The Plight of the Flight

The Plight of the Flight

……By Irfan

Well just thought to blog about my first overseas travel to Canada

It was 12th August 2006 my flight from Bombay to Calgary was scheduled @ 2.30am, & I had to reach airport @ 11.30 pm. Around 4.00 pm the day before I found myself still stuck in office trying to wrap up the things & explaining the juniors where the things are & how to handle some gusty situations. I heard my cell ringing quite frequently, calls from mom, asking me to spend time with her. Also had to go home & pack the luggage as well, the cab that we booked to take me to airport was scheduled to arrive @ home around 8.30 pm. Anyways amidst all the things wrapping them up I took my tickets from the travel department & reached home around 5.30 pm, had a small meal & then off to packing stuff. Time was running out, I had my cousins & all sorts of relatives helping me , mom trying to insert as much as she can with all mirchi masasla's & haldi powder badam n other dry stuffs, which I said I will get there in Canada but she thought I was going to some alien world may be on mars where we don’t get any of theses things so all sorts of Dal n spices which I only knew how to eat were in the bag, also the day before I had done a bit shopping of ready to eat food packets so I need not starve, Actually I knew how to cook believe me I am very good cook but problem is that I can cook only two dishes no no not Dal rice that’s pretty simple I, i don’t know to cook them , I know to cook Maggi noodles & omelet, so I took a bulk packets of Maggi noodles from stores. finally wrapping up all the packing it was around 7.30 pm time to measure the weight of the luggage allowable limit was @ 23 kg, I tried to pull it up & my weighing hanger showed around 27 kg well it was going beyond that n in no time before I could see what actual weight was, hell!!!!!!!!!!, the weighing hanger broke in two integers, crap this had to happen at timely hour, there was a hell of weight in those gusty bags no other option again open up rearrange all. I took out masala's n badam's & kept them outside (but I still wonder how they came in my bag again – mom’s u know) I again checked the weight by somehow integrating the hanger & now it was a bit of kilo over limit but that’s OK.So the cab was there to take me to airport I cant says what I was going through it was a different kind of thrill with the chill, anyways got in the cab & reached airport around 11.00 pm perfectly planned & executed & then started the journey of surprises. After spending some 20 minutes with all I bid them good bye & entered the airport from where on everything was a stranger.

