Whats life without a little adventure and sometimes when things get so messy and out of hand that its best to sit back, relax and enjoy the chaos! Yes, I was at the heathrow airport on the beautiful morning the terrorists planned to blow away planes on air, ruining my breakfast among other things. Even before all this there was a last min mixup of tickets and I was given a ticket for British Airways. This was a cause of limitless tension thanks to the delay by the agent in disclosing that the previous ticket was not actually booked and issuing new ones.
Looking out of the window, I realized that the plane was going around in circles when I saw the London bridge for the fifth time! Thanks to marvels of engineering, flights have become extremely boring except for the slight vibrations one experiences when flying over turbulent regions. I was to get down at terminal two and go to terminal 5 to catch at flight to san francisco at 1:30. I had 4 hours to kill between. I joined a long queue for additional security checks which drifted slowly, so far blissfully unaware of the real scale of the chaos. Only when I walked to the check out point that i realized what was going on looking at the wide screen TV showing that most of the flights to US were cancelled. Help desk was an utter chaos and I found out that most likely my flight was cancelled too. British Airways cannot guarantee alternate arrangements right now. I was to take care of your own arrangements. Thank you very much!
I went to terminal 5 anyway. All flight counters were jammed as passengers were trying to make alternate arrangements. All kind of liquids were banned inside flights as the terrorists were planning to smuggle liquid explosives in drinks bottles and assemble it on air. Moms were allowed to carry milk bottles for their little ones if they drank some before the guards!! I was relieved to find out that my flight was not cancelled though it was delayed sine die. I threw away me deodorant bottle and checked in everything. With my belongings in a plastic cover I went to the terminal, where the passengers in modern flights are "conditioned" before the enter the flight. I grabbed some food and sat in front of a large TV, where a BBC spokesman was describing the shocking scale of the terrorism, in a beautiful british accent. I was joined by others who were on the same flight. The reporter described that the passengers were sacred and lots of them were heading back home! It was rather funny that I was not feeling even a tinge of scare, nor was angry with the delays in the flights, sitting right in the eye of the storm. Indian conditioning, huh! or Perhaps the storm is easy to bear from the inside. Internet is extremely costly though I shelled out a few pounds to let my near and dear ones that I was fine and the person who was to pick me up to check the schedule before coming.
Finally 3 hours later the flight took off. It was waiting for a while on the air strip to get a ack from US of A to take off. The woman beside me on the plane was scared that there might be a bomb on the plane and that she did not want to die as they had finally saved enough money to buy a house. funny, eh ? Its amazing how a little calamity brings everone closer. everyone was talking to one another and helping in any way possible. The air hostess were being extra nice too! Darn another 20 hours of boring flight. This time there was no turbulence either.
Finally I reached SFO. More delays at the luggage counter. My first time to US and i was excited even after more than 24 hours of torture! driving though the highways at night on the bay area resembled so much like the NFS Underground 2 scene :). My friend dropped me at my apartment. My roomate arrived hours later. He flew by lufthansa via frankfurt so had a less agressive story to tell. I slept peacefully. Strangely, the jet lag hit me a week later!
