It has been quite some time since I posted on my Blog.  Manju and I were up north visiting our children and grand children - a truly great trip.  Will be going back on the 26th for Diwali and the “3G” birthday party.  It is called 3G because we celebrate the birthdays of 3 generations at one time - Aanya our oldest grand daughter (whom I call my Sunshine) was born on October 8.  Manju was born on October 12 and Akhil, out oldest son was born on October 19.

It has been a tradition for some years now to have one big get together and it is called the 3G celebration.

On returning to Florida, we were met by Matthew, a Category 4 hurricane.  We reached on the evening of October 5 and Matthew arrived on October 6; ours was one of the last flights to land at West Palm International airport.  Hurriedly, we placed shutters on all our windows and the French window leading to the patio.  Our neighbors were a great help and we settled down to experience our very first hurricane with 2 hurricane lanterns and lots of crackers, bread and water.

We got lucky.  Just as Matthew was parallel to our part of South Florida, it veered slightly north and passed 45 miles to our east instead of 25 miles as forecast.  Our part of Boynton Beach (15 miles from the Ocean) experienced strong wind gusts up to 60 mph and lots of rain, but it was nothing compared to what happened to the coastal regions and Central & North Florida.  The damage was enormous and even as I write, thousands of homes are still without electricity.  The state of Georgia and the Carolinas had even more damage and at last count 22 lives were lost.

When the storm passed, I thanked the “Neeli Chattriwala” who had listened to the prayers of our family and friends.  We truly were spared.

Now to get back to my narrative.  I have spoken about my open heart surgery in October 1979.

On my return from medical leave in early 1980, I received a call from an old friend and ex-colleague.  Adli Dajani was our Sales Manager in Damascus when I joined Air-India.  He left sometime in the early 1970s and joined Kuwait Airways in a senior position and later moved to Gulf Air where he was (in 1980) their General Manager (Commercial).

Adli had learnt of my by-pass operation and called to enquire about my health.  He then said that he had learnt about the problems that Air-India had gone through with the Bosu Committee Inquisition and asked if I was happy with my current status and that my own job was secure.  I mentioned to him that the atmosphere had calmed down and that I had the full support of both my current Chairman (PC Lal) and Managing Director (BS Das).

Adli then said that I should seriously consider a “change of scenery” and suggested a meeting in Bahrain between Gulf Air and Air-India, indicating that there were some issues which needed to be resolved.  I agreed to the meeting and after consulting our RD- Middle East, we set a date for our meeting towards the end of March 1980.  The meeting was quite cordial and successful and an interesting note was that on one side of the table was the AI delegation and on the other side was the Gulf Air delegation whose members were all ex-Air-India employees.

At the end of the meeting, I met Adli at his home and in passing, expressed admiration for the various carpets that were strewn over the floors.  He indicated that they were all “gifts from none other than the person I had introduced to him”, referring to Naresh Goyal who was by then the GSA for both Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air.  Adli then got serious and said that if ever I wanted to move from AI, he would be delighted to find a place for me in Gulf Air.  He also stated that some of his colleagues in other Arab airlines would be equally happy to do the same.

I told Adli that while his offer was very welcome, I was quite happy with my current status, but if it changed, I would get back to him.  I also told him that in case I did move, I would like to be situated in an English speaking country where my children could get a good education and had better job opportunities.  We short listed the USA and the U.K. and Adli said that he would keep my preferences in mind.

Before I returned to Bombay (I went to Cairo after Bahrain for talks with Egyptair), I learnt that Mr. BS Das had been removed as our M.D. and it came to my mind that perhaps, I may have to make a change shortly.

Come April 1980 and Mr. Raghu Raj Bhalla (RR) was appointed as our Chairman and Managing Director.  I have already mentioned this in an earlier Post and talked about asking him and Mrs. Raghu Raj for dinner at our apartment.  I have also written about his very first “venture”; purchase of four (4) 747 aircraft which I managed to scuttle.

In an earlier Post, I have mentioned a Note handed over to Mr. RR by the then Minister of Civil Aviation at the meeting at his residence which was chaired by Dhirendra Bhramachary and at which we were directed to purchase the 4 747 aircraft. The same Note had three items, one of which pertained to the acceptance of other airline documents as payment by our GSA in the U.K. - a subject I have also spoken about.  Please forgive me if I am repeating myself.

The second item on the Note given by the Aviation Minister was that the GSA be allowed to sell all categories of traffic to all destinations.

I spoke with the then R.D. - U.K. who was opposed to this expansion and said that his sales staff and Travel Agents were adequately covering these market segments.  Expanding the GSAs coverage to include traffic to the USA and/or First Class traffic to India would alienate these Travel Agents.  His study did not indicate any substantial increase in revenue by granting this additional traffic to the GSA.

As such, I spoke to Mr. RR that we should not accede to this request which had obviously been originated by the GSA.  He accepted my reluctance but I left his office with the feeling that his view of the R.D. - U.K. was “clouded”.  I spoke confidentially to the R.D. and told him to watch his step vis-a-vis the CMD.  Subsequent events proved that my fears were justified because soon after I left AI, Mr. RR transferred the R.D. back to India.  As expected the R.D. did not take kindly to this transfer and took early retirement.

The last item on this Note was on the wines that we offered on our aircraft and the perfumes and liquor that we sold in-flight.  There is a background to this.

About one year before this Note appeared, my brother who lived in New Delhi told me that he had been approached by an importer of liquor and perfumes and asked if Air-India could replace our current list of these items by those imported by this person.  I informed my brother that we had a Standing Committee which selected wines that we served and that, as per normal practice, they reviewed the list periodically.  I also told him that this protocol had been established a long time ago and I saw no reason to make any change.

It would behove this Importer to meet with our Controller of Stores  & Purchases so that the Standing Committee could look at his wine list when they next made their periodic review.  He could, at the same meeting, present his list of perfumes and liquor for the Dept. Head to review.

A few months later, my brother informed me that the Importer did not want to go through the procedure that I had laid out and had made an offer of a commission of 2.5% to my brother if his list of wines and perfumes could be accepted.

I was quite upset with my brother and told him to “butt out”.  I would not tolerate any mention of such “commissions”.  We ran a very transparent operation with regard to our purchases and that protocols had been set and established by my former superiors, in which I personally believed very strongly.

