As we boarded our flight, there was very little of ‘India’ on display. It disappointed us to note that the teabag brand for our cuppa came from neighbouring Sri Lanka. The packaged eats, too, were mostly Western-inspired, while the samosa appeared as a soggy afterthought, and best left alone.

When we reached our destination, Kochi airport, the lack of local flavours continued. We were pretty sure that Kerala would get it right - what with their strong tourism policy et al. Yet, as we waited for a good 20 minutes until our pick-up arrived, we scanned the waiting lounge to discover that there was nothing to catch the eye; forget about introducing the first-timer or the curious to the wonders of the state. In fact, despite it being 9 pm, most of the establishments within the lounge had shut for the day.

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On our return, too, the departure and arrival lounges at Mumbai and Kochi didn’t exactly flatter. Except for an Ayurveda store and another that sold umbrellas, there was no stamp of Kerala in any of the other outlets. And, as we touched down in Mumbai, it could have been any other soul-less destination on the map. There was no indicator to tell the visitor that we were in the Maximum City. Except the honking cars and touts outside the airport, of course.

Even as our Prime Minister tries his best to woo the global investor to ‘Make in India’, our airports need to do much more to grab the attention of the tourist - domestic or international - to showcase all things regional and Indian as they enter our boundaries and move around the country . Surely, we can do better than machine-made cappuccino and Taj Mahal key chains.

The writer is Features Editor of mid-day