Westward Bound 1: Waiting for Sunrise

After reaching three hours prior to the take-off and after umpteen assurances at the security about my backpack and poster container (which looked like a miniature canon) weights and volumes which I was to carry as cabin luggage, I was sure that everything was in place and the journey would be without any problems. I had nothing much to worry and I kept repeating to myself that though the beginning of the day resembled Murphy’s law where he very prudently states, “if things can go wrong, they will”, what’s there to worry about once one reaches the airport…

The morning began at 10 in the night the previous day. I was in turmoil whether I should sleep or not. If I would have slept, there were absolutely no chances of getting up on time…at 4 in the morning. Such a ghastly hour to begin the day. Having the absolute benefit of knowing myself well, I was sure that the deep foray with Morpheus into the unknown would not be interrupted by anything, even by the most alluring day dream I kept having for last 26 years, namely the dream of travelling...

You see, ever since I remember, I was fascinated with maps, atlases, rivers, mountains, oceans…geography was my most favourite subject and I was absolutely awesome at it…and I don’t mean just the banal quiz game of countries and their capitals. I would not remember even the most recent historical fact, but ask me about minutest details about geography and I’ll be up and reciting them happily in the middle of the night …what’re Ganga and Brahmaputra called in Bangladesh before and after meeting, or which 2 rivers surrounded Mesopotamia or how many countries does Danube pass through or the longest mountain range, or how biggest lake in the world is actually called a sea…fortunately, geography and history are closely linked and sometimes it helped me scraping marks in history, answering questions like why Mesopotamia was called so and some such unusually placed interesting questions in history papers.

Point being, even this deep a love would have to forego if I slept.

So I didn’t. I finished the packing, watched some random movie, took bath, tidied the room, and got ready by 5:30. From the hostel to the bus stop is not a walkable distance and I’d convinced one of my friends to drop me. I tried her number. It was switched off!!! Hmm…a bit freaky as I was almost sure there would be no autos on the roads so early in the morning…I went on the main road to get an auto, but the roads were absolutely deserted. Tried calling her again, it was still switched off. I tried a common friend’s number who lives in the same hostel…this number was switched off too! By this time, I was freaking out…I went to this friend’s hostel, argued with the security…the damn fellow wouldn’t let me in (it’s open to guys between 6 AM to 10 PM…hah!)…anyway, thankfully, I remembered this common friend’s room number, convinced the security that if he is not allowing me to enter, the least he can do is go in himself and knock on her room door…

For 5 minutes, nothing happened…everyone here sleeps like a log…this is what happens if you watch movies till 2 in the morning…anyway, finally this common friend awoke, came out, I asked her to go and break into my escort’s room…5 minutes of disturbing and the longest silence again, after which the escort comes out…”it’s not 6 yet, we decided on 6”…I cursed her mentally for all the hyperventilating moments and told her to come to my room…

The new airport is not bad at all…it’s just tad too far…the bus ride was mostly accompanied with morning sun on face and a nice refreshing slumber...

Airports (or railway stations for that matter, but especially airports), they fascinate me…I am an absent-minded person and end up paying very little attention to what’s happening around me…except on airports! When I am on an airport, I transform into an absolutely alert and inquisitive fellow…I watch and observe people around me…I make use of their faces, behavioural patterns, gestures and personalities and mentally project my own imaginary characters onto them, concocting their backgrounds, fabricating their accounts and narratives…

After a round of this, I was already cursing myself to be there so early…8 in the morning and they should have announced the check-in. Just as I was thinking this, they announced that there was a technical glitch in the whole clearance…believe the authorities to be as vague as possible…anyway, I doze off…after an uneventful, dreamless doze, I woke up to another announcement for check-in of my flight...

An hour in that damn line, my turn comes and I was told that the technical glitch they were referring to had something to do with the computers, and since nothing was responding, they had to process everything manually…great!!! Reminded them once again about the connecting flight from Dubai, and headed toward immigration...