Bangalore still had its sweet old charm and it was a hustle-bustle free city in the ’70s. The airport had small buildings looking deserted and isolated most of the time.
It was just a take-off and touch-down point with bare facilities for the passengers.
Many of my relatives and friends numbering around 50 had come from far off places to convey their best wishes personally to me in my academic pursuit before departure at the airport. Higher studies in the US happened to be a rare event at that time in our community! When I returned from studies in January 1980, the airport looked very much the same with some additional portions added with its big open field around.
Devaraje Urs, who had just then resigned from the Chief Minister’s post of Karnataka, travelled in the same plane from New Delhi. When I landed, some ordinary mortals like me were asked to exit from a different route while Devaraje Urs and his entourage were guided to an exclusive entrance greeted by shouts of applause by his supporters with special security measures in place.
Anyhow, both during my departure and arrival, there were jubilant gatherings, the former for my sake the latter for our respected political leader! My close relatives with my family and I took food that had been prepared at home under the shade of a tree in the open field opposite to the airport. I was taken to a lodge near Palace Guttahalli since it was not an auspicious day for me to return home!
In the first half of 2000, my son Sandeep left and returned at the extended and bigger HAL airport. Subsequently, when we left for a visit to Russia in 2008, it was, for the first time, from Devanahalli. My wife and I made series of foreign trips between 2008 and 2013 from this international airport.
It was a large Kempegowda Bengaluru International Airport when we landed on January 2, 2014 after our Antarctica trip. The airport is still growing!
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