"I'm yet to come to terms with the fact that I'll be reaching Bombay in a couple of hours", I thought aloud. We were in Vishnu's Toyota Camry driving towards the Kochi Airport from where I was to fly to Mumbai by the 11:35 a.m. Goindigo. I was used to travelling by train, a journey to Pune would take approx. 32-36 hrs. Ample time for reading, admiring nature, making small talk with fellow passengers, reminiscing about the semester that had just gone by. Also enough time for shifting slowly from Amritapuri mode to Pune mode.... All i had now was two and a half hours..... The thought was more in wonderment than complaint.
The last time I'd been on a plane was back in '99 as a standard VII kid attached permanently, it seemed, to my Moms hand. This was the first time I was flying alone. Understandably, I was a bit nervous. Baggage check in and security clearance were easier than anticipated. Here I was, fastened snugly to my seat, the plane taxiing on the runway, slowly gaining speed. Faster and faster it rolled till near critical speed for lift-off was attained when PHUT!..... SCRREECHHH...... sudden deceleration followed by the fading moan of the engine.....
Take-off aborted.
Any sign of nervousness on my face evaporated instantly to be replaced by some strange mirth. Can't really put a finger on the reason for it... Could be a "Phew! That was close." happiness or "Now, this is an adventure!!" turn on, or maybe something as far fetched as "There, another reason to blog.".... Couldn't tell...
Pilot's initial diagnosis was a tyre burst. At least that was his announcement as we taxied back to the terminal. Another hour in the plane and we were asked to disembark as the cause for the bang could not be ascertained by the technicians. Predictably, in the next 15 minutes, the Indigo office in the terminal had become venue to a yelling match. If scores were kept in decibels, there was only one side winning. Pissed Passengers weren't getting any compensation or temporary accommodation till the next possible flight to Mumbai. All the Indigo ground staff offered was to return our ticket fare fully or reserve the available 40 odd seats in the next day's Indigo to Mumbai. The earliest birds should have got those seats. The loudest did.
A tactical Gujarati mother of a 4 year old demonstrated how the situation could be best handled to her advantage. Without much noise, she managed to get herself the first tickets on the next day's flight. She even managed to get one of the ground staff to agree to cover her expenses for the day. I wouldn't be surprised if she made him pay out of his own pocket for her overnight accommodation. The woman was a professional!
Of course simpletons like me were left ticketless. Since the reimbursed ticket fare would go to my travel agent who must've booked online, I was also left penniless. To add to my woes, after much enquiry, I find that Kochi domestic airport (rated so highly by some magazine recently) doesn't have a cloak room for keeping luggage! My cell phone was flashing LOW BATTERY every few seconds threatening to leave me deaf and dumb when I needed it most.....
There had to be a mobile charging point somewhere around. I've seen them in some railway stations.... There was only one... at the extreme opposite end of the domestic terminal. So ticketless, penniless I, with 30 kgs weight of baggage and a near dead patient of a cell phone had to shuttle the entire length of the domestic terminal for a few gasps of oxygen every few minutes as the cell phone/ patient richly demanded... There was a moment of deep empathy I felt for Tom Hanks' character in Steven Spielberg's Terminal.
After much enquiry, deliberation, consultation etc., by 3:30 p.m. I'd decided to fly by an early morning (2:30 a.m.) Air India Express, the bookings for which would open only by 9 p.m. earliest, I was told. My cousin would lend me the fare.
As I turned back to look at the Airport I'd come to know so well in the last few hours, I saw from the corner of my eye, the tactical Gujarati aunt, her 4 year old eyeing the piece of cake in his hands too big for his mouth, chatting away merrily with the rather dumbfounded Indigo ground staff at the most expensive food stall in the Terminal.....
Suraj dropped me at the Airport that night at 1 a.m. in a headlightless car. I kept my mouth shut this time....... : )
The last time I'd been on a plane was back in '99 as a standard VII kid attached permanently, it seemed, to my Moms hand. This was the first time I was flying alone. Understandably, I was a bit nervous. Baggage check in and security clearance were easier than anticipated. Here I was, fastened snugly to my seat, the plane taxiing on the runway, slowly gaining speed. Faster and faster it rolled till near critical speed for lift-off was attained when PHUT!..... SCRREECHHH...... sudden deceleration followed by the fading moan of the engine.....
Take-off aborted.
Any sign of nervousness on my face evaporated instantly to be replaced by some strange mirth. Can't really put a finger on the reason for it... Could be a "Phew! That was close." happiness or "Now, this is an adventure!!" turn on, or maybe something as far fetched as "There, another reason to blog.".... Couldn't tell...
Pilot's initial diagnosis was a tyre burst. At least that was his announcement as we taxied back to the terminal. Another hour in the plane and we were asked to disembark as the cause for the bang could not be ascertained by the technicians. Predictably, in the next 15 minutes, the Indigo office in the terminal had become venue to a yelling match. If scores were kept in decibels, there was only one side winning. Pissed Passengers weren't getting any compensation or temporary accommodation till the next possible flight to Mumbai. All the Indigo ground staff offered was to return our ticket fare fully or reserve the available 40 odd seats in the next day's Indigo to Mumbai. The earliest birds should have got those seats. The loudest did.
A tactical Gujarati mother of a 4 year old demonstrated how the situation could be best handled to her advantage. Without much noise, she managed to get herself the first tickets on the next day's flight. She even managed to get one of the ground staff to agree to cover her expenses for the day. I wouldn't be surprised if she made him pay out of his own pocket for her overnight accommodation. The woman was a professional!
Of course simpletons like me were left ticketless. Since the reimbursed ticket fare would go to my travel agent who must've booked online, I was also left penniless. To add to my woes, after much enquiry, I find that Kochi domestic airport (rated so highly by some magazine recently) doesn't have a cloak room for keeping luggage! My cell phone was flashing LOW BATTERY every few seconds threatening to leave me deaf and dumb when I needed it most.....
There had to be a mobile charging point somewhere around. I've seen them in some railway stations.... There was only one... at the extreme opposite end of the domestic terminal. So ticketless, penniless I, with 30 kgs weight of baggage and a near dead patient of a cell phone had to shuttle the entire length of the domestic terminal for a few gasps of oxygen every few minutes as the cell phone/ patient richly demanded... There was a moment of deep empathy I felt for Tom Hanks' character in Steven Spielberg's Terminal.
After much enquiry, deliberation, consultation etc., by 3:30 p.m. I'd decided to fly by an early morning (2:30 a.m.) Air India Express, the bookings for which would open only by 9 p.m. earliest, I was told. My cousin would lend me the fare.
As I turned back to look at the Airport I'd come to know so well in the last few hours, I saw from the corner of my eye, the tactical Gujarati aunt, her 4 year old eyeing the piece of cake in his hands too big for his mouth, chatting away merrily with the rather dumbfounded Indigo ground staff at the most expensive food stall in the Terminal.....
Suraj dropped me at the Airport that night at 1 a.m. in a headlightless car. I kept my mouth shut this time....... : )
You see thats y they say..'Paappi poye iddam padhalam'(in mal)...hehe know u wont be able to read...;-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome.. i wish u had elaborated on how tht gujju aunty had managed so much :)
ReplyDelete