I was, therefore, surprised to see this Item on the Note that was handed over by the Minister to Mr. RR, whose only comment to me was - take care of this.

I had a long and rather painful meeting with Mr. RR when I explained the above background to him.  I urged him to inform the Minister of our protocols and that whoever gave him this Item, should be asked to follow laid down procedures.  

Unfortunately, I was not successful in convincing Mr. RR.  With regard to the perfumes and liquor, he asked me to pass this item to the Controller of Stores & Purchases with a remark that the CMD would like him to discuss it with him on the latter’s next visit to Santa Cruz.

With regard to the wines, Mr. RR asked me to participate in the next wine tasting session that the Standing Committee had scheduled and see how we could “accommodate this request”.

The Committee was due to meet in London in June 1980 and I arranged to be present.  The Committee was planning to taste 32 wines; 8 each - red, white, Burgundies and Bordeaux. I was initiated into their protocols which required that each bottle be covered by brown paper to hide the label and then marked with a number.  The wine was poured into glasses; then each member of the committee sniffed and tasted it after which he spat it out and ate a small piece of cheese to eliminate the taste.  

Each member of the Committee would then rate the wine on a scale of 0 to 10.

We went through the entire process at the end of which I must admit that I was feeling “pretty high”.  The end result was that the Committee selected three wines to replace those then been served on our aircraft.  These included only one wine that the importer had offered to us.  I took these findings back to Bombay and presented them to Mr. RR.

Mr. RR asked if this Committee’s findings were binding upon us and when I told him “No, we can overrule the Committee but would have to provide justifiable reasons”.  Since neither he nor I was a connoisseur of wines, we would have a major problem if our decision was questioned at a later date.  We had established this Committee and delegated authority to it since they were experts.

I was then DIRECTED to withdraw this delegation of authority and add all the wines that this importer had mentioned to the list.  At this point, I had had enough and told Mr. RR that if that was his wish, he would have to issue such instructions to me in writing.  He accused me of insubordination and told me to leave his office which I did.

It so happened that shortly thereafter, a member of our new Board was visiting Bombay and  called on me.  I took him out to lunch at which time he asked how was my relationship with the CMD.  I told him that I was very upset with the direction in which we were headed which was to make money for certain individuals.

This gentleman then revealed to me that Mr. RR had been selected to perform a certain function and that was to develop ideas and create avenues for money to be raised for the main political family in Delhi.  He also said that in case I and others in the organization did not fall in line, we could and would be replaced.

Fortunately, RR did not raise the subject again while I was still with the airline and I presumed that the subject had been laid to rest.

AI UNDER Mr. LOHANI

Part 2 of 2

My attention has been drawn to some other items of financial importance when considering the “operating profit” of Rs. 8 crores - later raised, for yet unexplained reasons, to Rs. 100 crores.

First, the sale of five 777-200LRs to Etihad for $67 million a piece or  incurring a loss of ₹800 Cr on the five aircraft.  While Etihad engineers sat in the hangers when the aircraft were being readied for delivery, Air India paid huge sums on buying spares for replacement of worn out parts and also because aircraft were being cannibalized.

Secondly, money owed to employees, vendors like oil companies, airport operators, etc which is enabling the airline to save interest. Imagine a scenario if money owed had been paid and the airline would have had to take more loans and paid interest on it. 

None of these factors haven't been cited by any one in authority though they have contributed enormously in reducing debt, improving cash flow, etc.

Source: Jitender Bhargava - in the revised edition of his book on the descent of Air-India. 

Thirdly, payment of 25%% less emoluments to pilots, maintenance engineers and cabin crew for the past three years.  It is common knowledge because the unions have taken the AI management to the Court. Affected employees have also been posting their grievances relating to it on Facebook. 

Getting back to what I stated in Part 1, “during checks, officials realized that out of the 66 international aircraft that they fly, the seats of a good 40 percent are unserviceable, causing inconvenience to passengers”.

To a layman, it is quite obvious that if these checks had been made periodically, this situation would never had taken place.  I would have thought that a PROFESSIONAL Engineer such as the present CMD would have ensured that preventive maintenance would have eliminated this sorry state of affairs.

Sad, truly sad, what the current and previous managements has done to this once great airline.

And now we learn that the current CMD has been elevated to the rank of a full Secretary to the Government of India.  Personally speaking, I believe that the status of Air-India’s CEO should never - repeat never - had been downgraded to the rank of a Joint Secretary.  I mentioned this when I wrote to Arvind Jadhav way back in 2009 and told him that he had been downgraded.

In my time with Air-India, the CEO always held the rank of a full Secretary.  ACM P.C. Lal was in this grade.  Mr. Appusamy was in this grade and, as Dy. M.D., I was in the grade of Additional Secretary which is a rank higher than a Jt. Secretary.

On reflection, one wonders if this “elevation” is personal to the present incumbent or has the post of CEO actually been upgraded and I suspect that it is the former because this is how I read and interpret the actual  wording of the “orders”:

“Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani has been empanelled to hold secretary-level posts in the central government.  - See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/news/psu/air-india-chief-ashwani-lohani-empanelled-as-secretary#sthash.nyxVKZmS.dpuf”,

So, is this a “reward” to Mr. Lohani for accomplishing the objectives of the P.M?

Under the current CMD, Air-India embarked on an expansion by adding a few new routes; the credit for two of these must be given not to the CMD, but to the Prime Minister.  Let’s take both of these routes:

SAN FRANCISCO.

The P.M. gave a major speech when he visited the Silicon Valley in September 2015.  Prior to this speech, there was a flurry of telephone calls to the airline’s CEO with the result that during the speech, the P.M. announced that AI would be starting a flight to California.

There was no preparation usually associated with the inauguration of a new route.  There was only a resident Sales Representative whose office was located in the garage of his house.  Two relatively senior executives were hurriedly moved to SFO and housed in hotel rooms to lay out the ground work of the operation which took place two months later.

There was considerable confusion regarding the configuration.  The intention was to operate only a Business and Economy Class flight, but with little notice, the existing configuration of the Boeing 777 could not be changed and so the initial flights were operated with a 3 class configuration.  My information may be out dated but my understanding is that the change has still not been achieved due to aircraft positioning and the inability of the airline to withdraw aircraft to effect the seating change without seriously disrupting flight operations.

Office space was leased but not a single staff was in this office for almost eight (8) months.  The only AI staff in SFO was the Airport Manager.  It was only very recently, that about 6 posts have been sanctioned of which five (5) are India based officers.  The Manager has yet to arrive.

