By Ranee Kumar
A jolly good ride on a fairly sunny noon, two hours well in advance; we alight at Jolly Grant airport on Thursday. A hassle-free check-in and we plonked ourselves in one of the rows of chairs that are actually fashioned for not more than 30 minutes sitting time. After which they get to be quite unwelcome; we start squirming! We were awaiting our Air India flight (AI 2498 scheduled for departure at 15.30 p.m.) to Delhi. Then suddenly, the skies turned grey, the sunshine vanished and there came a torrential pour from the heavens. But that’s exactly what Uttarakhand weather is all about in the monsoon!
The upbeat mood generally permeating the air as soon as the Delhi-flight bound are all set and seated in the airport, began phasing out from optimism to compromise, coupled with empathy, drawing parallels between flights and non-stop rain lashing all over, to curious but patient inquiries regarding the flight departure, to scowls and frowns as the word spread among us passengers that, first, the flight had not arrived, forget about departing, and finally to one of despair and disgust at this suspended animation. How true! Time and tide wait for no man! While most of us were struggling with our mood swings, time just elapsed into four hours of waiting without authentic information from the airlines staff on ground.
By then most of us made a few rounds of the shops on display, shelled out on an inviting cup of coffee, mineral water bottles and a magazine for want of better things to do. Energy was ebbing as each one looked in the face of the other co-passenger, tried to smile and start polite conversation. Our travel system is structured in such a way that we get to know each other and widen our circle of contacts and what is more conducive than a waiting room at an airport or a railway station! The latter enlarges the scope if our newly found contact boards the same compartment – then we can have long drawn talks and exchange of information on each other’s families, share food and finally feed one another’s mobile numbers to be in touch for the future.
Of late, airports are no better. The waiting time can actually enrich and add to our list of contacts.
Suddenly we could sense a whirr and a purr outside through the glass enclosures. Our sagging spirits lifted up in ecstasy. Finally, we sighted our flight! Oh no, the flight was as elusive as a bird. It whirled like a dervish in the sky and disappeared! By then we had all rushed to the counter and like schoolchildren formed a disciplined line. The first in our line turned around with a crest-fallen looked and informed us that it wasn’t exactly our Air India aircraft but Indigo flight that couldn’t land and headed towards Chandigarh, obviously to land there! That was a bit funny to those of us who had still a sense of humour left at that point of time. The rest scrambled back to the seats like ones in a musical chair contest.
It dawned us then that we should go check with the enquiry or rather demand an explanation as to our present predicament so we could be free to take a next step and decide what to do. We were nearing the enquiry counter when we could sight our Air India swooping like a majestic eagle towards the tarmac. Hearts raced, forgiveness flowed aplenty, all for a split second. The flight went into dervish mode and whirled away leaving us devastated. We meekly sought clarification for this mystical appearance and disappearance. By now mental exhaustion had set in – no will to fight. The attendant behind the counter sensing our disarmed state, cooly told us that the flight couldn’t land due to rains and had gone back. To the rest of the queries that naturally follow she seemed clueless till an announcement was at last made that the Air India flight scheduled for Delhi has been cancelled. Re-schedule was left to our fate – whether to be or not to be. Some of us who had to go further ahead after landing at Delhi obviously re-scheduled our flight ticket for the next day. But ironically the re-scheduled date wasn’t showing when we tried to web-check on Friday morning.
What is baffling about our airports, airlines, is the silence. The lack of communication between the airport /airlines staff on ground and the waiting passengers is appalling. No announcement of current flight information, no apologies for delays, nothing! At airports we seem to be practicing the Javanese ‘Among Wektu’ (mum is the word). In Javanese culture, silence is a way to show respect while dealing with sensitive topics!
The Indian Constitution entails in its Fundamental Rights (Article 19 (1) (a), the freedom of speech and expression. This right allows all citizens of India to access information held by public authorities promoting transparency and accountability in governance. Are our service providers unaware of this? If so, this apathy has to be taken to task. Ponder!
(Ranee Kumar is a journalist who has worked with mainstream papers like The New Indian Express and The Hindu. Her area of work was mainly on business desk and reporting as well as art & culture. She is now settled in Doon and actively involved in writing).
