I was shocked / surprised to hear his name as Anish! I do not know if it’s one Anish which made all Anishs love me and me to love all Anishs or is it simply that all Anishs love me? The question is actually an outcome of a tragic incident, which turned wonder due to yet another Anish.
We met at a very disheartening scenario at Chennai airport where all my enthusiastic and anti-boss efforts to get home, was literally going into drain. The flight ticket, which had lured me into buying through its cheap price tag, grew up to its ill-fame. The flight got cancelled.
Fortunately, rather fortunately for me, along with me where stranded another 70 people, who had purchased tickets to various parts of the world, as this flight was a connecting flight. Hungama started. Just as the moments ripened to accredit an Indian Airlines officer as the first martyr for the company, he saved his skin, offering a skin of another junior one.
Now the drama started. An Anish and his wife were meant to travel with me in the cancelled flight. Now as always the lady had caught my eye, as she was good looking and beautiful girls as per Indian Penal Code Act No : 212, is a public property in dry and devastated Tamil Nadu! But soon, the couple turned arrogant and I lost interest.
Or rather, there were more interesting things happening. The junior officer was on the verge of loosing his pants, when he could finally organize some seats in a sister concern of Indian Airlines. Now the question was raised, as how to decide whom to travel.
I had to pinch myself, to wake up from the belief that I was traveling with a group of script writers; such beautiful and saddening was the stories. The best being, an old lady of a pair, pouring her entire glass of hot coffee on to the poor man’s shirt, and claiming that is the last shirt she can find for him in Chennai!!!!
But tears could not find a ticket for many, and the race started. My failures always happened because I was used to the same, and took it with ease. This was going to be the same case, has it not been Anish. Our relation started, when me and Mr. Anish used to roam around the crowd and spy on the latest rumours regarding the tickets. Smarter was the lady, as she were there around when the balls were being played. So they were in possession of the ticket when the first few were announced and I was long lost in the queue!
Now the hard choice for the couple. I, in Anish’s position, would have easily passed by me, offering a sweet smile, with an inner meaning of “LOOSER”. But I found myself handing over the ticket to the lady, who fought through the ladies queue to the front, while Anish was busy arranging their tickets! If the story ended there, Anish and his wife would only been just a point in my life.
Not finding my name in the list, made them dearer to me, atleast worthy to find a full blog on them! My temper blew suddenly and I started screaming at any person who identified himself / herself as an IA employee. Even the striking pilots & captions parents were remembered in front of the public!
Meanwhile, Anish was running from post to pillar to see why they missed me in the list, where as his wife had patofyied some Indian Airlines lady. I could not seriously believe what I was seeing. In the mayhem, for a person they hardly know for more than 10 minutes of chit chat, instead of going ahead with their tickets, they were fighting to get me a ticket.
And they did! I got a ticket & that too while I was shouting at the lady in the counter. Anish came running with the ticket and the lady released her frustration over me, on him! She was like “ you didn’t give the tickets to your friend and he is shouting at me”. That was a moment! I mean, some moment when fiction could have never imagined!
Later we came to know each other better, till departure and later on reaching our destination, we were on our own ways.
But, it still amazes me, as I can not find an answer for why? Why they had to help me? And that too at some point when I was totally stranded!
Today itself, I was running to be on the scheduled timing of the later-cancelled flight and one person, who was just about to use the ATM after me, asked for help as he didn’t know how to use ATMs.
I was running hurry and even told him so. But his plea held me back for 5 more minutes, and helped him with the cash.