This has been a very hastily started operation which shows that it was not properly planned and was executed entirely because the powers that be wanted this flight to operate.

To Air-India’s credit, it must be said that the route has been a great success with excellent load factors and there is talk of making it a daily operation.

AHMEDABAD - LONDON FLIGHTS

Here again, the initiative was that of the Government and not the airline.  The operation of this flight was also announced by the Prime Minister (and not the airline itself) during his speech at Wembley stadium in London on November 13, 2015.

According to someone, apparently, the P.M. was not satisfied and also wanted a flight between AMD and the USA and so, on August 15, 2016 this flight was inaugurated.  Interestingly, this was a properly planned inauguration unlike the AMD - BOM - LON flights, which were hastily put together to appease the P.M.

In this connection, it is relevant to quote here an extract from an article by Garga Chatterjee in Firstpost of July 31, 2016:

“The reason that the Union government of India does not want to stop subsidising Air India and divest it is because that will stop the use of Air India as a tool of politics. Air India is subsidised by people of all states of the Indian Union in proportion to the revenue such states produce. Which is why Kolkata and Chennai, both major metros and capitals of states where none of the so-called national parties namely Congress and BJP have held power in the last nearly 50 years or have any chance of winning power in the next 10 years, have no direct connectivity to London, in spite of the respective state government's long standing request on this. Contrast this to the direct flight to London from Gujarat's Ahmedabad, announced by the ex-Chief Minister of Gujarat and the present Prime Minister of the Indian Union during his pubic rally amongst cheering NRIs in the Wembley stadium of London. 

Aren't route announcements supposed to be matters of Air India's corporate policy and not a matter of political decision making and announcements? How does Union government get to politically decide where to spend what money, which routes to start where, when the money for Air India comes from all the states of the Indian Union? Air India is a sign of the Union government's limitless power and control over resources of the Indian Union. It is time that the Union government leaves our resources in the states along and stops the present waste of public resources, including indirect subsidies, by selling off Air India to the highest bidder. In a federal democratic republic, the people shouldnt be forced to fund a white elephant called the Maharajah.”

NOTE: Emphasis supplied

On another subject, the CMD recently stated that the single most important Department in Air India is the Human Resources Department.   In line with this, he has also articulated, that All Departments and Employees are equally important in the successful running of AI. This perception is radically different from the legacy mindset, where Pilots, Engineers and Cabin Crew were considered to be vitally important to the successful running of the airline.

I have very respectfully to disagree with this assessment.  What role did this Department play during the merger?  It should have been the “leading light” and worked to the benefit of the employees.  Yet, To quote only one example, it took almost 8 years to bring parity in the medical benefits of retired staff of the two airlnes.

Another example is The extreme delay is the parity of pilots’ emoluments of the two airlines.  On top of that, is the recent stricture paid by the Indian Supreme Court - read below:

“The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on national carrier Air India for repeatedly seeking adjournments in a case involving pay and related matters of pilots and cabin crew.

The apex court was angry after the lawyer representing the petitioners (pilots and cabin crew) said that Air India has sought 21 adjournments citing Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi's absence.”

Source: International Business Times - Aug 26, 2016

21 adjournments because the airline is not ready with its response.  What has the HR Department been up to?

Contrast this attitude of the CMD with those of two eminent former Chairmen of the airlines:

1. ACM P.C. Lal  served as General Manager of Indian Airlines and later as Chairman of both AI and IA.  During his tenure at IA, he was rumored to hold an unfavorable view of Air-India, particularly the Commercial Department.  Imagine my surprise when after he became our Chairman and had spent a few months in office and visiting many stations, he said to me “I have always felt that the Engineering Department of an airline is the most important Department as they had to produce an aircraft on time.  I am now convinced that in Air-India, it is the Commercial Department that is required to work the hardest.  Inder, carry on and rest assured that you have my whole hearted support”.
2. Interestingly and coincidentally, JRD Tata held similar views and here I quote:  “Despite my special interest in airplanes and the technical aspect of operating them, I have always felt and said, that the Commercial Department of an airline was the most important of all if only because it is the only one that earns money while every other spends it”.

Finally and to end this Post, I quote from the Quint of May 24, 2016:

“Yes, Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani feels the airline’s fortunes will change if the pilots say Jai Hind in their announcement before take off.”

Is this an autonomous Corporation or an arm of the Government?  From what is stated in the foregoing paragraphs, I guess the latter.

Sycophancy continues to live and flourish in the Modi Raj just as it did in the Gandhi Dynasty Raj.

Jai Hind.

AI UNDER Mr. LOHANI

(PART 1 OF 2 PARTS)

It has been about a year since Mr. Lohani took over as CMD of the airline from Mr. Rohit Nandan and perhaps, it is time to review the performance of the airline during this period.

Let’s start with the financial results for the year 2015/16.  We have only seen unaudited figures where initially, the airline indicated an operating profit of Rs. 8 crores and then recently raised it to about Rs. 100 crores.  there has been no explanation for this change, but the Ministry and the airline have taken credit for this so-called turnaround.

It is interesting to note here that the Air India’s website does not show its financial results for the last TWO years - 2014/15 and 2015/16.  Understandably, the audited figures for 2015/16 are still being determined, but why have the results for 2014/15 not been officially declared even after 17 months of the closing of the financial year?

There are a few articles - quoted below - which should raise some eyebrows.

Firstly, an article in The Quint of August 20, 2016 which states:

The government estimates that Air India’s net loss will narrow to Rs 2,636 crore in financial year 2015-16, but analysts suggest that it is largely due to the decline in fuel costs which shored up operating profits for all airline operators.

Air India’s operational profits, analysts say, could also be the result of falling fuel prices and deferment of expenses in the FY 2015-16.

The article goes on to quote Mr. Kapil Kaul, CEO - South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation:

“Deferment of expenses may be key to delivering operating profits. Lower service levels, asset productivity, and customer engagement continue to be a challenge and need to be addressed to ensure structural improvement.”

