Mumbai musings - 1... Airport pickup...

After 2.5 days of battling with Delta airlines, I managed to land in Mumbai(p.k.a Bombay) tired, worn out and ready to lie down on anything that remotely resembles a bed. The baggage arrived surprisingly early and was out of the airpot within 30 mins after my plane landed(a personal best for me in any Indian airport). As I stepped out of the airport, hoping to find someone holding my name, I was mobbed by about 100+ chauffers waiting for about 200+ passengers. Going through the names in each of the placard brought back memories of looking for my exam results during my college days. I finally gave up looking for my name and approached a gentlemen in the front of the line and gave him my hotel name. In about 5 seconds, the information was transmitted magically to a driver at the end of the crowd who was waiting to take me to the hotel. Bless his soul!!! he neither carried a placard nor was he anywhere where I could spot him.
The chauffer then began to grab my luggage and tried to get out of that place. I wanted to make sure that he was indeed the right guy who was waiting for me. I then saw another gentlemen from my hotel who verified my name to his list and confirmed that this was indeed my driver. A sigh of relief came about and was plesantly surprised to see a brand new Toyota camry waiting for me to drive me to the airport. This was the first time, I saw a Camry on Indian roads. I wonder how long that car can stand "Indian roads", which by the way, will be covered in a different post.