Made a Mess Mr Careless

One full week has gone by so it’s the right time to pen down the second episode i.e. part-II of my being careless story. Here we go.
The next significant incident also happened during my gdpi process. It was kindness of God that got me good number of calls, so different experiences were bound to happen. I went to Mumbai for the gdpi process of IIT. Don’t know why they cant conduct it in Delhi itself when all other institutes can do it, maybe it’s the sibling rivalry i.e. IIT B vs IIT D. I reached there the night before my scheduled day. I think the preferable mode of transport in Mumbai for an outsider is Auto rickshaw because it takes a lot of courage to use the popular Mumbai local trains or good knowledge of the area to travel by BEST bus. Also the way those auto rickshaws operate in Mumbai looks very professional as compared to the Delhi guys. The biggest difference is that those auto-drivers are ready to go anywhere that too according to the meter, something which is a rarity in Delhi. The meter charges are based upon time and not distance can be the possible reason behind accepting metered bill. Also the camaraderie between city auto drivers is palpable; they are quick to locate their customer’s destination with help of each other. I also had good past experiences of travelling by auto in Mumbai therefore had trust in the system. I reached hostel from airport fairly quickly that night in around 30-35mins. The next day went fine for me; no major hiccups. Earlier I was bit worried whether I will get free early enough to board my return flight @2115 hrs but yet again God’s grace I got free 6 hrs prior to that. So I had plenty of time to enjoy with my friend there @ IIT B or to get myself mentally ready for the next interview of XLRI which was scheduled to happen in afternoon of very next day. XL call is one thing which I believe is even tougher than getting an IIM call. Very few lucky ones get that chance. I know this because of the agonizing pain which my friend suffered this year and also because of the sufferings last year. A slightest of mistake can snatch the call out of one’s clutches.
However I was pretty relaxed, there were no butterflies in my tummy once I got free that day, however “rats were holding there Olympic races in my stomach” as they say in our desi language. This actually brings me to another change which I have observed in my self over the last year. My appetite has increased quite a bit. If offered I am always willing to eat anything (of course edible) anytime. Even simple namkeens look mouth watering to me. However before any exam/interview all appetite becomes zero. I just can’t anything prior to any such process. Hence the ‘rat race’ was expected. I had few snacks from mess & canteen to fill quota of lunch @ around 5pm. Now it was a tricky situation for me, I planned to leave by 1900-1915 for airport. But I had few things going at the back of my mind. First, airport is only 35 mins away, at max 45-50 min; second, I won’t get anything to eat till 0000hrs i.e. time by which I reach my home once I leave the hostel. I don’t find the food items on board or @ airport worth the hole they would dig in my pocket, third and probably the craziest one that Mumbai – Delhi flights are bound to get late, they just can’t leave or arrive at the right time. It’s the perception I developed during last few times I travelled to Mumbai. Fourth I must spend some light moments with my friend as he was my caretaker all through out. I packed my bags by 1920 and was ready to leave but then thanks to all the above thoughts I decided to go to canteen with my buddy to have my dinner, that too when I had my lunch just 2 hrs back( I am turning out to be a stupid foodie). Sometimes when we loose our track our companions help us to get back on to it but not this time. My buddy was tired of the whole day’s work and was perhaps showing too much hospitality, so he never insisted me to leave early and eventually our dinner session lasted to 20-25mins. So it was 1945 by the time I started look for auto to airport. Had things went on smoothly and all my assumptions proved true I would have written this whole experience in part-I and not in part –II.
My trust over auto rickshaw system started to take beating. The first auto I called up was not willing to go to my destination and only agreed to leave me upto the gate of the city within the Mumbai city i.e. IIT gate. OK fair enough I needed to move on.