Secondly, an article by Sindhi Bhattacharya in Firstpost on July 26, 2016, which reads:

….According to sources, Air India’s spend on fuel declined from about Rs 8,500 crore in 2014-15 to a little over Rs 5,700 crore in 2015-16. This means a saving of about Rs 2,800 crore straight away. Then, income from sale & leaseback activity was up by about Rs 500 crore. If we add the two figures — fuel savings and income from sale & leaseback — we get about Rs 3,200 crore. The actual improvement in EBIDTA for 2015-16 was over Rs 2,800 crore. From these figures, one might infer that the airline was worse off in 2015-16 since it did not show all the savings — from lower fuel prices and sale & leaseback—as operational profit.

Coupled to the above is an article in Livemint (May 19, 2016) which adds another factor to the picture - passenger revenue actually DECLINED marginally; a fact that the Minister failed to inform the general public.

The deferment of expenses, while it may help the airline and the Ministry in showing a better financial picture, actually hurts the airline in the long run.

This is evident from the numerous complaints about the sad state of the interior of the aircraft.  Here, reference is made to the following complaints highlighted in recent press articles - a few are quoted below:

1. Don’t fly 300 passenger between destinations without AC.
2. Get the rats off your flights as well as lizards.
3. Broken seat back on 48K
4. Emergency buttons in 7 out of the 14 toilets do not work
5. Dirty tray area, broken chairs, torn storage space, life. jackets falling ahead in leg space area.

The Quint, in an article dated August 20, 2016  stated that “during checks, officials realized that out of the 66 international aircraft that they fly, the seats of a good 40 percent are unserviceable, causing inconvenience to passengers”.

Sindhu Bhattacharya in Firstpost of July 26, 2016, sums it up beautifully (cruelly for the airline) - “As per the DGCA data, the number of complaints against Air India in June exceeded those which were received against market leader IndiGo, Vistara, AirAsia India and SpiceJet together. Since customer service issues are almost a third of all complaints received against Indian airlines, it would be fair to say that there were most complaints in this regard from Air India last month among all domestic airlines.”

AND WE HAVE A MINISTER AND CMD WHO WANT TO RESTORE AIR-INDIA TO ITS FORMER GLORY!!!!!!

DO THEY EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD “GLORY”??????

The same article stated that the Engineering Department has been given the target of year-end to completely makeover the seats.  What has this Department been doing all these years?

Would it be a tongue in the cheek remark to state that the expenses involved in making all necessary repairs will again be part of some “creative financing” so that the airline can show better operating profits in the year 2016/17?

Sometime in 1978 or 1979, Gautam Khanna of the East India Hotel chain and Mercury Travels asked if I had developed a shadow.  When I expressed my surprise, he mentioned that at every Travel Industry gathering, he had noticed that I was followed everywhere by a young man who also “happened to be the GSA of various airlines”.

On reflection, I realized that this “young man” was none other than the former clerk of Air France’s GSA who had made a bid for Air-India’s GSA in North India and about whom I have spoken in one of my previous Posts.  And yes, he had been following me doggedly for quite some time.

This Clerk (TC) first came to my sister’s house in New Delhi where my family and I were visiting on one of my annual vacations.  He said that he wanted my advice on a subject and took the opportunity of my visit to Delhi to meet me. Out of sheer politeness, I asked him to stay and have lunch.  After lunch, my children wanted to play an impromptu game of cricket and I asked him to join in, little realizing that he had not a clue about the game; he did not even know how to hold the cricket bat.

Without realizing it, I must have given him some encouragement because the next thing I knew was that he showed up at my in-laws’ farm in Kashipur in Uttar Pradesh where we were spending the rest of our annual vacation.  He wanted to follow up on the advice that I had given him and stayed a couple of days and then left back for Delhi.

On another occasion, I made travel plans to visit Manila where the PATA Board was holding a meeting.  I was a member of this Board and hence, my decision to travel to Manila.  Guess what - I found TC on the same SABENA flight.  When I asked him if indeed he was following me, he replied - “No.  I am the country manager for Philippine Airlines and am visiting Manila on business.  I was not aware that you would be on the same flight”.

I mentioned these three incidents to Gautam and he stated that the coincidences were a bit remarkable, to say the least. 

After that, I made it a point to try and avoid this persistent young man, but to little avail.  He would call and request that my wife and I join him for dinner or attend a cocktail evening at a hotel.  While I resisted a few times, I had little option but to accept a few invitations such as a dinner for the visiting General Manager of Kuwait Airways, for whom he acted as GSA.

He was obviously keeping a tab on my travels because on one occasion, I found him in London when I was there.  When I confronted him, he said that his Company was the GSA for Philippine Airlines in the U.K. and his visit was in connection with that airline’s work.

On another occasion, I met him in New York and here I must relate  how I found him there.  A very old friend of mine had an apartment in Manhattan and he had invited me for dinner.  The only other guest was - you know who!!!  It appeared that he had “accidentally” bumped into this friend of mine; introduced himself as a friend of mine and managed to get himself invited to dinner. 

When my friend asked for my relationship with this young man, I mentioned that I did not consider him “a friend, but a little more than a business acquaintance”.  

Although I tried to keep my distance, fate decreed otherwise.  Early one morning, I received a frantic call from TC.  He had been picked up by the Enforcement Directorate and taken in for questioning.  He wanted immediate legal help and I called an acquaintance of mine who was a well established and experienced lawyer.  He managed to get him out and from what TC told me later, he was retained by him (TC) as his attorney for all legal matters.

TC became very emotional when he expressed his gratitude for my assistance.  First, he wanted me to meet his mother and then, insisted that I meet his financial backers who were diamond merchants from Gujarat and Belgium. I tried to keep in the background, but to no avail.  I had to meet his entire family on my next visit to Delhi and then met his main financial backer at his apartment in Bombay.

Our paths kept crossing and even more after I left Air-India, as will be evidenced in later Posts.

In fact, he wanted me to join him in his ventures instead of leaving the country and I gave him an emphatic “NO”.  I mentioned to him that I had observed his dealings with his staff and business acquaintances which gave me no joy.  Instead, I had little respect for him and that this view would hold good unless he changed his attitudes.  He looked crestfallen and promised to make changes to earn my respect.

Moving on, one of the first major subjects that I learnt when I joined Air-India was Interline Traffic and Baggage Handling Agreements.  These agreements had to be negotiated before airline A could accept travel documents of airline B or C.  Things may have changed since my time, but in those early days, we had two types of agreements - a Bilateral Agreement and a Multilateral Agreement; the latter being negotiated through IATA.

