Woke up at 7:30 in the morning and I was late today. I had to reach the Airport by 8:30 because I had promised Ajay ( @BloodyKamina ) that I will meet him at the airport. Quickly I finished the last part of my packing, took a shower and got ready. Cousin also got up and he was still sleepy. I asked him to sleep but he said, he would come to see me off. After a brisk discussion, I asked him not to spoil his morning because of me and he agreed.
Ajay called me up to confirm if I have left my place so that he can leave accordingly, I told him that I would start in 10 mins. At dot 8:30 I was in an auto rickshaw and was sailing through the streets of Mumbai that I wont get to see anymore for dont know how long.
Mixed feelings they were. Honestly, I never loved any city like this before. It might be infatuation, but the only thing I know is, I have to visit there soon. While I was thinking about everything that I did in the city in past 10 days, suddenly this thing came up in my mind.
DAMN! I FORGOT THE PACKET OF ALL THE PRASAD THAT I GOT FROM ALL THE TEMPLES AND DARGAH !
Called up my cousin
Me : Ek gadbad ho gayi yaar.
Cousin : Kya hua ?
Me : Prasad bhool gaya yaar. Fridge mein rakh diya tha maine. Le jaana yaad nahin raha.
Cousin : Ab kya karna hai ?
Me : Aata hoon wapas lene, neeche gate ke paas milna mereko.
Asked the auto rickshaw driver to go back to the place where we started. Made another call
Me : Hey Ajay!
Ajay : Hi, Have you reached ?
Me : No not yet, I am actually heading back towards home.
Ajay : What happened ?
Me : I forgot something at home, need to take it. Its very very important. I will see you at the airport at sharp 9:30.
Ajay : Okay, cool. Airport is 10 mins from my place, give me a call and I will be there.
Me : Sure I will.
In like 15 mins or something, I was standing outside the society, called up cousin and asked him to bring the packet. He got it for me. Said thanks and asked Auto waala to rush to the airport, it was around 9:10. God has his own ways to deal with the things. I firmly believe in that. If I had started from my place a bit late, I wouldn't have time to come back and collect the packet. In a way, I was thankful to Ajay that he agreed to meet me up at the airport. Looked like EVERYTHING WAS PLANNED.
Called up Ajay again when I reach the airport, he came up in no time. Initially we couldn't figure out where should we sit, but then as there was very little time in my hands, we decided to sit at a nearby pavement and started chatting. Another tweetup where we didn't discuss twitter much. Ajay came across as a nice sober guy, who has his goals clear. He asked me to visit Mumbai during Ganesh Chaturthi and assured me that he would take care of my accommodation and everything else. Thats so nice of him. He also told me many things about the city, the goods and bads about it. At exact 10:00 A.M, I told him, I wish to take a leave from him now because I had to check-in at the airport that was over crowded. Promised to see him soon.
My flight was at 11:20 and as per the norms, I should have checked-in my luggage and collected my boarding pass by 10:35. The Indigo check-in counters were so crowded that everyone was clueless and furious about the chaos there. I sneaked out of the line, went to a counter. Told the executive about the status and she quickly took my ticket, handed me over my boarding pass and my luggage was checked in. I quickly walked towards the security check gates and got the security check done.
Looked for Gate No. A4, where we were supposed to wait for the announcement to board the flight. While waiting, I thanked everyone on twitter to make my visit a memorable one. Suddenly, the announcement to board the flight happened and I was on my way to board the flight. Twitter and BBM were going in full swing as I walked towards the aircraft.
The moment of joy happened when I saw the beautiful air hostess who welcomed me in the aircraft and as I walked towards my seats, I was greeted by 4 more. I was like " Chalo yeh flight ka paisa vasool ho gaya". *wink*
As soon as I got comfortable on my seat and was looking outside, don't know what struck me. I felt a lump in my throat. Felt like I am leaving a place where I belonged. As promised, I called up Divpreet ( @Smilesgalore ) but couldn't talk much because I was choked. I told her that I will give her a call soon. As I was looking out of the window, it started raining, didn't last long though. That was a signal, that this city is gonna miss me. At least I took it that way because I firmly believe that if it rains while you are leaving a city, the city loves you like anything. It has happened with me in the past so many times, so I know how it feels.
Announcements were in full swing as we were ready to take off. The aircraft started moving towards the runway and mixed feelings were there. There was an unexplainable sadness in my heart and joy of meeting my family after 10 whole days. The aircraft took off in some 10 mins and took a whole round above the sea. I could see the sea, the buildings, the roads and MUMBAI, the city of dreams that got lost after a while and all I could see were clouds and only clouds.
-
Yatin
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