International Airport Mumbai -

Well it all started from here after I gave my luggage thru first x ray machine the guys sitting there started packing my luggage with nylon strip & they were packing my hand luggage also so I said that its my hand luggage n not cargo so please don’t pack it (normally you don’t pack hand luggage as you have to open it often) but they told me something in a rude language n packed it all. After this I went to take my boarding pass, there was long queue so had to stand there & man every second u see a beautiful face with a fake stupid smile coming towards you & trying to sell some crap offers by the airlines. So after standing for few minutes in the queue I finally reached the desk, the lady there asked me to get my luggage weights checked well I was having 4 bags 2 for check in cargo & 2 for cabin she said she will allow only one in cabin I said well but two are permitted in cabin I guess , she said they where but rules have changed now, I asked from when had they changed rules as the other day I had checked on net & it said 2 bags were allowed in cabin , up was the answer from today. Oh anyways I said ,OK I will make them 3 by rearranging the stuff but she said ur other luggage’s are over weight u cant put more luggage in them, well I was in soup mom , dad had left I cant give luggage back to them, cant leave it on airport, then what ?? I asked with a fake smile on my face is there any other way in it. she said – yes , oh I was relieved excitedly I said what’s that - pay the fine , how much , 5000 Rs only. I asked only 5000 Rs so cheap & that too Pay the fine 5000 Rs for the bag which doesn’t have things greater than 1000 Rs value, I was going nuts, had to do something I scratched my head like a scientist to think of the way Then just tried to do what I do best make a sorry face with a little smile I said ok I would like to pay with my card with a big smile. I think the smile worked she asked me to wait & she attended the next customer well I guess he had only one baggage in so she smartly skipping the eye of the loader inserted my one baggage with the other persons & now I had two which were allowed so I didn’t had to pay the fine, after some time she said ok this time I am allowing u to check in 3 luggage in cargo but take care next time. & gave me my boarding passes namely Bombay to Frankfurt & Frankfurt to Calgary. I moved on then at immigration section I stood in another queue went gave my passport, officer asked few questions & then told me to give immigration form, crap what's that I didn’t have one. O then he said go to airlines counter n get one. so I went n got it after passing thru immigration where a lady officer asked me few good questions to which I promptly replied only thing left was to board the plane but since every where something happened so how could this been left un-touched. I had 2 boarding passes from Bombay to Frankfurt & Frankfurt to Calgary So when I went to boarding I gave that guy both the passes & that dumb person took & tore both of unaware of this I happily went in called home wishing them goodbye. Then I went in the cabin, the hostess guided me to the seat which was I middle row I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to have seat near by window, anyway I sat on my seat thinking of where I was going, what I was leaving it was 2.30 am plane was about to leave air hostess asked me to tie my seat belts which I did & plane started moving on the runway, flight to Frankfurt was @ 8.30 hrs & soon I was on a journey of a lifetime, I sat there for a while I was pretty hungry it was 3.00 am in the morning I had some juice & was off to sleep, then after few hours I woke up I was feeling depressed & said asking my self all sort of questions as why I was going n some other stuff, suddenly I found tears rolling down my cheek & for a moment I felt I was crying but then I saw indeed I was crying & I was crying very heavily like a child crying with hiccups the passengers next to me could do nothing but watch me cry , I kept on crying for hrs after hrs I don’t know why I wasn’t able to stop. Then I consoled my self that ok everything happens for the best & it takes time to understand what was best in it & I stopped sobbing, the guy next to me asked that if I was flying for the first time I said yes. Then I tried to watch some TV switching the channels I found movie TAXI No. 9211. well I wasn’t much into movie but the thing that kept me stuck to it was the fact that these are the only guys whom I know now rest all in the plane are strangers, Hmm that was funny but it was like I knew john Abraham, Nana patekar & felt like ok there are some people whom I know. I was watching taxi no. 9211 movie it was just about to finish & we were just 2 hrs away from Germany i.e. Frankfurt. I started thinking that now I had to get down & catch another flight to Calgary then just one hr before landing in Frankfurt it clicked me that I need to board another plane so I must have boarding pass but I gave both of them at Bombay itself whereas I should have kept the Frankfurt to Calgary flight pass with me, so what to do I was worried I thought I will never reach Calgary I will have 2 stay at Frankfurt if I have to then I need to get a ticket but where’s the money , I don’t know single animal here who will give me money, then I said I had few dollars with me so I think I can get a new ticket but then in Frankfurt currency is Euro, language spoken is German. My head was rotating like a whirlwind tornado. then I referred this to the hostess in plane she referred the matter to senior member & said trouble then I had conversation with senior hostess who was pretty old like my granny. I told her that I have to reach Calgary anyhow she said nothing much we can do I said I have copy of my e- ticket, she said do u have e-ticket I said yes she said then there’s no problem u can obtain new boarding pass from Frankfurt coz e ticket will be there in the system. Hearing this I was overjoyed it felt I should kiss her on her forehead but then she was too old & I thought I deserved a bit better. I was relaxed now. & finally I landed on Frankfurt.