We preferred the multilateral approach since there was a standard agreement and when an airline signified its desire to enter into such an agreement, all AI had to do was to indicate acceptance.  It was the other airline’s responsibility to adhere to all provisions of IATA’s documentation and procedures.

I recall being approached by an airline from Mongolia to enter into an agreement and I responded by recommending that they use the multilateral approach.  They insisted on a bilateral agreement and then, this particular gentleman called me from Ulan Bator and in his halting and broken English conveyed to me that he wanted a face to face meeting as there were some issues which could not be resolved by correspondence.  I agreed and sent them a draft Bilateral Agreement after which I received a request for a meeting in Bombay.

He came on the appointed date and met me in my office.  We discussed the issues that were troubling him and he then signed the final agreement.  As a courtesy, I invited him for dinner at a restaurant, but he expressed a desire to have a home cooked Indian meal.  I had no recourse but to call Manju and have her prepare a meal that evening.  I picked him up at his hotel and brought him home.

Knowing that conversation with him would not be easy, I invited Amar Singh, a golfing friend and Saroj Datta to that dinner and fortunately, the evening went off quite well.  However, it was a unique experience which will always remain in my mind.

I was amused to see a circular from the AI CMD on “petty courtesies” wherein he asked that:

1. The practice of offering him bouquets be stopped; and

2. He be received and seen off by a minimal number of staff.

These “petty courtesies” were not part of the Air-India culture that I was witness to.  It didn’t exist during the Parsi Raj, The South Indian Raj and even during my short acquaintance with the Raghu Raj.  They are part of the legacy  inherited from the IAS and Babudom that descended upon the airline when Delhi started to run the airline and have continued ever since.

I do not remember bouquets of flowers being presented to any of our CEOs when he visited a station. 

Let the CMD look back on the day when he took over his new assignment.  I believe he was presented a bouquet of flowers as soon as he entered his new office.  Did his staff take his acceptance of this gift as a license to extend this courtesy every time he went to another station!!!!  Has it taken him a full year to realize the waste of expenditure on such a measure of sycophancy?  

I remember that we did have occasions when three or four members of the staff were present on arrival of senior executives at an outstation, but I also remember having personally curtailed this practice way back in 1978 or 1979.  I believe this practice originated when an insecure member of the staff thought that he/she should be seen by the senior executives whenever such executives visited his station of posting.

In any event, I commend the CMD on taking this step.  It may have its benefits in a political world but should not exist in a commercial undertaking.

The circular also reminded me of an incident which took place in Prague when Indira Gandhi was visiting Czechoslovakia and our then Manager - P.B. Dhar - arranged to send a large bouquet of flowers to her suite very morning.  When she complained that this was an unnecessary expense, Patrick Dhar informed her that the flowers actually came from his garden and that AI had not incurred any expense. He did have a beautiful garden in the Air-India house in Prague.

Which brings me to an aside.  P. B. Dhar’s middle initial stood for Basil and in one of his letters to Mr. S.K. Kooka, he signed his name as “Basil” to which Mr. Kooka is reported to have remarked “tell Dhar that I only recognize one Basil and he is Basil Gulati", who for many years was Mr. Kooka’s deputy with the title of Deputy Traffic Manager at Commercial headquarters before taking an overseas posting as Manager - Hong Kong.

Air-India participated in many revenue poling arrangements with various airlines and now, quite often, my unoccupied mind brings back happy memories of overseas visits to attend these and other meetings.

The very first pool meeting I attended was the tripartite meeting with BA and Qantas in Sydney where Tony Pinto was our Regional Director.  Tony was an avid golfer and he asked Saroj Datta and me to bring our golf clubs. We spent three weeks in Sydney and on every weekend, Tony was a most gracious host.  He invited Saroj and me for a round of golf not only on weekends, but also on a few afternoons when we had no meetings scheduled.  The fourth member of our group was Axel Khan, who was India’s Trade Commissioner in Australia.  

After our rounds in the mornings on weekends, we repaired to Tony’s home where his wife had laid out a sumptuous lunch at which all other members of the team were also invited.  It is sad to say that his immediate successor did not offer us any such courtesies. 

Stephen Rajaratnam was another gracious host whenever we met in Singapore for Pool meetings with BA, SIA and Qantas.  He arranged a quick lunch for us in his office on many days.  I personally benefitted from his hospitality.  He insisted that I stay at his house instead of the hotel which was his way of reciprocating our bachelor days’ hospitality whenever he visited Bombay.

I led the AI delegation to Moscow twice for Pool talks with Aeroflot; the first time in 1970 and the second time in 1972.  The first time was not very remarkable except for a few incidents:

1. Our delegation had arrived earlier that day from Bombay while I came in late at night from London where I was attending a meeting.  The bedroom was more or less as I expected, but the bathroom left me quite speechless.  The towel was not much bigger than a large handkerchief; the toilet paper felt like sand paper (ouch!!) and there was no soap.
2. Being aware that the other members of the delegation were housed in a row of rooms adjoining mine, I knocked on my neighbour’s door.  A hand came out bearing a cake of soap.  I was later told that since the other members of the team had been to Moscow on an earlier occasion, they came well prepared.  
3. We had a rather exhilarating evening when, while well lubricated with vodka supplied by our host airline, we danced on the streets of Moscow - till today, I am surprised that we were not picked up by the local constabulary.  
4. Another incident of interest was when we visited Lenin’s Tomb.  Leela Talchekar was dressed in a sari and when we stood at the end of a line which must have stretched round the entire block, we were approached by a person in military uniform and escorted to the front of the line.  We could not understand what he said, except for one word “tourist” which he kept repeating.  Our Manager later told us that tourists got special consideration in preference to locals.

What was of great interest to us and an eye opener was the cleanliness of their subways.  Smoking was not permitted and the platforms were superb.  One was all pink marble; another had beautiful chandeliers and so on. 

On the sad and depressing side was the shortage of food.  If we wanted eggs with our breakfast, we had to order room service.  You could not be seen eatings eggs in the main dining room.  Then, while the dinner menu was huge, most of the items were not available.  On our first night, I looked at the large number of chicken dishes and ordered one only to be told by the waiter “Nyet”.  

My next selection elicited the same response and this carried on until my entire team (being old hands at visits to Moscow) burst out in laughter and advised me to ask the waiter which dish was available and that turned out to be what everyone of us ate - there was only one type of chicken dish that was served in the dining room.  

