Why I was not Mr. Nishant Gupta that morning....

“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.