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The day I almost missed my flight!

By Jyoti in Experiences
Updated 17:19 IST Feb 08, 2019

Views » 1033 | 4 min read

It was a chilly November morning on the last day of my trip and I was ready to come back home. I had to take an early morning train from Kathgodam to Old Delhi and then a flight from Delhi to my hometown. All the bookings were confirmed, I had enough time in between and I was good to go! But as they say” if anything is to go wrong it will and you cannot do anything about it” 

On the night before my journey, my host tells me that the train which I am travelling in is frequently late and it will be difficult for me to reach the airport in time. He then advises me not to take a cab and use the metro to the airport as it will be the fastest option. I listened to him and kept my options ready in case of delay. The next morning my train was on time and I was really happy that I would reach the airport in time. The train was supposed to reach Old Delhi railway station at 3.30 pm and I had a flight at 6.25 pm. I thought I had enough time! The train was running on time till 1.30 pm and after that it just stopped and my relief flew out of the window! It just didn’t move for an hour and after that moved very slowly, stopping frequently and nobody knew what was happening. I was so restless and helpless. I checked the time every few minutes, the clock was ticking fast but the train seemed stuck to the tracks. I had this crazy thought that if I started to walk, I would reach Delhi faster but I was not going to do anything stupid. I did my web check in and started searching for flights in case I missed it. Nothing was in my control so I just waited and was mentally prepared to face whatever happens.

Finally, at 5 pm the train reached Old Delhi railway station but I did not sigh in relief! My destination was still faraway and I felt it slipping away. I got off the train and tried to run towards the metro station but couldn’t run with my luggage so just walked fast. I started making way through the crowd and after completing all the security checks and getting a ticket, boarded a metro till New Delhi where I had to again pass through the whole process and board a metro to the airport. I am really thankful to the airport crew which caters to people at metro stations. I saw this porter wearing fluorescent jacket with a luggage trolley at the New Delhi metro station and just ran towards him saying I had a 6.25 flight to catch. He helped me procure the ticket and got me on the metro to airport. As I got off the metro at airport, I again ran towards the porter and told him the same that I had to catch a 6.25. It was already 5.50 pm and I ran huffing and puffing towards the entry gate.

Previously while standing in queues at the airport, when looking at someone jumping queues, I use to wonder why people do not come on time and here I was jumping all the queues like a mad woman shouting that I had to catch a 6.25, requesting everyone to let me go ahead. Lastly, after completing all the security checks, I was running with my backpack towards the departure gate which seemed  very far away. As I was getting near my gate and saw people boarding, I sighed in relief still I didn’t stop running. I stopped only after I entered the plane and then I was laughing at myself as I had been going crazy for the last few hours thinking what would happen if I miss my flight. I was sweating in winter; my hair was messy and I was just happy that I did not miss it. As I got seated, I started to process what transpired in the last 12 hours. I was glad I selected an aisle seat out of the available options during web check in as I was not in a mental state to be seated in the middle seat after the events of the day!

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