Recently I had to stop over at Delhi airport on my way from Bengaluru to Lucknow. I was traveling with Indigo, a low cost airline with high cost onboard food. Like a true mango-man I was carrying my own paratha and subzi for lunch. The transit period was a good time to have my lunch. After lunch, I looked around for tea / coffee and spotted Star Bucks. I asked for brewed coffee, the lowest cost version of the concoction, but was informed that no creamer or milk will be available with it. So I moved up to a Cappuccino. The difference in the price of a small and the grande was very disproportionate to the difference in the sizes and grande offered a much lower per cc price. So, I opted for grande which I shared with my better half and co-passenger. The price I paid was almost the same that I would pay in USA, the equivalent of USD 4.
After a while we felt thirsty. There were no water fountains to be seen and so I went to the food court and discovered that bottled water was available only at the Pepsi counter. A small bottle labelled Himalayan, perhaps 500 ml, was available for INR 50! I checked at Star Bucks too and found that they had the same bottle to offer at the same price. So I paid up and got a bottle. Both of us took a few sips of the precious liquid with full awareness of its khas aadmi price, and saved some for later.
This makes me wonder whether the likes of Pepsi have anything to do with water bottles not being allowed past the security check. Why can't the security staff just ask the passenger to take a swig from the bottle to make sure that it is water and not some explosive? Then again, why aren't cheaper options of bottled water available in the airport? Is this a case of one monopoly (airport) promoting another monopoly (water?) Why can't water fountains be installed in good numbers, say outside each toilet block?
But a bigger question is how has Pepsi managed to keep its arch rival Coca-Cola out? Is there a Rail Neer like scam going on in our airports? Finally, as Himalayan is from Tata-Pepsico, does Mr. Mistry or Mr. Tata has anything to say in the matter?
After a while we felt thirsty. There were no water fountains to be seen and so I went to the food court and discovered that bottled water was available only at the Pepsi counter. A small bottle labelled Himalayan, perhaps 500 ml, was available for INR 50! I checked at Star Bucks too and found that they had the same bottle to offer at the same price. So I paid up and got a bottle. Both of us took a few sips of the precious liquid with full awareness of its khas aadmi price, and saved some for later.
This makes me wonder whether the likes of Pepsi have anything to do with water bottles not being allowed past the security check. Why can't the security staff just ask the passenger to take a swig from the bottle to make sure that it is water and not some explosive? Then again, why aren't cheaper options of bottled water available in the airport? Is this a case of one monopoly (airport) promoting another monopoly (water?) Why can't water fountains be installed in good numbers, say outside each toilet block?
But a bigger question is how has Pepsi managed to keep its arch rival Coca-Cola out? Is there a Rail Neer like scam going on in our airports? Finally, as Himalayan is from Tata-Pepsico, does Mr. Mistry or Mr. Tata has anything to say in the matter?