On the second visit, we were truly and very hospitably treated by Aeroflot.  They entertained us for lunches and dinners in private rooms at various hotels, away from the prying eyes of the general public.  They took us to see Swan Lake at the Bolshoi, arranged for us tickets to go to the Circus which was fascinating and then arranged a trip for the delegation to visit Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).  Unfortunately, Saroj Datta and I could not take advantage of this great opportunity as I received a message from Mr. Kooka asking us to return to Bombay for an urgent meeting.

Incidentally, I can swear that I have not tasted ice cream to match the one I ate at the circus.  Many years later when I was comparing travel notes with a former Indian Ambassador, he also commented that the ice cream he had eaten in Moscow was unmatched any where in the world.

We came back to Bombay, via Geneva as there was no direct flight back to Bombay and were seen off on the Aeroflot flight by their Commercial Director who, in his wisdom, arranged VIP treatment by placing our baggage between the first row of seats and the bulkhead (Saroj and I sat in the second row).  On landing in Geneva, we proceeded to Immigration and Customs only to discover after a considerable wait that our baggage was missing.

At that point, our Airport Manager rushed to the aircraft which was ready for departure and retrieved our bags from the front row.  So much for Russian VIP treatment.

The British never did anything special for us when we visited London where we invariable stayed at the Strand Palace until their rates went up so high that we could not manage within our daily allowance.  At that particular time, we did not have the facility where under accommodation was arranged and paid for by AI with us getting 50% of the D.A.

On one occasion, our London office found us rooms at the Grosvenor Hotel.  When I mentioned this hotel to Mr. Kooka, he expressed astonishment as he doubted that our D.A. would cover the cost of the rooms.  I then enlightened him by saying that this was not the Grosvenor House in Mayfair, but the Grosvenor on top of Victoria Station.

Our delegation arrived at the hotel and we were given 5 rooms of which four were on the 5th floor while the sixth member of our team was accommodated on the 6th floor.  We  were directed to the lift which was operated by an attendant by pulling down a rope.  When we reached the 5th floor, four of us exited and the attendant told the 5th member of our team to also get off and take the stairs to the next floor.

When I entered my room, I found it quite large and the bathroom to be of equal size.  However, there was no toilet and a small placard indicated me to use one of the 2 toilets located at opposite ends of the floor.

I immediately called our Regional Director and in no uncertain terms informed him to get us out of this hotel and find us decent accommodations.  He was flabbergasted to learn of our experience and gave his Executive Assistant a good dressing down.  Shortly thereafter, we were advised that we had rooms in a new hotel off High Street Kensington and also that two cars would be sent to our hotel to help us move.  We checked out immediately and transferred to this new hotel which by comparison was a true luxury hostelry; the cost just under our limits.

Mr. Appusamy was a member of the IATA Executive Committee when he took over as our M.D.  He asked me to accompany him for a meeting of some members of this committee hosted by BA in London.  Unfortunately, for both of us, the host airline forgot to take into account that neither of us ate beef which was served as the entree.  We had to make do with salad and dessert.  It was disappointing that having ruled India for so long, the British did not understand this affront to our religion.  I mentioned the incident to David Lowe, the BA Manager in Bombay, on my return.  He must have written to his Head Office as we got a written apology from their CEO.

Whenever we attended a major IATA Conference, our team usually took single rooms with one exception and that, I believe, was in 1969 at Cannes when we rented two apartments; an experiment which was not very successful and was abandoned.

When I took over as C.M. Planning and led our delegation for Pool meetings with BA, Qantas, SIA and others, we needed a separate Meeting room and it was Pheroze Balaporia, our Dy. Financial Controller who suggested that as the leader of the team, I should take a suite and that the sitting room could be used as a Conference room.  He also stated that Mr. A.F. Dubash who led the team before me always took a suite for that very purpose.

I mentioned this arrangement to Mr. Kooka who had no objection, provided the hotel bill showed two separate rooms as he did not want an objection to be raised by Audit.

I, therefore, spoke to various Regional Directors and this arrangement became routine whenever rooms were booked for the delegation.   When I moved back to the Commercial Department, as C.M. Marketing & Sales, we reverted to single rooms.  This arrangement continued until I became Commercial Director at which time, a suite was arranged for me whenever I traveled to Geneva, London or the USA . 

On one trip, I accompanied Mr. Appusamy to Montreal and New York and our offices had arranged suites for both of us.  Over drinks in his suite one evening, Mr. Appusamy remarked that he did not feel comfortable in AI spending so much money and said that we should revert to single rooms.  I agreed but requested an exception when we traveled as a delegation and needed a Conference room for discussions.  He readily agreed.

In 1978, the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA), held its annual meeting in New Delhi and we had a large delegation which included the R.D.s from North America and Australasia.  A suite was booked for me at the Maurya Sheraton and I used it not only for meetings with members of the AI delegation, but also for my colleagues on the PATA Board, of which I was a member.

The Maurya Sheraton was part of the hotel chain owned and operated by ITC and Prem Kapur was head of its Hotel Division.  He met me at check-in and told me ITC was complimenting my accommodation.  I tried to talk him out of it, but he would not take no for an answer stating that over the years, we had built a very good friendship and that this gesture was his personal gift to me as he was shortly leaving ITC for an assignment overseas.

I accepted the offer little realizing that I would be inheriting a major headache which was raised by Jyotiromu Bosu during his inquisition of Air-India.  I need to elaborate on this issue.

Air-India’s outstation allowances were pitiful in those days and I don’t doubt if even today, they remain the same.  Many a time, the cost of the hotel room took up almost all of the daily allowance leaving very little for meals and sundries.  It was no surprise, therefore, that on many occasions, our overseas colleagues “took pity” on us and invited us for meals.  

Eventually, the outstation allowance regulations were amended so that whenever our accommodation was arranged and paid for by Air-India, we were entitled to claim only 50% of our normal outstation allowance.  I was not aware of how my other colleagues interpreted this regulation, but my interpretation was that if AI did not pay for my accommodation, I was entitled to claim 100% of my outstation allowance.

For example, very often I traveled to Delhi for meetings and stayed with at my uncle’s house and claimed my full allowance - a measly sum of Rs. 150 per day. I will give two more examples.  We once traveled to Bahrain for a meeting with Gulf Air.  Our GSA extend hospitality by offering us accommodation in his luxurious guest house.  Our Manager in Bahrain paid all of us full outstation allowance.  Interestingly, a senior member of our team was none other than our Dy. Financial Controller.

