India, Dec. 29 -- I received a very pleasant gift from Air India just before Christmas on a flight from Bengaluru to Delhi. The plane was spanking new. Business class seats consisted of a cubicle for each passenger. The service was excellent, and the food was several notches above the usual tasteless fare on flights. I had planned to work on my laptop. But soon after take-off right on time past noon, lunch was served. Then the temptation of taking a siesta was irresistible-as the seat stretched to a full-length bed-and I readily succumbed. An hour later when I woke up, the plane was about to land. I did not do the writing I had planned to do, but it was one of the most pleasurable flights I have had in an airline from which expectations h...