Time
December 24, 2005
Well, today we spent over 10 hours at Mumbai’s domestic airport waiting to catch a flight to Kerala for a week of holidays. Our flight was supposed to depart at noon and I was pleasantly surprised when we received a call in our hotel informing us that the flight was delayed almost 3 hours. I was unhappy that the flight was delayed but happy that we didn’t need to spend 3 extra hours with 2 kids under 4 years old at a busy airport terminal. However, we when reached the airport we found out that the flight had been delayed yet again due to fog in Delhi. Apparently the aircraft that we would be taking had been stuck in Delhi and we would have to wait for it, which meant an additional two hours. All in all, the flight was delayed 2 more times and a noon flight ended up leaving at 10:15 pm. Unfortunate you might think, but what’s the big deal? Weather delays happen all the time, even in the U.S., and at least in India we were bussed to and given vouchers to eat at a very nice hotel.
The frustration comes from what appears to be utter confusion on the part of every airline staffperson at the airport as to what was going on in Delhi. There was no consensus as to what the status of the aircraft was in Delhi. Depending on the time and the person we spoke to the aircraft was either still on the ground, up in the air, or would arrive in Mumbai imminently. This kept on going for 10 hours. It was hard to believe that there was no definite knowledge about the status of the aircraft that was somewhere on the ground or in the airspace somewhere between Delhi and Mumbai.
Funny thing about kids is that they accept all these unforeseen circumstances more readily than adults. Adults always seem to be in a rush to get somewhere. In our daily life in California, I can’t count how many days passed with a rushed breakfast (if that), driving Sandrine, my older daughter, to preschool; picking her up, taking her home for lunch and then the 4 afterschool classes that we signed her up for, baths, dinner, goodnight stories etc. Of course, Bob was busy putting in long hours at work and when I was also working it was downright crazy. We also have an infant who occupied whatever minutes remained.
I must say that Sandrine used the time in the airport much more productively than us. She struck up a friendship with other another child her age and her sister who were also stranded like us. They passed the time happily playing with all the toys, dolls, and books that were in their respective children’s rolling backpacks. Can’t say enough positive things about rolling backpacks! Sandrine and these two other girls simply accepted that they would be in the airport for some time. They made the most of it and frankly had a very memorable Christmas Eve with new found friends.
On the other hand, Bob and I occupied out time in the airport harassing airline staff every 30 minutes regarding the status of our flight and commiserating with other stranded passengers. Although we were on vacation we seemed to bring the fervor of our everyday lives in the U.S. to India. I am not sure why we were so distressed to have to slow down one day. Remarkably a 3.5 year old managed to make better use of her time than us. After all, what’s the big hurry?
Well, today we spent over 10 hours at Mumbai’s domestic airport waiting to catch a flight to Kerala for a week of holidays. Our flight was supposed to depart at noon and I was pleasantly surprised when we received a call in our hotel informing us that the flight was delayed almost 3 hours. I was unhappy that the flight was delayed but happy that we didn’t need to spend 3 extra hours with 2 kids under 4 years old at a busy airport terminal. However, we when reached the airport we found out that the flight had been delayed yet again due to fog in Delhi. Apparently the aircraft that we would be taking had been stuck in Delhi and we would have to wait for it, which meant an additional two hours. All in all, the flight was delayed 2 more times and a noon flight ended up leaving at 10:15 pm. Unfortunate you might think, but what’s the big deal? Weather delays happen all the time, even in the U.S., and at least in India we were bussed to and given vouchers to eat at a very nice hotel.
The frustration comes from what appears to be utter confusion on the part of every airline staffperson at the airport as to what was going on in Delhi. There was no consensus as to what the status of the aircraft was in Delhi. Depending on the time and the person we spoke to the aircraft was either still on the ground, up in the air, or would arrive in Mumbai imminently. This kept on going for 10 hours. It was hard to believe that there was no definite knowledge about the status of the aircraft that was somewhere on the ground or in the airspace somewhere between Delhi and Mumbai.
Funny thing about kids is that they accept all these unforeseen circumstances more readily than adults. Adults always seem to be in a rush to get somewhere. In our daily life in California, I can’t count how many days passed with a rushed breakfast (if that), driving Sandrine, my older daughter, to preschool; picking her up, taking her home for lunch and then the 4 afterschool classes that we signed her up for, baths, dinner, goodnight stories etc. Of course, Bob was busy putting in long hours at work and when I was also working it was downright crazy. We also have an infant who occupied whatever minutes remained.
I must say that Sandrine used the time in the airport much more productively than us. She struck up a friendship with other another child her age and her sister who were also stranded like us. They passed the time happily playing with all the toys, dolls, and books that were in their respective children’s rolling backpacks. Can’t say enough positive things about rolling backpacks! Sandrine and these two other girls simply accepted that they would be in the airport for some time. They made the most of it and frankly had a very memorable Christmas Eve with new found friends.
On the other hand, Bob and I occupied out time in the airport harassing airline staff every 30 minutes regarding the status of our flight and commiserating with other stranded passengers. Although we were on vacation we seemed to bring the fervor of our everyday lives in the U.S. to India. I am not sure why we were so distressed to have to slow down one day. Remarkably a 3.5 year old managed to make better use of her time than us. After all, what’s the big hurry?
posted by Danakka @ 8:41 AM
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