It's a bit rattling to land up at an airport that, let alone a lobby, doesn't even have a parking lot. Passing through a group of local policemen, you step out of an iron gate, on to the main road, with dozens of people closely gawking your every move, staring at your bag, as if you were a jailbird.

That's your first impression of Gorakhpur, before you drive ahead a few kilometres to sense a small-town that is like any other - with malls, multiplex, loads of branded showrooms, desi restaurants lining the streets full of young men/women whose choice of clothing would fit urban-regular anywhere else.