On Board 633

TRUE STORY ... wrote those on board the flight .. never completed it though
ON BOARD 633

“To fly” the most ambitious of man’s dreams. The final frontier (actually not quite but most Indians aren’t too keen on space). The aspiration of many a grounded vagabond is to someday acquire a ticket to the elusive airline which promises the epitome of comfort. Yet this experience can from time to time become harrowing purely because it’s human. And put us Indians in charge
Of something even minutely complex and we pledge not to disappoint when it comes to screw ups (am I allowed to say screw ups?) Why the pessimistic, unpatriotic yet valid approach you ask? Well, like the ground staff said to me, “I shall attend to that shortly sir.”

It all started with an innocent message which informed yours truly that his flight back to college had been cancelled due to “technical reasons.” As an engineer I was slightly baffled by this sudden “reason” which wasn’t sudden as it had occurred a week in advance. So I put on my boxing gloves and debated, argued and pleaded over the phone with a gentleman who every 2 minutes would request me confirm my identity and some ghastly combination of digits and alphabets called PNR number. Eventually I found myself outside the airport a day in advance with my stipulated 15 kgs of weight. I collected my ticket from their exterior counter and proceeded to what I had mistakenly assumed to be a comfortable flight. Assumption they say are the mother of all mess ups and I was about to painfully verify its validity. So, allow me to come back to my plight before flight (a little bit of rhyme to liven it up!) I was currently at the counter where they give me my boarding pass after scrupulously weighing my luggage which thanks primarily to my mother’s years of packing experience was just within limits!
What can go wrong now you say? “Plenty”, my simple minded friends. I repeat, “Plenty". Let’s just cut to the “chase” (the full impact of the word you are soon to learn about). I found myself yards away from gate 3 where which was to be the infamous flight 633 was boarding from. A man suitably attired in official clothes halted my progress towards what I was hoping would be a peaceful night in home sweet home ‘Kara”. Then he asked me a bizarre question after looking at my boarding pass which went something like “are you Mr. A.K.Agarwal?” The bemused response to this perplexing query was “do I look like Mr. A.K.Agarwal!!” In my defence I would like to say that this was in my own humble opinion one of my best attempts at humour especially with a complete stranger. Unfortunately the gentleman wasn’t inclined towards a good hearty laugh and plus he didn’t plan to be strangers anymore! What followed was a deluge a questions about who I was and where I had come to acquire the aforementioned ill fated boarding pass. My response to each and every one of whom was a Scooby Doo inspired “Huh!!”