By the time I switched autos it was 2000hrs. The first thing I asked from the second auto driver was how much time it would take to reach airport he said close to 1 hour. I was terribly shocked!!! But I had no option other than pleading him to help me reach asap. Meanwhile he was a bit confused about which one is the domestic airport SantaCruz or Andheri. I had no clue what so ever but this basic information is expected from each and every auto driver; how would a tourist know the difference between Santa & Andheri. To deepen the crisis he was moving at such a pace that other autos were overtaking us from both left and right side. I was getting anxious and couldn’t decide what to do. I made few calls to confirm the domestic airport which was SantaCruz. Side by side I was urging the driver to drive fast but at the same time was worried that I don’t get him irritated by my behaviour as that would lead to further problems. I also asked him to drop me in between to take different auto if he is not sure of the way to airport. He was completely in his own world but reassured me that we will reach by 2050hrs and infact suggested me that there is a short cut which he can take but will drop me at some point in between from where another auto would be required. I didn’t know what to do so opted for short cut. The short cut obviously was quite different from the main roads in terms of construction and the surroundings. Those were agonizing moments for me, thoughts of missing my flight and making mess of my next interview were banging my head strongly. As expected he didn’t kept his promise, he dropped me at the backside of airport runway gate at 2050. Obviously it was not the gate from where a passenger would be allowed to enter. The next auto driver said it will take half an hour more to reach the main entrance gate. I was angry with myself like anything at that point of time. This third auto driver was the only one who showed the true mumbaikar spirit and matched my image of auto drivers of Mumbai. Finally I was at the airport by 2110, the only way I could have boarded my flight was if the flight had got delayed. But as I said earlier, miracles don’t happen every now and then. My craziest myth was shattered when I found on the TV display that flight was on time. I ran like crazy guy to the ticket counter only to hear that there is no chance now “flight doors are already closed and all your money has been forfeited”. All the filmy scenes where actors breached the security and ran till the runway and then managed to stop aeroplanes were coming to my mind. Its all complete rubbish, nothing of that sort is possible in reality.
Q: Next flight? A: tomorrow morning. It was dire situation for me. No flight that night, no refund of money thanks to all the crazy things happened in those last two hrs. What next? I started looking for other airlines’ flight to Delhi. Three airlines gave negative response, Preity Zinta’s Go Air said yes but in their next to next flight which would leave by 0010, flight charges Rs 5400+
With no options left I had to compromise on each & everything so handed over my Maestro card. “Sorry sir we don’t accept Maestro“ Got damn it! problems are not over yet. I was also told that seat would probably be available but they cant promise the same price after some time. There begins my ordeal to find ATMs. There was no ATM outside the airport, were there only inside it. I had to request guards to enter the airport. After giving me tough looks for few seconds they allowed me in.
The SBI atm was visible from the gate itself but it was not working at that time became evident only I reached close to it. Bad luck continues. Some how I found second atm, Canara this time. Request for withdrawal of 5000 bucks was rejected twice. Had no clue what’s wrong so tried a smaller amount, 4000 got lucky this time.
But along with the cash I already had it was not sufficient. So near yet so far. All my subsequent withdrawal requests were declined, I was flabbergasted. I was short of cash, card was not acceptable still had to board in that last flight at any cost.
An idea came to my mind to make payment to any other outlet e.g. CCD with my card in return of cash. I thought that it would be a tough ask but still tried my luck at CCD. To my surprise the manager there agreed gleefully. There was something in that night, nothing was going my way, now the CCD card machine was not working. I tried my luck at three other outlets to no avail. All of them simply refused however last one told me that there are three atms in the airport. The third one was at the arrival terminal. To move from departure terminal to arrival terminal I had to plead in front of one more guard. Finally reached the third one and fortunately got the required cash.
When I got back to the ticket counter the I was demanded 500 more than the earlier told price i.e. 5900+. After sufferings from so many things in just short span of time I knew that was going to happen so I had withdrawn some buffer cash as well.
Once I sat down after all this, I was losing my senses, how could I do this especially when I have such an important interview next day and another IIM interview the day after it ( I had a hat-trick of gdpis scheduled three in a row!) Undue loss of 6000 and the psychological blow were just too much. Reached home by 0300hrs but my tempo was pretty low whole of the next day. That reflected in my performance also and subsequently in my result. I couldn’t get thru XL. Had it been some other day I would have given different answers to the questions asked in interview but ‘jo hona hai wo to hona he hai’ Till date this incident is one of the major major blunders I have done. My carelessness made a complete mess of the proceedings.