Frankfurt Airport Germany -

After getting down at Frankfurt I rushed to boarding pass section conveyed her problem & she issued me a new pass I was so happy that finally now I m going to reach Calgary I said thank you very much ma'am & she said you are very welcome sir , but I m sorry , huh sorry I hate this word indicates something is wrong again, I asked sorry for what & she said in a very pleasing tone “ sir your flight is late by 6 hrs” Oh I said I know that my connecting flight is after 6 hrs, she said no it was after 6 hrs but now its late by another 6 hrs, means you have to wait for another 12 hrs, to get on flight to Calgary, what another 12 hrs in this airport , I will go mad, she said we have arranged a lunch & rest room for you lunch will be @ 2.00 pm it was 7.00 am in the morning. I was going mad again, had nothing to do, no one to talk & have to wait 12 hrs watching people move around, anyways I didn’t had any option, more worry was that here currency was Euro n I didn’t have single Euro so nothing to eat n drink until I get in for lunch, as my luggage was too heavy so I had to remove some of the things back home so all those biscuits n eating stuff was not present. Also I was informed without visa u cant go out of airport. So I waited then airlines people informed that they had arranged a lunch for all the passengers I was relieved I thanked god for it then trying to kill time I was just doing window shopping around the Frankfurt airport but was too tired as I didn’t slept last night & my body was paining coz I had been running everywhere last 4 days. then we were taken to restaurant a young lady came and asked wat will u have 4 drink I saw everyone beside me was ordering beer, vodka n wine , well that’s not my taste so I said some juice she gave me a surprised look & then she got me orange juice , then came lunch chicken or fish . I said fish there came a fish, lunch of life I got my first taste of international things boiled fish without any spices taste it was like fish has been taken of water n boiled in water n being served. The serving was too less to fill my tummy. Some how I completed the lunch. So I have to cope with juice & tried to rest then after some time I was feeling very sleepy but the group in front of me was playing some games n were shouting loudly so I couldn't buy some sleep, I took Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code from my bag & started reading it. So the time went on nearly when one hr was left for boarding the flight to Calgary I decided to leave. As I pulled my hand bag a voice came from behind “what's the time” I turned & saw the gorgeous girl, with a blonde kind of hair & nice black specs complimenting her fair skin, she asked what time is it ?? I said @ one hour for the flight to Calgary. actually she was resting opposite me whole afternoon but I didn’t noticed her. But then she called again I said 6.35 pm & didn’t knew when the conversation started. She introduced herself as a Morgan. I thought what kind of name is that, she said German, I am a German hmm I was surprised she spoke beautiful English actually she was Canadian working in Germany as a school teacher. After some chat we left to locate the gate of the plane after well we had to do a lot of research in locating the gate finally we found it & checked in after checking in we had to wait 20 minutes before boarding so we sat I was just watch the local news over the TV & she started another conversation I was hardly interested in speaking as I was tired n was just reluctant to speak to strangers but then conversation was about India, Indian cultures ,Indian thinking, schools , education & marriage n other social issues well I was proud to tell how diverse we are back home. Then after sometime we boarded the plane & was soon on my way to the destination known to me only by name called Canada & Calgary. Well the flight was of another 9 hrs & I was really sleepy this time my back was hurting like anything so I went up to the hostess & asked her to get me place to lie for a time to get some sleep, she came after sometime & said sorry sir the flight is full. well I had to manage my self in a very uncozy & uncomfortable seat. When the lunch came they had only chicken or lamb so I had to manage with salad, finally after a long tiring trip I reached Calgary I was so jet lagged as I moved through different time zones so I guess was in night for 3 hrs only, with journey going right across the earth , actually it was amazing night is of 2 hrs then days will last for three hrs & then night again while plane was moving. So after all these I finally landed Calgary.

Calgary Airport Canada -

Here almost everything went fine as Morgan was with me. I went thru immigration then made my work permit, one thing while filling immigration form I they asked if u have any dairy products I said I had milk powder. And then I had to go through customs where he told me to open my bag to remove the dairy product that I had. I said Ok I opened one bag shuffled from top to bottom didn’t find it , another bag didn’t find it, the after checking all the bags he asked me where is it ? I said may be I left it at home. however I found it when I came home but I don’t understand how I & custom guy missed it. Now here the thing was that I had to check in the hotel which I didn’t knew where so I had to call the hotel guys so that they come & pick me up from airport, 1000Dollar question was how to call I mean I didn’t had mobile , of course there were payphones but they requires 35 cents & I had all 100 dollar bill with me know who will give me change to call hotel. Then I asked Morgan & she promptly gave me 75 cents for which I said her that thanks for this & I am sorry that I won’t be returning this to you since she was to go to some other province in Canada so was pretty sure that we won’t meet again, & then we parted. After coming out of airport I was relieved to see my local mate of mumbra Ramzan he was here to receive me which I didn’t knew nor I expected it, then he took me to his home instead of hotel we had a good Indian dinner & had a good sleep.and finally the Plight of the flight ended.