Just a quick update post. Two days before journey date, KF "rescheduled" the 2p flight to 6p. Actually, they canceled the 2p flight and rebooked me on the 6p flight. I called and got them to protect me on a 3:30p AI MAA-BLR.

After finishing my visa thingy at ~10:30a, I spent some time in the city and caught the local train to MAA. The AI flight aboard a 319 was on-time, and excellent!