Similarly, when I accompanied Mr. K.K. Unni to Mauritius, we stayed at the Trou Aux Biches hotel as guests of our GSA, Rogers and Co.  Here again, we received 100% of our outstation allowance, a fact confirmed to me by our then Manager when he learnt of my problem with COPU.

Bosu raised one hell of a stink stating that I had cheated on my outstation allowance and went on to imply that I had pocketed the full cost of the suite - I still remember that at that time, the suite at the Maurya Sheraton cost Rs. 900 per day - by billing AI for this amount.

It became obvious to Air Chief Marshal Lal and to Mr. Appusamy that this was yet another instance of Bosu acting on an anonymous tip which according to ACM Lal, could only have come from a member of our Accounts Department.

In my submission to Bosu, I told him that firstly, I had not billed AI for Rs. 900 per day and secondly, I was entitled to 100% of my allowance as the cost of the suite was not paid by Air-India.  Nonetheless, he continued to rant and rave until finally, ACM Lal threw up his hands in disgust.  Even then, Bosu in his Press Release mentioned the daily cost of the suite and, without actually saying so, insinuated that I had billed AI for this amount and in addition, pocketed 100% of my daily allowance.

The matter was then taken up by the Aviation Ministry with our Head Office and to prove my point, I called my friend Rattan Malhotra, the then Head of ITC’s Travel Division and requested him to send me a copy of the hotel bill which would prove once and for all, that ITC had not charged even a penny for the suite.  Guess who came to deliver the bill to me - Rajan Jetley - who was then a middle level marketing executive with ITC. 

I sent this bill to the 22nd floor and here I must confess that while Mr. Appusamy was willing to send this bill on to the Ministry, there were other forces on the 22nd floor who dissuaded him from doing so.

To end this long drawn out issue, I even offered to pay back Rs. 75 (1/2 of my D.A.) for each day that I had occupied the suite.  Mr. Appusamy refused my offer and stated that he was satisfied that I had not violated any regulation and that no mention of this would be reflected in my personnel file.

Sometime in 1977 or 1978, our masters in Delhi decreed that we could not spend or claim more than Rs. 65 per person for entertaining a client(s). This created an uproar among our Indian sales staff as this measly amount would not cover the cost of a decent dinner.  However, our ingenious minds found solutions and by word of mouth we told all our sales personnel how to get around this obstacle.

Mr. Appusamy put in his retirement papers in 1979 and I invited him out for a farewell lunch at the Oberoi.  I also invited C.L. Sharma and Santosh Oberoi, our M.D. at the Centaur who happened to be in Narinam Point at that time.

We all ordered a couple of drinks before the meal after which the waiter asked each one of us what we would like for a starter.  Once this was being served, the waiter asked for our preference for an entree.  C.L. indicated his desire at which time, while winking at Mr. Appusamy, I put up my hand and told him that he could not order any main course as he had reached the limit of Rs. 65.  I reminded C.L. of the Government Order limiting the price of his meal to Rs. 65 limit; an Order which he himself, had sent down to me for implementation.

He was dumbstruck until I smiled and told the waiter to go ahead and take everyone’s order.  C.L. asked me how I was getting around the Government Order and I told him that I could not reply to this question.  In fact, I told him that we were violating our own rules by having this meal at the Company’s expense since I was not entertaining clients.   Further, with so many anonymous references to various persons in Delhi, I was not going to open our bag of tricks.  He asked if I suspected him of being one of the anonymous sources to which I smiled and said - just enjoy your meal and let sleeping dogs lie.

A few days ago, I learnt of the passing away of Dr. Arun Misra and I was reminded of the day when he appeared for his interview.  It was sometime in 1969 and I recall quite vividly seeing his face at the interview which was conducted by a Panel comprising Mr. Rama Rao, Mr. Balendu Shah and myself.  Soon after his initial training, Arun was placed in the Revenue Pools Section of the Planning Division which was headed by me as C.M. - Planning.

I recall taking Arun as a member of our team for several Pool talks.  However, after I moved as C. M. - Marketing & Sales, I lost close touch with him, but was aware that some time later, he had also moved from Planning to Commercial.  My last contact with Arun Misra was at a meeting of the Air-India Retired Executives Association conducted by him as President, in New Delhi in 2009.

Arun Misra’s passing away made me realize that another generation of Air-India executives has started to leave us.  Even though Arun was only 3 or 4 years younger than me, to me he represented a younger generation as he joined the airline about 12 years after I had joined in 1957.  

As I look around us, only a very few of my generation are still on this earth.  A very sobering thought indeed and a reminder that life is short and so let’s make the most of it.

Sometime in 1978, I was approached by Camelia Panjabi and Sam Gubbay of the Taj Group of hotels with a proposition.  They had approached Bloomingdales, a major Department Store in the USA to host an India exhibition to showcase India’s various products, including but not limited to carpets, draperies, towels and linen, clothing, brassware, handicrafts and furniture.

Bloomingdales expressed an interest in such a venture but needed a vehicle to transport all Indian goods and here is where Air-India’s participation was requested.  I mentioned the idea to Peter Mahta who said that with Bloomingdales’ vast coverage, Air-India stood to gain considerable publicity provided we ensured that the agreement was constructed to achieve this effect.

I suggested to Peter that he should arrange a meeting and discuss the issue with Bloomingdales.  Peter called to say that he had spoken with Marvin Traub, Bloomingdales’s Chairman who requested that I meet with him on my next visit to the USA.  Accordingly, we met when I was in NYC later that year and Bloomingdales asked if Air-India would carry all the items to be displayed on its aircraft free of charge.

I said that the idea appealed to us, but we would not be agreeable to cover the entire cost of freight.  Additionally, we required that, in turn, we be given adequate publicity in their stores.  Bloomingdales had done their homework and gave us an estimated figure of the freight costs.  We agreed on a smaller amount for a Transportation Service Contract with the balance to be paid by Bloomingdales.  It was also agreed that the details would be worked out by representatives of both parties.  

Mr. Traub then asked if I would join him in holding Press Conferences in the major cities of India and USA to promote this venture.  I agreed to his request with respect to India but suggested that the P.R. Conferences in the USA be handled by Peter Mahta. 

