai to Delhi, our modern airplane was equipped with video screens in front of every seat. The CEO of Kingfisher Airlines told us in a video that he had instructed the airline's staff to treat us as if we were visitors in his home, which they did. The Lemon Aqua drink they offered before our meal was touted "Within this package is a refreshingly refreshing take on lemon. When released, this awesome drink had only one goal--to blow your mind."

At the old, crowded airport in Port Blair, it seemed as if everyone in the city was trying to fly out after the flights had been canceled during the rain storms. The airport in Chennai was much better while the Gandhi Airport in Delhi, which opened 11 months ago, was one of the most modern, streamlined and cleanest airports we have ever flown in to or out of. Our guide met us inside the terminal and drove us through the bumper-to-bumper traffic at 10 p.m. to our five-star hotel next to a Mercedes dealer showroom.

We had jokingly said that we went to China last year so that our clothes could enjoy a homecoming and that we traveled to India this year so we could see our service representatives. It seemed as if all of them were going to work the late shift. Rush hours in Delhi are from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight.