Homeward bound...

Ramadan Kareem to one and all.

Tonight I leave on my much awaited vacation to India. It is Thursday and unofficially that day of the week when I am supposed to write my blog. However, I have to check in at the airport by 21:00hrs, so this ‘blogging night’ thing doesn’t look like something happening tonight. Fortunately for me this is the holy month of Ramadan and we have shorter hours at work. Today I was back from work at noon, and so have gathered just enough time to squeeze in a blog. I am done with all the difficult packing and what remains is just to finish this blog and find enough room to fit in my laptop in the suitcase, which apparently looks like a very difficult task to accomplish.

Like each one of those trips which takes us home, for me this one too, is special. In fact, this one is special in ways more than one. But there is a small tag attached to this event, which reads ‘If - you – can - fly!’ Yesterday night, as I was packing my bags, the song playing on my mind was not John Denver’s ‘Country roads’ but R Kelly’s ‘I believe, I can fly’. Although, my version was not driven by the same depth and meaning with which R Kelly sang his, my humming did have its own story attached to it.

Since I landed in Doha on 15 Dec 2008, while planning to travel alone, I have never been able to fly out to India on my first attempt. The first time, my trip was rescheduled four times owing to visa issues and two months later as I was all excited and waiting for the ‘Check In’ formalities to be completed, the girl on the counter, just dumped me by saying “In that case Sir, you cannot board the flight”. No, I did not smell bad or ogle on her assets or pass a trite comment. The reason for her reaction was the most absurd and silliest that one could ever imagine – I was not carrying the Credit Card with which I booked this ticket. However, I was determined to fly and I finally did travel on the same flight by buying myself another ticket. My second trip, which was planned somewhere in August 2009, had to be cancelled altogether and later squeezed down from a month to just a weekend as my closest friend and buddy at work Ashlin, who was away on medical leave would not be able to return back in time.

I was awake packing most of the night yesterday and so was really tired through work today. But as soon as I left office, I had this wonderful feeling of being content and was singing and talking gibberish to myself all the way on my drive back home. As soon as I reached home, I undressed and walked around my house naked as if I was the lone man suviving on earth. There was a sense of accomplishment; I had just done with the 'Close Of Business' stuff preceeding my vacation and believed that this time there would be no comebacks. I reclined on my sofa, stretched my legs out, let out a big yawn and dozed off.

Next scene, I found myself standing on that same point as last year; but this time around I was holding that eponymous Mr Murphy (who was on the other side of the Check In desk) by his neck questioning him crudely “What can possibly go wrong?”

I pushed him back brashly shouting “I don’t have any issues with my visa. I have purchased my ticket with a valid Credit Card. My team is well staffed. My leave is approved by the Client and I already have my Exit Permit in hand.”

And as I walked away from him throwing my hands around screaming “I have closed all the possible ifs and buts this time and if at all anything has to go wrong, it should be purely my doing. No one can stop me from going home, but myself”, I heard this faint voice asking “Which Airline?”

I turned back and looked at his face. He had this twitchy smile and piercing eyes, which now, slowly moved away from mine rolling up, trying to shift my attention to those black clouds growing behind me and rapidly engulfing our vicinity.

I was taken aback by a sudden sense of panic and as I scampered for the nearest fire exit, my antennae picked up a bolt of lightning which busticated me into a freefall.

I jumped off the sofa and woke up screaming “Air India, Air India Express, Air India Express”

Mr. Murphy had just revealed to me the weakest link on my tour itinerary; that one soft spot, which could sink my vacationing plan into total disarray. Needless to mention, I was now worried. This was the peak season and cancellation of my flight would mean being stranded in this place till they make me another arrangement. And, another arrangement would also mean, longer flight travel as I’d have to travel mostly to another destination and then wait for the Indian Airlines connecting flight to Kochi. Shucks. Such a scenario would hurt me at the wrong place, and that too real bad and so I decided to find out what’s happening at the airlines office.


