“This
is the last and final boarding call for Mr. Nishant Gupta, travelling to Delhi
by Indigo flight 6E254” announced the crew member holding the list of
passengers in her hand and looking anxious to find this last passenger so that
the flight can take off at scheduled time to its destination.
It was 5 AM of a Monday morning and I was half
asleep sitting on a bench, waiting for the announcement for my flight to
Bangalore, the call for Mr. Nishant Gupta did reach my ears however remained
distant as it was unrelated. Since I was half asleep, I did not realize that
place where I was sitting was quite close to the place from where crew member
was announcing for Mr. Gupta.
Her
repeated calls disturbed the tranquillity of the early morning that I had
preferred but they also set me thinking subconsciously, about Delhi, and also
about this Mr. Gupta who was the sole recipient of all the attention of this
beautiful crew member at 5 AM of a Monday morning.
Delhi
had always been a city that fascinated me, despite all the things it remains
infamous for. It was the city that I had been planning to visit since the time
I left it after completing my post graduation but had never been able to visit.
It remained home to many friends and irrespective of emphatic invitations and
countless expressions of “Ab ki baar
pukka kuch plan karte hae” Delhi remained elusive from me. I had ceased to
chase the goal actively but latent desire was present, I imagined how T3 would
be – metro rides, streets of South Delhi etc. Counting on friends I wished to
meet, I made a mental list and thought how many of them would really have time
on a Monday, if I catch that flight instead of Mr. Gupta – and before I could
reach a certain number, trail of thoughts was further interrupted by a near war
cry.
Crew
member who could have easily been mistaken for an upcoming model now looked
like a restless mother attempting to find her child lost in faceless crowd. She
was walking around in haste, transporting messages to her colleagues and
checking one final time if she could find the man she was looking for that
morning.
I
switched my thoughts back to Delhi and sat relaxing with closed eyes, feeling a
little sadistic happiness at Mr. Gupta’s absence! Just, then I felt a tap on my
right shoulder – startled I shook up straight and looked up.
“Are
you Mr. Nishant Gupta?” I remained silent for a few seconds. “Going to Delhi?”
came another question, without quite waiting for an answer.
Looking
at her insistent efforts to find a man I had never known, flying to a city I
really wanted to go since long, made me want – for a moment - to impersonate
Mr. Gupta and tell her that I was the one she was looking for and go to Delhi.
I
soon realized that my silence irritated her, and quickly I told her that I was
not Mr. Gupta. She went away quickly, disappointed at having wasted her time
without a positive outcome.
And
I regretted the fact that I was not Mr. Nishant Gupta on that Monday morning.
