One More Journey To Remember

My phone rang. It was my mother calling me to ask if I had left or not. It was 5 minutes past my scheduled time to leave for the airport. I told her that I have been ready for quite a while now, almost half an hour and was waiting for the cab driver to call me. My mother asked me to give a call to the driver and not wait any further for the call, which I was anyways going to do. I called the driver, hoping (or rather sure) to hear that he has reached and was waiting outside. Normally, the cab driver reaches 10 minutes prior and gives a call to inform me of his arrival. However, today was not one of those “normal” days. To my utter shock, the driver told me that he would take another 10 minutes to reach my house.

It takes an hour approximately from my house to the airport in the morning, when there’s no traffic or any other obstructions. My flight was scheduled at 9.50 am. I had already checked-in by web the previous day. I just had to drop my luggage. The airport from which I was supposed to board the flight is a very small airport and it never takes much time to complete the procedure even when it is “crowded” (which is equivalent to a maximum of ten or so people in any queue, check-in, or security). So, taking this into consideration, I must be there before 9 am to maintain a balance between a good in-time boarding and not having to wait too long because “the flight is delayed…”! This also implied that I start from home before 7.45 am, if I account for medium traffic. For keeping a safe window, I had planned to leave my house before 7.30 am.

As per all the calculations, I would still be in time, albeit to the last minute, if the cab reaches in the next 10 minutes.  If that would have gone as per plan, it would not have been another journey to remember. I was waiting outside for the cab to arrive any minute now. As the watch hands inched past 7.45 am, I started getting worried. With each passing second, I was consoling myself that it was the last second of waiting. Finally, the cab reached at 8 am! I have no idea how I was so composed at that moment, I should be panicking! Then again, I strangely always find composure in the tensest of moments. So, I hopped on to the cab. The cab driver asked me about the flight’s departure time. On knowing that it was at 9.50 am, he said that he had assumed it to be 10.30 am and hence the delay. I have no clue why he would assume something like that, even when I had sent a written request of all the details well in-advance. This was not something to be pondered over at that moment. The main concern was to reach airport before 9 am safely. I told the driver not to panic and drive safely. After all, better late than never!

Finally, I was on my way to the airport. I was hoping every minute that there should not be any traffic and thanking my destiny for listening to my prayers. Every passing minute, I was checking if I was on time, verifying my result with the milestones and the map app. I traversed the first half of the entire distance milestone 5 minutes ahead of my calculated time. I began to hope, a notch higher. I was 10 minutes early when I crossed the 80 percent distance milestone. I was very hopeful now but I had no idea what was coming my way.

After a few kilometers, the cab halted. To my horror, it was a traffic jam. I would have reached in another 10 minutes or so, had it been not for that. The driver informed me that the traffic is because of a cycle rally. Who had to do a rally now!! Especially when I was getting late! I know this might sound unreasonable, but any reason was way past me at that time. I was holding myself up with the teeny tiny bit of hope that was there. The traffic cleared from that place and the cab moved forward. But, that was not the end to all the obstructions that were yet to come. It was just the beginning. The last stretch of road never used to have any obstructions, normally. That day, however, there was some work going on for which more than half of the road width was blocked for quite a stretch. That was causing the other vehicles to go in one single line. Everybody was not on a hurry. They were taking their time to drive through. But, that was affecting my plans of reaching the airport in time. I took out my passport and boarding pass. I kept the cab’s rent money on the front seat, apologizing the driver for keeping the money like that (for I had to hurry). I was ready to run as soon as the cab reaches the airport.

It was exactly 9 am when I stepped out of the car. There were just two people in the queue to enter inside but it felt like 200 people. As opposed to “normal” days, there were more number people in the queue waiting for baggage scan. My mother was on call with me. I had dialed her as I was reaching airport. I had requested her to be on call (via hands-free, to avoid any inconvenience because of holding the phone) till the baggage drop. When she heard that I was waiting in the queue for my turn to come for bag scan, she told, “maybe the other people in the queue are travelling by another flight. Just tell them that your flight’s bag drop will close in another five minutes. They will understand.” Somehow, I could not convince myself to skip the queue. It’s a herculean task for me to not go by queue protocols. Nevertheless, my turn for bag scan came. I pushed my bag into the scanner and in the meantime, I hurried towards the check-in counter to inform that I have yet to drop my bag, though I have checked-in via web (so that they do not assume that all check-ins are done and close the counter). When I came near the bag scanner to collect my bag, I saw my bag has been kept on hold. They informed that there was a power bank and I must take it out. “How can I forget a power bank in my bag? I can be so forgetful!”, I thought. I opened my bag and took out the power bank. They scanned it again. It was 9.06 am.

I thought I will never be allowed for baggage drop now. I planned to take it as a cabin luggage. But, then again, I would have to dispose stuff that are not allowed as cabin baggage. I decided to give a last try. There were around 6-7 people in the queue. I was apprehensive if I should cut the queue. I started asking them if they belong to the same flight as mine. They denied. I, then excused myself and went to the check-in desk. They did not disallow me! By the time, I moved out of there, it was 9.10 am. Without looking any further, I moved straight for security. Thankfully, I faced no hassles there. Just as I was completing the security procedures, the boarding announcement for my flight was done. I moved straight from the security counter to the boarding queue. In a few minutes, I was seated in my place in the plane. It was 9.21 am. It is till date my shortest airport stay. A meager 20 minutes or so. What wonderful 20 minutes, though! Also, when I boarded off that flight, I never had to wait for even a second for my checked-in baggage. I walked in to the belt, picked up my bags and moved on (a perk of being the last person to drop baggage, I presume).

It was another of my “simpleton” journeys that I would remember. We take on so many journeys in our lifetime. However, we barely remember a few of them. Generally, we remember journeys that we take to go for holidays or trips, but we tend to forget those which are more of “rudimentary” journeys. However, the rudimentary/ simple journeys have more in store for us, just like life! This is what I feel. We tend to focus on things that seem to be more eventful, but we forget/ neglect to enjoy the sweet nitty-gritty things. These sweet nothings add that extra punch of flavor to life, a flavor so elusive yet inevitable. I believe to think of life as a journey than a destination. So, why not make each journey a special one! After all, it’s just One Life To Live!

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