After lunch in their Board room, Marvin Traub requested that Peter and I take a short tour of their flagship store with him, where he would demonstrate some of his ideas for displaying Indian merchandise.

I held three Press Conferences in India (Bombay, Madras and Delhi) jointly with Marvin Traub and we did get considerable publicity in the media.

Peter forwarded to me an invitation to a Black tie opening of the India exhibition held simultaneously at all Bloomingdales stars but I regretted my inability to leave India at that time.  Peter later sent me a detailed letter wherein he expressed great satisfaction at the exposure that Air-India received throughout the period when Indian manufactured goods were displayed at these stores.

Interestingly, this cooperation between AI and Bloomingdales did not go unnoticed by the opposition.  I was attending a Cargo Convention in New Delhi at which the keynote speaker was my old friend James Montgomery, Sr. V.P. Marketing and Sales of Pan American Airways. Jim pointed to me in the audience and said something to the effect that Bloomingdales’ India exhibition had been a great success and he wanted to congratulate Air-India and his old friend Inder Sethi in getting India and its products better known in the USA.

I wonder how many of us have been subjected to an investigation by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).  My first contact with the CBI came in 1978 when they asked me if I had availed of hospitality overseas.  I met with the Joint Director of the CBI and answered all his questions and, as desired by him, gave him a written response.  The matter was “deemed” closed until this investigation was raised at the infamous COPU inquisition, headed by J. Bosu.

I informed Bosu that the CBI had told me that they were satisfied with my answers, to which he remarked that I must have bribed the officers concerned. Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal asked him if he was insinuating that CBI’s top executives were accepting bribes, at which point he changed the subject.

My next contact came when my wife called me that the CBI was conducting a raid of some of the apartments in our building “Sterling Apartments” and that she had been informed to be ready for a visit by its staff.  When I got home that evening, she related me the following events:

1. Three officers came and one went to the master bedroom, while the other two took an inventory of the remaining rooms.
2. The officer who went to the master bedroom came out and told the others - “we are wasting our time.  They don’t even have a bathtub. Let’s go”.
3. However, one officer took great interest in the TV set in our living room and asked for the License which my wife produced.  This officer then stated that the address shown on the License did not match at which time my wife explained that when we got the TV, we were living in Jupiter Apartments.
4. The CBI officers left soon after.

A couple of days later I received a call from a member of the Bombay Branch of the CBI stating that they were levying a penalty of Rs. 25 on the TV License as it did not contain the correct address. I promptly paid the fine.

After a period of about 6 months, I received another call from the same Branch member.  This time, he was very apologetic and stated that his staff would be conducting another raid on our apartment.  He went on to state that his office had received an anonymous complaint that we had 25 radios in our apartment.

I asked him if he was serious and was he sure that when his staff had conducted the previous raid, that they had overlooked this large quantity of radios.  He once again apologized and stated that he was convinced that we could not have such a large number but he had no alternative but to conduct the raid and that as a courtesy, he was giving me advance notice.

I told him to go ahead and informed my wife to expect another raid in the next 15 minutes.  The raid was conducted and nothing amiss was found.  I did get another call, once again apologizing and requesting that they be forgiven for causing us inconvenience.

I spoke to the Joint Director of the CBI who said that by now, it should be obvious to me that some of my colleagues were jealous of my status and that all three incidents starting from the case of overseas hospitality resulted from anonymous information, which they suspected came from within Air-India.  He hinted that someone in the executive offices wanted his way clear to the top job and that I should “watch my back”.

I was looking through some of the boxes that I had brought from our house in New jersey that we sold earlier this year and when we moved permanently to Florida.  One little document brought back a lot of memories.

Even before I left Delhi to join Air-India in Bombay, Morarji Desai had introduced prohibition in the state and one needed a “permit” to drink.  I was too young to be entitled to a permit and at the same time, I did not have any medical reason which could have allowed me to request for a permit.  So, in our bachelors apartment on “A” Road in Churchgate, with a few exceptions, we drank liquor supplied to us by a bootlegger.

Two of these exceptions come readily to my mind.  The first was a very generous uncle (my mother’s brother) who on occasion gave me a few bottles of beer.  The second was a visit by a team of Sales staff who came from the USA for familiarization. Unfortunately, for us, most of the liquor they brought was actually liqueur and not scotch or brandy.

It was also a lesson that we learnt when we realized that the worst hangover is when one has imbibed too much liqueur.

Our bootlegger did not have much variety in his offerings.  Our need was tempered by our limited funds (a subject that I will dwell upon later in this Post).  His specialty was rum which he brought from Calcutta.  The rum was purchased from his contact in the Indian Army and he brought two trunk loads on each trip. 

After two years of drinking rum and coca cola, our taste buds had disappeared and there are times even now, when I can taste XXX Rum.  Considering that I have not had a drink for over 25 years, that is quite a “feat”.

It was only sometime in the late 1960s that I found a way to get a permit.  Ramesh Sattawalla who was in our P.R. Department and an old friend from my pre-AI days arranged an appointment with the Surgeon General.  I walked in to his office and without any preamble, he told me that since I was suffering from insomnia, he was recommending the grant of a permit which would allow me to have ONE drink each night before going to bed.

I was ecstatic and readily agreed to his request to get him a new stethoscope which he wanted from the U.K.

The little document that I referred to earlier is this Permit which allowed me to purchase, possess and consume liquor in the State of Maharashtra.  Of course, the one still in my possession has no limit, but my very first permit limited possession to one unit (1 liter of hard liquor or 9 bottles of beer).

Looking at this permit, I find that it expired on August 29, 1980 - exactly 8 days after I put in my papers.  Did Fate have a hand in my decision to leave Air-India and India?

Coming back to my reference to our limited funds, it so happened that as a coincidence, all of us roommates were broke around the 20th of each month, with the exception of B.L. (Nichi) Nichani who being a Purser, had more funds than any of us.  It became a routine for me to collect whatever little money that the rest of us had and go out looking for a card game.  

It may seem unbelievable, but in almost every month, I managed to come back, not loaded with cash, but enough for the kitchen to last till the end of the month.  It may also appear unbelievable that since my bachelor days, I have never won in cards or in any other form of gambling.  Whenever we go out to a Casino with our friends, I am the only one who never plays and I come back as rich or poor as when I entered the Casino.

Just goes to show that I truly lucked out - I am lucky in love with a most affectionate and wonderful spouse.