A Lone Travel to my Liberated Soul




Sitting in the waiting lounge at around 4.30am on a chilly January morning I was indecisive whether to put that extra jacket that my aunt had me wrap around myself with me or tuck it back inside my hand luggage. The flight was scheduled to take off to Delhi around 6 am and I was anxiously waiting for the announcements, even if I was majorly sleep deprived. I was badly craving for a cup of coffee but was also thankful that the kiosks were still to be opened, because, face it, when you have to get up at 3 in the morning and run for the airport, your body cycle refuses to make that shit and you lose the battle by just passing air and making a little bit of pee that is left in your system; and I don't know about others, but by gulping down coffee that would have otherwise woken me up I would have invited the unnecessary worry of running to the washroom leaving my things lying unattended in the lobby. And I wasn't ready for that.  
I generally like sitting at the airport without any company. I love watching people doing their regular airporty shenanigans. I find pleasure in observing them. But that day at 5am, I was bored. Just a couple of passengers were walking past me, all sleepy and as bored as I was. Even the airline stewards looked bland and sans their jolly good mood. I sat there praying that the familiar "ding" of the airport PA system comes to life soon which would invite me in to the belly of that monster bird which would fly me to the country capital and then out of the country for my first solo (office) trip.
At around 5.30 I woke up with chaos all around me. I realised I had fallen prey to the slumber that I could not catch last night because of the biggest butterflies in my stomach. I stood up suddenly, only to sit back down because of the head rush and acted as if nothing has happened and started to gather my luggage as the announcement to board the plane had been made. I dashed through the gates and showed my boarding pass excitedly to the CISF guard, who, quite opposite to my excited self, lazily looked around my tags and let me pass. 
Reaching my seat I took out my phone and called all my folks patiently, one by one once again to let them know that I've safely boarded the flight and I'll be seeing them in 10 days to which I could hear a muffled sob from the other end telling me for the umpteenth time to take care and be careful about every single thing! I could hear the flight announcements and decided to switch off my phone and conveniently restrained myself from clicking those god awful plane selfies!
Next thing I remember is a strong jerk which made me come back to my senses. It felt as if the ground behind me had exploded and I was about to fall down into a pit. I opened my eyes and with a swift move of my palm across my face cleaned up that line of drool that was almost as if hanging down my chin, so that no one could see it, anymore. We had landed in Delhi at last! And my dream journey was coming to life within a few hours! Alas, little did I know what I was about to endure in those coming few hours! But more on that later on.
With that jerk I realised one more thing. That unwon battle that I had left midway inside my bathroom was calling upon me again. The insides of my tummy were making war-cries and I was supposed to oblige. The moment they let me leave the plane premise I made a sprint towards the first washroom I could see and relieved myself. Yes, I could order a coffee now!
My next flight was a connecting one to Birmingham from where I was supposed to take another plane till my destination; Belfast. There were a series of pits and stops that I was to make, and as it was my first trip abroad, now I was a bit nervous too. A lot of work had needed to be done. I was all alone with figuratively tonnes of luggage which was toppling and tumbling all over the place . I had no idea about the Delhi airport, and it was ginormous to say the bit! Suddenly I was hungry and I was clueless about the immigration process. Thank god to the airport officials who, such early in the morning were kind enough to help a lady in total distress, I was done with my travel process within an hour of confusion and mistakes. I had around two hours left till my first international flight and I was bloody nervous with all the calls pouring in  from the ever/over protective family, explaining each and everyone patiently that I am still alive and even in future I will be safe. I got so edgy at one point that I left everything and decided to eat anything that I could lay my hands upon and shop in that labyrinth of an airport that could be easily confused with a mall.
As the time neared my departure I got more and more anxious and fidgety. I kept staring outside the glass walls and could see numerous planes landing and taking off every two minutes amidst that thick January Delhi smog. The lounge was becoming colder by the minute and I, not a very big fan of the low temperature was sitting there rubbing my palms together and praying for the plane to arrive already.
Twenty minutes into my jittery wait, an announcement catches my attention and I hear the lady less talking and more blowing air into the mic that the flight that was scheduled to take off from Delhi to Birmingham has been delayed by at least two hours from Amritsar (their previous destination) due to excessive fog at their landing strip. My heart started to sink and I could feel my legs giving away. Being absolutely hopeless with numbers I still started calculating on my fingers the time that will be lost if I am an hour or two late at the Birmingham Airport as my connecting flight to Belfast was scheduled the same evening. Whichever way I counted I only saw disappointment as even with the six and a half hours time difference, with two hours of delay from India I would never be able to make it to the connecting flight. After the announcement I could only see myself getting stranded inside a huge airport, miles and miles away from my home, in an unknown foreign land, in sub zero degree temperature, after eight at night. My UK dream was as if coming to a massive halt. The sitting lounge of T2 was not feeling very cold anymore.

I took my phone out and started to look for my boss's number to let him know that the whole itinerary got jumbled up and I might have to catch the next flight back to Kolkata, reach home, cry for a couple of days for my broken dream and start office again from the next week, when I saw sir's number flashing and vibrating vigorously on my mobile screen...


To be continued..


Comments

  1. Very well described.. congratulations.
    I'm eager to know wht had happenned afterwards.

    ReplyDelete

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