Tuesday, December 9, 2008

A Missed Flight..

No, that is not any book’s name. Instead it is just a mundane experience which I thought of penning down. It so happened that after a 3 month tryst in US I was on my way back to Pune, India.
The journey began on the morning of 30th of November. After exchanging warm hugs & goodbyes with frens on that cold morning I headed for the airport. One of my frens saw me off & that eased of my journey blues to some extent. Then began the long wait, first couple of hours, then 3..5..7 hours at that Milwaukee terminal for my first flight to Newark. This flight just kept getting delayed cuz of the weather conditions. And I could see the weather from the terminal windows. It kept snowing & a tempest followed. I knew I had missed my connecting flight from Newark to Mumbai due to this delay but still I was hoping against hope that it might also have got delayed, haha :)


Finally the flight took off & Oh the 2 hours roller coasted ride that followed had my nerves on the edge & all my insides shaken. I got sick & off course terrified at the thought how this matchbox plane was trying to make it through the tempest. I was so relieved on reaching Newark. However it was a short lived relief as the airlines customer care was not cooperative initially on my missed flight. They simply told me I should not have come here when I knew I had missed my flight. For a minute I was thinking what am I gonna do if these guys don’t get my ticket rescheduled & worse what If there are no seats available in the next few flights to India. How long am I gonna be stuck here? Then after this n that I got my tickets rescheduled [via Delhi to Mumbai though, as according to them there were no seats in Mumbai flight] & got a hotel room & so could sleep peacefully, with an empty growling stomach though. Next day was a long peaceful wait in the terminal. When it was time I went to the respective gate & got my tickets & documents checked. In the wait that followed I just thought of getting my luggage rerouting with me confirmed. And when I do this, the airline people are surprised that I am going to Delhi when there are seats in the Mumbai flight too. [Yesterday this same flight didnt seem to have any seats available :-O] At the very last minute they changed my ticket to Mumbai flight & I literally ran to the respective gate as the boarding for that flight was already mid way. I also had to inform home the last minute change in flights & I didn't have a cell. Fortunately earlier that day I had got acquainted with a fellow traveler who was going on this Mumbai flight. So I found him during boarding & called using his cell gratefully.

Phew, I was so happy on reaching Mumbai & then Pune. This journey became one of the memorable ones :)

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