I BELIEVE IN ANGELS……Part 1

I am back to blogging after almost 3 years..has it really been that long???...so much has happened in my life but some things never change. Strange experiences always follow me….heres a recent one…too tired so I stopped here for today promising to bring out the next part soon.

March 15,2011: Skipped the seminar at Nehru Memorial Library at 3:30pm. Reason: Receiving my sister at IGI Airport,New Delhi.

Ok, first things first. I am not trying to justify myself but those of us who are familiar with the Delhi airport knows very well that it takes at least an hour getting down from the plane, collecting your luggages and heading towards the arrival exit.

Maybe some things are just meant to happen.

DRAMA 1:

My kid sister, visiting Delhi for the first time, was supposed to arrive at 5pm. So it was logical for me to plan my departure from jnu at 4.30pm estimating at least a half an hour wait after the arrival time.

4:30pm. JNU: my sister calls me from the airport telling me that she has reached Delhi and waiting for her luggage. This is the first time in my life that I encountered a flight reaching half an hour before the scheduled time. Talk about efficiency at the wrong time.

Now, to my horror, there were no autos willing to take me to the airport from JNU. Finally, I jumped inside an auto n forced the driver to drop me till the gate. I ignored the exorbitant rates and directly hopped into another auto from the gate. It is another matter that I got a very speed-limit conscious, law abiding driver on such a day.

4:50pm: Somewhere in Vasant Kunj proding auto driver to drive faster: Another call from sis. She’s waiting outside the airport.

DRAMA 2:

Kingfisher now operates from the International Terminal 3. Strangely, maybe one of AAI’s bright exploitative idea of beautification and modernisation, 3 to 4 kms from T3, autos are not allowed to pass. They do have bus services to take u to the terminals. I got up on the bus supposed to leave every 10 mins. 10 mins since I arrived but no sign of the driver. Another 5 mins and my patience ran out.

Upon tryin to get a lift, including unsuccessfully from a traffic patrol officer, I saw a slimy looking fella from behind offering to take me to the terminal for 300 bucks. I had no choice but daylight robbery is a strict no no so I managed to strike a 200 rs deal on our way to the taxi. And this guy, who I am not calling names, took me to the departure terminal and not the arrival (this!!!!after all the hullaballoo!!!!). Luckily, the Arrival terminal was just one floor below (One floor below= hundreds of steps+half the population of India+pls don’t even mention the lifts). I managed to meet my sister after a frentic hide and seek routine.

DRAMA 3:

As we hurried towards the Pre-paid taxi counter and I was about to pay for the cab, I got the mother of all blows. MY FREAKING WALLET WAS MISSING. Poor sis was left all alone again as I ran around the airport looking for my wallet. I discovered that the airport does not have a Lost and Found Counter or a Complaint Cell. Since everyone started asking stupid questions and were irritating the hll out of my mind, we decided to leave the airport and went to my cousins place in Mahipalpur where my sister was putting up.

CONTENTS OF THE WALLET: Some cash, 3 debit cards, I card, driving licence, jnu Id card, college id card, just refilled metro card, ASC-JNU library passes, keys, home sim cards,some shopping cards etc etc…damn big convenient wallet!!!

DRAMA 4:

Enroute to Mahipalpur, my mind and my fingers in my mobile raced towards everyone I knew working in SBI. I called up my cousin who strangely didn’t pick up the call. Meanwhile, my sis called up her friend who was on leave that particular day. My next call was to George in Mumbai. He sent me some helpline numbers since it was not possible for him to cancel the 2 SBI debit cards that I have/had/might not have again. Heaved a big sigh of relief.