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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