History in making!

Written on 6:42 PM by Tushar

I left home on 14th evening on a very sad note. All my relatives had gathered at my place to give me a farewell. Given a choice I would have chose to stay in India.

Car journey till the Mumbai Airport was boring. We were stuck in the traffic for 3 hours and somehow reached the airport at 1030pm. Due to tight security checks I had go inside 3 hours before the flight and had to bid good bye to my loving family:( I cannot handle goodbyes. It is very difficult to leave your family behind. I cried even on the airport. Who cares man! I love my family and I was unhappy to part ways.

I took a British Airways flight till London. The first-time-flight experience was not bad. I was one of the few unlucky people whose TV was not working but since we started at night I did not feel much bad. I had a window seat and could see Mumbai City shimmering with lights as we took off. We reached London after 10 hrs.

Hearthrow airport at London is huge and I had to travel from one terminal to other. I was there for just a couple of hours and I spent time talking to other Indian students and window shopping in duty free shops. Our flight from London to JFK, New York was delayed by an hour and we were sitting in the plane during that time. An old British couple was sitting besides me. They were really friendly and they even showed me a few landmarks in London from the window. London did not impress me at all!

I watched ‘Over the hedge’ movie in the plane which I wanted to watch back in India. The journey lasts for around 8 hrs and I watched ‘V for vendetta’ and ‘Friends’ as well. Asian veg food served on BA flights was great. I stuffed myself as I was unsure of when I will get to eat quality Indian food again! I reached JFK at 130 where as I was supposed to reach there at 1130.
I had no idea what was in store for me from there…

After the customs and immigration I waited to collect my luggage. After a good 45 min wait I could not find one of my bags. I went to BA luggage counter inquire and I came to know that that bag was still in London! I registered a complaint with them and they told me that the bag will be sent on my US address by FedEx.
This business took longer than expected and I rushed to terminal 9 from terminal 7. JFK is one of the biggest airports of America and I understood that in a hard way!

How will u expect someone to travel between terminal 7 and terminal 9 on the same airport?
Well I crossed a street, climbed three levels up, took an air train which runs between two terminals, climbed three levels down, again crossed a busy street, climbed three levels up to reach a HUGE dome which was my destination_ terminal 9… believe me doing all this when u have luggage close to 95kgs is NOT easy!

I reached there at 3 pm and my plane was 4. I was standing in a line to collect the boarding pass and thought I will make it comfortably. I dint advance much in half an hour and I started loosing patience. At 330 I asked an official what are my odds to make it to the plane. She said ‘u are not gonna make it!’ I lost my wits. I was dead tired coz of carrying all luggage on my own and I was feeling sleepy, hungry and thirsty at the same time. There were no shops around and I could not leave my luggage unattended. I was in a fix. I had no idea what I am gonna do if I miss the plane…

When my turn came it was 4 and plane was gone. She asked me whether I know anybody here in NYC where I can stay for the night as there are only two flights per day from JFK to BWI (my destination_ Baltimore Washington International Airport) and I had missed both of them. I din’t know anybody in NYC but still I asked her to put me on another plane for the next day as I was ready to spend the night on the airport. She looked at the computer screen for some time and said ‘Sorry sir there is no place in tomorrow’s flights as well’! She asked me to go to ‘La Guardia Airport’ in NYC and take a flight which goes to Washington Reagan Airport in Washington DC.
I was so frustrated but I had no choice.

This luggage blunder by BA had changed my entire itinerary!
I wanted to go to JFK (NYC) to BWI (Baltimore) but I had no other option but to choose the flight between La Guardia (NYC) to Washington Reagan Airport (Washington DC).I made a call to my senior who was going to pick me up explaining the entire situation. He asked me not worry and be calm. I said to myself that there is no way that I can escape from this so why not enjoy the journey!

I came out of the airport to take a cab from JFK to La Guardia. An Indian came running and asked me ‘Bengali ho? 45$ lagenge’ What a way to meet the first Indian in US! The actual fare was 30$ and he was trying to trick me! I got myself a cab for 30$ (whose driver was also Indian) and reached La Guardia an hour before my flight. I was damn sleepy by this time and chose to sleep till I landed in flight.

The regional jet plane that I took for this domestic flight was miniscule as compared to 747 Boeing Jet I had taken during my international flights.
I could barely keep my eyes open for 5 min when the plane flew over NYC and got a glimpse of ‘Empire state’ building which as a child I had known to be the tallest bldg in the world:)

After an hour long journey I reached DC.I waited at the airport for an hour but my senior did not turn up. My senior was busy with something and he asked me to take a shuttle and come to BWI. Shuttle took an hour to reach BWI and I saw ‘war memorial’ and ‘the white house’ in the capital:)

It was 10pm when I reached BWI. I was supposed to reach here at 520pm and my journey was supposed to be luxurious!

I had lost a bag, missed a plane, visited Washington DC for no reason, hadn’t had food for 9 hrs straight but I was not unhappy.

I had visited three biggest cities of America _ NYC, Washington DC and Baltimore. I learnt to make calls from a telephone booth, saw US currency coins for the first time, spent my first dollar to buy a Coca-Cola, took a cab ride NYC and Washington DC, saw ‘The white house’! It was a hectic journey but it was fun!

I landed in US which is gonna be my second home on Indian Independence day that is 15th Aug 06 and this surely is history in making:)

Posted in grad life

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