A spectacular show compensates for chaotic roads

A spectacular show compensates for chaotic roads

The Hindu

BANGALORE, FEB. 12. On Saturday, thousands of people treated themselves to some breathtaking aerobatics. After 90 minutes of the airshow, all they could talk about was the fantastic display in the skies.

The crowd greeted the first public viewing day of Aero India 2005 with great enthusiasm. By early evening, the audience swelled and the cheers got louder.

Traffic on the road to Yelahanka grew and it took nearly two hours for cars to get clearance to the venue.

On display were India's three indigenous aircraft — Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas), Intermediate Jet Trainer and Advanced Light Helicopter — besides others such as the Suryakirans, Sukhoi 30 Mki, Jaguar trainer, Sea Harrier and Mirage 2000 fighters.

Sarang's performance

Helicopter team Sarang enthralled the crowd with its graceful movements and daring crossovers to "Mozart." The British Hawk, which flew 5,500 km to participate in the show, painted the sky with loops of white.

The MiGs demonstrated their prowess with twists and turns. But the Suryakirans proved to be the crowd puller, once again. Their colourful routines, which created patterns of blue, white and red in the sky, drew thunderous applause from the crowd. They gave the audience another fine display of precision flying, including the signature manoeuvre, "Bomb-burst."

"They are the most colourful and the best," said 24-year-old Minakshi Arora, as she craned her head from the shade of a canopy to view the show. In the business areas too the crowd grew.

But, apart from the airshow, the freebies at the stalls were an attraction to many. Several people wandered through the 120 stalls, picking up as many "souvenirs" — hats, pamphlets, stickers, pens and information booklets — as they could.

To avoid chaos and free helping of these samples, some of the stalls had even put up plastic barricades. But, at times, even these did not help. People crossed the unmanned lines.

Disappointment

For some among those who had witnessed the last airshow in its entirety, there was some disappointment. Those holding Rs. 150 tickets were not to be allowed anywhere near the exhibition and static display areas. After watching the aerial displays, they had nothing else to do but get ready for the traffic battle on their return trip.

A detour

As the approach road to the Air Force Station "public view gate" was made a one-way, the visitors had to take a long, almost 10-km detour before getting back to Bellary Road. En route, they had to take a winding road to reach Doddaballapur Road before enduring a long wait at the road's junction with Bellary Road.

Those who foresaw the difficulty preferred to walk back 3 km from the Air Force Station gate to Bellary Road. But the muddy, crowded route was a test in endurance skills. Many were complaining about their inability to see the exhibits on display at stalls. During the last airshow, those holding Rs. 200 tickets could go virtually anywhere they liked inside the airshow area.