After the security check at the airport, while I was waiting to pick up my handbag and mobile from the tray, my phone kept ringing incessantly. Without even looking at the screen, I knew the caller was none other than my husband.
That was the time when I had started travelling solo by air after the birth of my grandchild. I can’t say I have become a frequent flyer now, but yes, over the past one-and a-half years, I must have made a dozen solo trips between Delhi and Chandigarh. My husband is more relaxed now, but earlier he used to be quite anxious whenever I had to travel singly. He would drop me at the Chandigarh airport and wait till I entered the gate. He would call me at least four times till I finally boarded the aeroplane.
Coming back to my story, I was rushing towards the boarding gate at IGI Airport when my phone rang yet again. As expected my concerned husband was on the line. I rummaged through my hand bag to retrieve my phone. In the hurry and flurry, I didn’t realize something had slipped out until a passerby pointed it out. Guess what! It was my boarding pass.
Thank God, I was saved from harassment and embarrassment. Yet again, I was lucky to have escaped huge botheration when I messed up at the airport at another time. However, this time I was not alone but travelling with my husband. After collecting the check-in baggage from the Carousel, baggage conveyer belt at the Delhi Airport, my hubby was in no mood to immediately rush out of the airport. The Delhi-Chandigarh flight time is barely thirty-five minutes, but it takes more than an hour in maddening traffic to reach the destination from the airport. Thus, as the luck would have it, we decided to have a cup of tea in the baggage reclaim area before leaving.
While we were merrily sipping tea, my husband got a call from an unknown number. Immediately, he got up, checked the suitcase, and started towing it towards the conveyer belt, just opposite the café. Within two minutes he was back after exchanging the baggage with an elderly couple who was waiting for their suitcase. He had to apologize for my stupidity, for I was the one responsible for the faux pas. Too engrossed chatting on my mobile to check the ribbon tied on its handle to mark our baggage, I picked up someone else’s suitcase of the same make, size and colour. Of course, I felt embarrassed, but I shudder to think of the scenario if we had left the airport immediately after collecting the luggage.
Imagine discovering the blunder at the venue before getting ready for the function! It was sheer luck that the old couple was vigilant and we were still around so that the bags could be exchanged without much of a hassle within no time. A crisis averted!
Since I happened to be twice luck, I can merrily end with a cheerful note ‘All is well that ends well’. However, this doesn’t undermine the need to be careful and alert. In Hindi they say ‘Savdhani hati, durghtna ghati’, implying the moment you stop being careful and alert, you are likely to meet with an accident. Becoming wiser after two near misses, I resolved to never let my guard down, especially at an airport.
(Published in Woman’s era July 2024 issue )
