Wandering in Kerala : Pre-diary
"So bro, mera to trip spontaneous hi hota hai. Mazaa aata h. Kayi baar toss karke decide karta hu kaha jaana h. Kya fayda agar journey k baare mein sab pehle se hi pata ho?" I kept mumbling Gyaan to a blank faced Raman, who I bet would be wondering why he was there. My lectures are usually boring, I admit. But here was a person not known to me, being preached on about various things that had happened earlier in the day, and why I wasnt really angry.
We never knew the word 'spontaneous' would be the summary of the Kerala trip.
Let me rewind.
"Cab nai mil rahi" "Acha ho gayi hai" "Heloo bhaiya" "Han aap ajao" "Kitni der" "Han bahar khade hai" These are precious words from Chirag, a friend destiny chose for me, not me. A vegetarian by nature, the only thing he has ever eaten is my modesty, whether I am with people or alone. Not even one hour has ever passed that he had not taken away my peace, whenever he is around or on call. Dheele, dheele, dheele. Sometimes he calls me by real name, and it seems abusive.
It was 4:45 AM and my face was already showing signs of paleness, since the airport was far away and all we had was an hour before they stop check-ins. The car came late, and two of his friends were to be picked along the way. He, despite of knowing we were behind schedule, started debating with the cab guy. "Bag nahi aaega?" "Nai rehne do"
I mean, why do you have to debate with a cabbie at this point of time, we are boarding a plane not a bus??
I saw the driver nodding his head with a clear no "fir nahi ho paega" and as soon as that, the dear friend of mine was ready to de-board. "No, give me the bag, there's enough space, ho gaya dekha. Chalo jaldi", I said. There were no cabs around, one cancellation and we all would have missed the flight.
I kept looking at the watch while the driver rushed to one, Raman, who wasn't visible where he was supposed to stand, and slowly appeared from shadows of the street lights dragging his bag like bouncers drag drunkards from bars. The second in line was Nitin, who, despite of standing at the exact place unlike Raman, was missed out since his two best friends couldn't locate Bikanerwala! We did found him 5 minutes later. I was still looking at my watch while the time silently kept laughing at me! However, there was some last amount of hope, to reach the airport asap. Hopes are meant to be DEMOLISHED.
Another bomb. They didn't web check-in my ticket!!
The last year's missed flight to Goa, during my mami's demise, flashed! It was Delhi traffic that caused us the delay and now this. Do I really exist? Should I? I shouldn't. And thoughts like these kept coming. Well, a Tsunami of thoughts, actually!
So at 5 45 AM with a little less than 30 minutes for flight's departure, we arrived. We ran in like usual-late-comers run to attend lectures in school with their stuff strewn all over their bags, half in half out. I had more discomfort to bear since I had no check-in, courtesy 1 known and 2 unknown humans by my side. We pleaded, manager nodded (in a NO). We pleaded, she nodded again (Of course in a NO) The trio somehow slipped in due to their check-ins while I stayed back, thinking what's left for me to do. Remember Shutter Island? I felt like that. Silent. Still and Sad.
On the other side, these 3 were skipping lines after lines, to get to the boarding gate. They couldn't check in their bags, so had to keep them as hand bags, and thanks to the rules, they had to let go of the only hope we had in that bag, a McDowell's bottle. It was taken out by the police and helpless, they moved forward. Security check done, they ran to their exit gate only to see no one was there!
At hopeless times like these, you really wonder what can be so unique in the world than a human brain. It knew it is late to board. It knew the check in time is long gone. but it couldn't make out that the queue that they were expecting to be at the boarding gate was ALREADY INSIDE THE PLANE!!
Relaxed that the boarding hadn't started, they smiled, only to realize that "THIS IS THE LAST BOARDING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FLIGHT NO. BLAH BLAH BLAH" Off they ran!
It must have been a celebrity like feeling entering the plane, as all passengers looked up at these three super-heroes with admiration, since they were the ones the flight was being held up for. Remember the class from school? You entered late. the teacher looked at you, the first benchers looked at you, the middle benchers envied you and the ever-smiling last benchers looked at you with admiration. You become an instant hit among the lookalikes, and instant flop among the studious. Perfect nostalgia. Think about it.
