This morning we were up fairly early since we wanted to leave Kolasib by 09:00 to catch our 14:00 flight back to Calcutta. It would be at least a two-hour drive to the airport, and we wanted to be there by noon as a safety precaution since the next flight was several days away. Lalvuana was to come by at 8:00, so that we could interview him on tape. He arrived late with Joseph, a fine young man who speaks pretty good English. We interviewed him until about 8:45. The vehicle was a bit late, so I started walking down the road to get some video. When the vehicle caught up with me, I got in, at which time we drove over to Lalvuana's house for a fried-rice breakfast. Then came the good-byes. Dave and I were given some beautifully embroidered Mizo cloth as presents. We ended up leaving at 10:00, but didn't have any delays on the road, so we still arrived at 12:00 as we hoped. I met with another example of brain dead bureaucracy, this time of the Indian variety. My spare rechargeable batteries were confiscated by airport security as a "security threat." The batteries in my camera were not touched, nor my laptop battery, nor my video camera battery, just by four, spare, AA, fifteen-dollar, rechargeable batteries. I was promised I would get them back in Calcutta, but of course they weren't there. Perhaps there is traffic in second-hand batteries going on in the security department. The inaneness of it made me angry, but being upset doesn't help in the least. I calmed myself down by trying to considering it an extra visa charge by the Indian government, which none the less dropped in my esteem.

We had hoped for a cold beer at the airport after our dusty drive, but none was available. It fact, we were to learn to our chagrin that Republic Day in India is a "dry day"; no alcohol can be served in the entire country all day. I had heard of dry counties before, but never entirely dry countries.... The flight left late and didn't fly right back to Calcutta but rather farther north to Imphal for an intermediate stop.

We thought we'd arrive in Calcutta in early afternoon and have much of the afternoon to do some more sightseeing and videotaping. But by the time we arrived and caught a taxi back in to the Oberoi it was not time for a late lunch but a 19:00 dinner. After our disappointment at the airport, we had hoped to enjoy a beer at the hotel; surely a five-star hotel would have some special dispensation. No. We ate our last Indian curry and sat in the lobby for a while, then picked up the luggage and headed back out to the airport for our late night flight to Bangkok., which is not to leave until 02:00. Unfortunately most of my/our international flights this time around have been either overnight or middle of the night flights. I had two overnights getting to Mauritius, then an overnight to Bombay, and now another middle-of-the-night flight to Bangkok. We checked in at 11:00 and went to the business lounge, hoping against hope that they would provide the small pleasure of a beer. Hope denied once again! Even now with midnight past they won't serve alcohol. This has become a matter of principle! My estimation of Indian civilization has dropped rather precipitously.