Cursed end to a winter break; Yet again...

After coming to IIT Roorkee, this was the second winter break and today was the unfortunate day that I had chosen to return. I have mentioned pretty well what had happened last year when I was returning to Roorkee here. After that day was finally over, I had thought that I would never have such an experience again. I didn't, until today.

Leaving home after a vacation is damn tough, I agree. But that would've been the least of my concerns, had I known what was to follow. The moment I stepped out, it started drizzling. A bad sign, always. My flight was at 10:10 AM, and it was exactly two hours before the departure that I left, but the rain made it difficult to get a taxi, although I did, finally, manage to get one. I reached the airport and checked my watch. A little over 90 minutes to go.

I always travel by Indigo. Reason? They are always on time (although IST for them is not Indian Standard Time, but Indigo Standard Time). However, every time I come from Kolkata, I have to catch the 1515 Dehradun Janashatabdi. There are two Indigo flights during that time, one which reaches a bot too early, and one which reaches a bit too late. So, considering this fact, I have no other choice but to travel by Air India (no comments on that; but wait, the food they serve is pretty good generally).

On entering the airport(that flight of mine had the departure from the international terminal), I found that there were three more flights in line before us: a Qatar Airways to Dubai, an Air India to Yangon and a Bimaan Bangla to Dhaka. And I almost forgot to mention that the present airport is comparable to the old Mohanbari airport of Dibrugarh. Now imagine so many people crammed together in that space. After somehow getting hold of the boarding pass, I saw that the only way to the security check was through the customs, where a queue awaited me; in fact the longest I have ever seen, even longer than the one at the Kolkata Metro Stations. All I wanted was to shout, "I am not leaving the country, lemme pass!" It was, as if, by magic, that an Air India official came and escorted me through the customs and into the security check queue. I checked the watch again. 9.15 AM. Official Boarding time: 9.40 AM.

After I was done with the security check, I thought of having some coffee in that commotion. I have no idea what hit my mind, but I went for an Espresso. And I promise that was the last time in my life that I had an Espresso!

Just 2 minutes before take off, I realised I had forgotten the keys to my room back at home (I swear, I congratulated myself). Considering my last year's room mate had a spare key, I sent him a frantic text and before I got a reply, the (apparently walking-like-a-drunk) air hostess said, "Enough" (or the look on her face implied that...)

After an half an hour delay (thanks to the Delhi fog), the flight arrived and we finally took off. Remember, I said that Air India food is good. Well, go back to that sentence and notice the word "Generally". We were given some weird sort of a snack stuffed with mushrooms, which make me feel dizzy! So much for Taj sponsoring the food!

1.30 PM. We landed at New Delhi. After the plane comes to a halt, there is no activity near the doors. I just curse the day (and the fog, which caused the delay in the first place.) After a few minutes, the captain announces that due to the fog, we had arrived at the wrong parking bay (and he seemed to take pride in the fact that he did so!) A waste of a good ten minutes (although I still didn't realise it.) Meanwhile, I come to know that my room's key hasn't been recovered and mentally prepare myself for what comes next: break the lock!

By the time, I got my luggage, it was about 2.15 PM. Just near the exit of Terminal 3, we have a Costa Coffee. That tempted me to have a pastry and a hot chocolate (even then, I didn't realise that something  bad could've happened.) After that, I reached the Metro station, and saw on the electronic board that the next train was scheduled to leave in 2 minutes, the next one being 15 minutes after this. I ran, not because I feared the consequences of missing the train to Roorkee, but because of my instinct (I want to be the first to get in everything, and you can't blame me; the Indian public thinks in the same way!). I realised how close I had come to missing the train only after the train left for Roorkee. A close call, indeed...

However, this does make me wonder: Is the last day of a winter vacation always gonna be this cursed for me? Well, only time will tell...

P.S. Aditya Chakravarty is an official lock destroyer, with just a single hammer blow being enough for the toughest of the locks! And more importantly, the hammer used was a department issued one.
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