Hallucinations of a mad hatter
Today, my favorite author and her favorite wizard Harry Potter turn another year old.
Wish you a very happy birthday Jo..keep writing with that wonderful quill of yours.
And Harry, Happy Birthday to you too, buddy.
An owl is on it’s way carrying my birthday gifts for both of you. But I’m afraid that owl is a bit confused about wizarding addresses. So don’t blame me if it doesn’t reach you, Harry.
I don’t go looking for trouble…Trouble usually finds me
This time trouble found me at O’Hare International Airport, supposed to be the busiest airport in the world.
I could say why.. 4 domestic and 1 international terminal. About 40 boarding gates per terminal. One flight taking off or landing every 42 seconds! PHEW!
As I’m very interested in figures, I’ll add some more.
Crowd – overwhelming
Flights cancelled on Thursday evening – 63. (Did you see it right? It’s sixty-three)
I was about to go to Sacramento, CA, on Thursday. I took lots of effort to reach O’Hare airport that day.
After pushing my way through the crowd, I finally reached gate B1. I stood near B1 for another 1 hour, simply because all the seats were occupied. I went to check the flight status one last time before it was time to board. To my horror, it was shown as cancelled.
I started to panic now. What to do? I was really looking forward to meeting my aunt and cousin after a long 5 years and to watch my cousin’s dance debut. I went to the United Airlines representative near the gate. She told me to contact the Customer Service Desk. I went back. The queue for the customer service center was one gigantic snake which didn’t seem to end. Anyway, I had to stay in the queue.
I started looking for other options. I tried to find out the number of UA, but couldn’t. I called my uncle, but there was nobody at home and his cell was not reachable. There was no other option. I had to wait in the queue.
After about half an hour my uncle called back after hearing my voice message. I explained the situation and asked him if he could get their number for me. He called them instead and looked for alternatives.
No seats available for Friday also. But Saturday was too late for me. So I decided to cancel my ticket and book another one with Southwest Airlines from Midway airport. Unfortunately (yeah…right!!), UA had no tie-up with Southwest, so they couldn’t process that. The very way the UA person talked was as if they didn’t give a fart about the plight of their passengers because this was a FAA directive. So I had to cancel my journey with UA and book anew with Southwest. My uncle did an online booking with southwest.
Now it was almost 2 hours since I’d been standing in the queue, and I was not even halfway through the queue.
As I was talking to my uncle, I got another distraction from behind. The lady who was standing just behind me suddenly screamed and threw her cellphone down. I literally jumped from my place and at first thought that it was because of me. Then she told me that the f***ing phone was drained…that too when she was in the middle of a call with UA representative. She was going to Pittsburg, which was also cancelled. It is okay to get frustrated. But throwing your expensive cell phone was too much.
Anyway, my uncle was able to cancel my UA ticket online, and because I had no checked in baggage, I was able to quit the queue and go back home. I took a taxi. Reached hotel at around 12 am. Slept. Woke up at around 3 am. Drove to Midway airport. 3 hours sleep and no dinner/breakfast. That was a real bad experience.
Luckily, I had a stopover at LA airport. I had my usual veggie sandwich/French Fries/Coke at a McDonalds there.
Reached here finally. Will write about the rest in the next post.
CV Sesha Iyer
Born: 1914
Died: 5th July 2006
It is curious that all the great moments you had with and the great things you’ve heard about a beloved person flashes in front of your eyes when you part ways with that person.
The great family tree spanning 17 generations that he had made and had memorised in his mind.
All the great stories he told me about the independence struggle in which he was a part of.
The time when he once fell down while crossing a creek with me on his shoulders as I was a kid.
The time when I once made him run from street to street because I wanted a lollipop and no other candy in the world.
The moments when my mom narrated the way he brought them up using only his wits when they were almost bankrupt.
My grandfather said goodbye to the mortal world after living a great 92 years. He was lucky that he breathed his last on the laps of his son.
I called my Grandma to console her, but it was me who broke down into tears.
Dear Grandpa, you may have bid adieu to the world. But you will remain in my memories till it’s time for me too to go. I will always remember you as the most indefatigable person I have ever known, and a doting grandfather.
I won’t weep now…I won’t ask you to rest in peace…because I know you won’t rest…I know you will be busy even when you are with God.
After all, for the prepared mind, death is but the next great adventure.