My call to the airlines office was answered by a mallu lady who sounded very lethargic and distraught with work and this is how the call went about.

After the initial greetings, I enquired if the days flight to Kochi would leave on time tonight to which she retorted back saying “Koll dhe eyerport” (Call the Airport) “Well, maam…errr….mmm. I am just calling to enquire… like … if the flight is not cancelled or not”

"Whoot? Wheey?” (What? Why?)

“Actually maam, I am supposed to travel tonight by this flight….errr …I-X-4-7-4 and….like…..I, I, I just wanted to know if the flight will ….. you know …. If it is like scheduled or cancelled or what ..…I am not used to travelling by Express and someone told that…. You know…. It is like…. usually ….it is cancelled or delayed”

“Yenny budy kolld you fram this offhis?” (Anybody called you from this office?)

“No”

Then she banged the phone after passing on this rebuke “Then whey arr you spradding fhalls roomers. Yit yiss noat kanselled okay” (Then why are you spreading false rumours. It is not cancelled okay) added with a nice dose of unmentionable abuse first in English and later in Malayalam. Both of which felt like a tight slaps on my cheek.

I must be the only man on earth, who, after being abused and reprimanded by an unknown lady, was not just feeling normal, but rather elated, jubilant and ecstatic. It was like I had earned some much deserving accolade. That is what the feeling of ‘going home’ does to us. We don’t give a damn about others. We don't give a damn about what people say or do. We just don't care. We are just happy to go. We just go.

This current trip to India is a very momentous one for me. Yes, it is a welcome break from this monotony called work, but it also has something much more sentimental attached to it.

I land in Kochi where, this will be the first ever trip when my wife and kids come to the airport to receive me. During all my earlier visits, I have had to take a prepaid taxi and suffer an anxious and reckless drive till Trisshur.

At Trisshur, I expect to track down and meet my long lost friend from CREC days, B Manoj Kumar a.k.a  ‘Mandu’, who, as per my sources would be supposedly visiting his in-laws during that period.

From Trisshur, we travel to my birthplace and hometown Kannur by road via Kozikkode dropping by for my favourite Chicken Biryani at the Paragon Restaurant.

At Kannur, for the first time, I’ll be staying with my parents in our own house after so many years of parking our asses at some or the other relatives place.

Later on we board an overnight train to Chennai, where I dump myself on one of my closest friends from the CREC days, Harish Kumar a.k.a ‘Talli’ after a span of five years and also plan to meet Girish a.k.a ‘Beedi’, one of my first roomies from Hostel A, whom I’ll be meeting for the first time after we guys graduated.

At Chennai I also expect to meet some of my Facebook friends whom I have never met in person and also plan to attend one such friend’s sister’s wedding!

From Chennai we take a train and travel one night and two days on what will be the longest train journey for my two little boys to Baroda, the place where I spent all of my childhood.

At Baroda, our journey converts into a hegira and attains purpose as we meet the latest and youngest kid in my family, Anuj.

The whole family returns back to Doha on 17 Sep 2010 on a Qatar Airways flight from Ahmedabad.

So that’s it. Just finished posting the pictures and read through the text for the last time. All I want to do now is publish this post; log off; pack the laptop and ressh to tha eyerport yend khatch mei fleit (rush to the airport and catch my flight).

The blog seems done; but not yet. It wouldn't be complete unless I welcome and thank two new followers to this blog: My Facebook friend and a TWI girl Vidya ‘Bidia’ Rajaram and the lovely little cousin sister that I don’t have, Anisha ‘Kuku’ Prakash.

Well, that should do it. Bye, I am going away on a vacation but funnily not going away from any of my friends. I will be online whenever I am able to muster enough spare time from lazing around and yes, will definitely carry on with my Thursday night blogging ritual.

I am going home. And this time I believe I can fly, unless of course the girl behind the ‘Check In’ counter screws my plan by giving me another jolt or jhatka.

I am off finally…. Homeward Bound…..