And as soon as they sat down on their respective seats, Chirag drops another bomb on Whatsapp. He sends me a picture of a girl with a yellow top who was sitting right beside where I was supposed to sit.
And here I was, skipping lines for another flight...
We never knew the word 'spontaneous' would be the summary of the Kerala trip.
Let me rewind.
"Cab nai mil rahi" "Acha ho gayi hai" "Heloo bhaiya" "Han aap ajao" "Kitni der" "Han bahar khade hai" These are precious words from Chirag, a friend destiny chose for me, not me. A vegetarian by nature, the only thing he has ever eaten is my modesty, whether I am with people or alone. Not even one hour has ever passed that he had not taken away my peace, whenever he is around or on call. Dheele, dheele, dheele. Sometimes he calls me by real name, and it seems abusive.
It was 4:45 AM and my face was already showing signs of paleness, since the airport was far away and all we had was an hour before they stop check-ins. The car came late, and two of his friends were to be picked along the way. He, despite of knowing we were behind schedule, started debating with the cab guy. "Bag nahi aaega?" "Nai rehne do"
I mean, why do you have to debate with a cabbie at this point of time, we are boarding a plane not a bus??
I saw the driver nodding his head with a clear no "fir nahi ho paega" and as soon as that, the dear friend of mine was ready to de-board. "No, give me the bag, there's enough space, ho gaya dekha. Chalo jaldi", I said. There were no cabs around, one cancellation and we all would have missed the flight.
I kept looking at the watch while the driver rushed to one, Raman, who wasn't visible where he was supposed to stand, and slowly appeared from shadows of the street lights dragging his bag like bouncers drag drunkards from bars. The second in line was Nitin, who, despite of standing at the exact place unlike Raman, was missed out since his two best friends couldn't locate Bikanerwala! We did found him 5 minutes later. I was still looking at my watch while the time silently kept laughing at me! However, there was some last amount of hope, to reach the airport asap. Hopes are meant to be DEMOLISHED.
Another bomb. They didn't web check-in my ticket!!
The last year's missed flight to Goa, during my mami's demise, flashed! It was Delhi traffic that caused us the delay and now this. Do I really exist? Should I? I shouldn't. And thoughts like these kept coming. Well, a Tsunami of thoughts, actually!
So at 5 45 AM with a little less than 30 minutes for flight's departure, we arrived. We ran in like usual-late-comers run to attend lectures in school with their stuff strewn all over their bags, half in half out. I had more discomfort to bear since I had no check-in, courtesy 1 known and 2 unknown humans by my side. We pleaded, manager nodded (in a NO). We pleaded, she nodded again (Of course in a NO) The trio somehow slipped in due to their check-ins while I stayed back, thinking what's left for me to do. Remember Shutter Island? I felt like that. Silent. Still and Sad.
On the other side, these 3 were skipping lines after lines, to get to the boarding gate. They couldn't check in their bags, so had to keep them as hand bags, and thanks to the rules, they had to let go of the only hope we had in that bag, a McDowell's bottle. It was taken out by the police and helpless, they moved forward. Security check done, they ran to their exit gate only to see no one was there!
At hopeless times like these, you really wonder what can be so unique in the world than a human brain. It knew it is late to board. It knew the check in time is long gone. but it couldn't make out that the queue that they were expecting to be at the boarding gate was ALREADY INSIDE THE PLANE!!
Relaxed that the boarding hadn't started, they smiled, only to realize that "THIS IS THE LAST BOARDING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FLIGHT NO. BLAH BLAH BLAH" Off they ran!
It must have been a celebrity like feeling entering the plane, as all passengers looked up at these three super-heroes with admiration, since they were the ones the flight was being held up for. Remember the class from school? You entered late. the teacher looked at you, the first benchers looked at you, the middle benchers envied you and the ever-smiling last benchers looked at you with admiration. You become an instant hit among the lookalikes, and instant flop among the studious. Perfect nostalgia. Think about it.
And as soon as they sat down on their respective seats, Chirag drops another bomb on Whatsapp. He sends me a picture of a girl with a yellow top who was sitting right beside where I was supposed to sit.
And here I was, skipping lines for another flight...
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