Chilly Powder And Other Stuff To Leave At Home

I took another side trip this weekend up to Kolkata. I got to the airport a little too early and had loads of time to read the paper and people watch. I noticed a very large digital scrolling sign above the Indian Airlines x-ray machine that was listing the things allowed/not allowed on planes. It was pretty funny. I would have taken a picture, but it's illegal to take photos inside of some Indian airports. I didn't want to test the system to see if Hyderabad was one of them.

I wrote this down exactly as it appeared:

Welcomes. Indian airlines limited x-ray scanning of registered baggage.
Banned items – Guns/revolvers/pistols of any types and replicas items these ammunition/bullets of any kinds, knives of any size or type except kripan with 6 inch blade and 3 inch handle, brass knuckles/explosives of any type/disabling chemicals or gases/large heavy tools (wrenches/pliers/crow bar/axes/ice pick/power drill/saws/fire extinguishers/box cutters/screw drivers/darts/bows and arrows/mace/martial arts devices/pool cues/hockey sticks, baseball bats, golf clubs, cricket bats, ski poles, gas lighters, cork screws, razor blades, straight razors, scissors exceeding 5 inch lengths, chilly powder, household cutlery, knitting needles.

Permitted items – passengers are permitted to carry cash. Jewelry/Gold. Valuable documents etc in their handbaggage only. Permitted items in the handbag: walking sticks, umbrellas (folding type). Feeding bottles. Shaving kits excluding razor blades and straight razors. Medicine required during flight like asthma inhaler etc. Laptop. Cell phones one piece of cabin baggage.

Oh, I better go retrieve the bag I just checked! I left 2 gold bars, my passport and 50,000 rupees in it!

I was surprised to see the ban on baseball bats, as no one I’ve met here knows anything about the sport. And I find it very amusing that a religious dagger (kripan) is ok to bring aboard, as are 4 inch scissors. Getting stabbed by 4 inch blades feels so much less deadly than those 5 inch bastards.

And they made me check my contact lense solution! Watch out, I might spray you with some saline if you piss me off!

Good to see common sense is dead over here too.