….a real story with ‘NOT SO’ happy ending
The year was 2010. As CO (Commanding Officer) of the battalion deployed at Imphal (Capital of the beautiful North Eastern State, Manipur) Airport, one enjoyed special privileges. In a nation obsessed with status and its display, having the first seat reserved for oneself in the commercial airliner was no mean achievement. But then, there are events and incidents (also accidents)which deflate one’s ‘hot air ego balloon’ in no time. This story is about someone falling down to Mother Earth (well not literally) at 30,000 feet about ‘mean’ sea level.
On the fateful ego crushing day, the unit’s (BATTALION for non faujis) Liaison NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) told me that my seat from Imphal to New Delhi was 1C (row one, aisle) and not the usual 1A (row one , window), as two VIPs (Very Important Persons) were to board the flight at Gauhati (Guwahati, capital of Assam). I wondered which other VIPs were there in the region (other than your’s truly) . At Gauhati, a black sedan with the National Emblem moved right up to the aircraft from which two VIPs disembarked. Very soon I was seated next to His Excellency General J J Singh (Retd), Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and the lady. The General happens to be the Honorary COLONEL OF MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY (my regiment) and after an initial exchange of pleasantries, the three of us engaged in an animated discussion on topics ranging from modernization of the Army and infrastructure development in the far eastern State, Arunachal Pradesh to the draft of the biography that the General was carrying. I too, modestly handed over to the couple, draft of my compilation of Hindi Poems. The warmth was duly noticed by the airline’s cabin crew and I too was given all that complimentary stuff (basically on board meal and beverages) which was being served to the VIPs.
I was enjoying the special attention of the good looking staff (read Air Hostesses)and was obviously thrilled. After a while, I noticed two cabin crew members discussing something serious, while looking at me during the pauses. I have never been subject of such close attention and therefore the ego balloon sucked in more hot air and bloated even further.
Then, to my utter surprise, one of them came to me and whispered in my ear, “ Sir!, would you mind coming to the cabin crew area (which was a few paces away, behind the curtain) ?” With an ‘ear to ear’ smile and an additional heartbeat per second, I followed her. I had a million scenarios already worked out in my mind and surprisingly, all had a happy ending. But, alas, the day dream lasted not more than two minutes (time lapse between the careless whisper in my ear to my reaching behind the curtain). The following three sentences will explain to the readers, why life is such a great leveller;
“Sir, are you related to His Excellency? Are you his Son?”
“No”
“Sir, then your bill for food and beverages is Rupees 262/- only”
Silence….. ego balloon burst and this story.
