traveling more

India’s life expectancy has increased thanks to  immunization and accessibility to health care. The evidence of this is all around us. Not only are senior citizens are visible everywhere, they are on the move. They visit children, grandchildren, attend functions and go on religious pilgrimages.

It is a good thing that they are on the move. It keeps them active and involved. The downside is that our country is not geared as yet for unaccompanied elders travelling.

I travel from Hyderabad to Chennai every week and this definitely qualifies to make me  a “frequent flier.”

I was watching an elderly gentleman at the airport. He had a shoulder bag (not a laptop bag)  slung across one shoulder. He kept getting up and sitting down and was quite agitated. Finally he looked at me and said, ”which gate is the Air India Hyderabad flight?”

“Gate 4” I said.

“But,” he peered around “it says Air Costa.”

“They both go  out of the same gate,” I said.

He was not convinced. He went to the gate and badgered the Air Costa girl. Then he went to the Air India counter. The portly gentleman there was not too polite.

Finally both asked him to sit down.

“Keep sitting” I said “I will take you with me when I leave.”

“Where are you going?” he asked anxiously twisting his ticket in his hands.

“Same as you,” I said, “Hyderabad.”

After a while he said, “they are boarding, they are boarding.”

“Not to worry, I will tell you when to get up. There is no need to stand in an endless queue.”

“But, but” he said.

“The flight won’t leave without you. Your luggage is already on the flight.”

My soothing words made him even more anxious. I insisted that we board at the end. By then he was practically climbing the wall.

The Air Costa flight departed first, about 5 minutes before Air India. There was utter chaos. People got into the wrong line and then had to go back to the end of the other line. When they finally did manage to get out of the gate they boarded the wrong bus to take them to the plane. The buses were of different colours and the destination was clearly flashing on a ticker tape. Not that it made a difference. The ground staff of both airlines kept shuttling between the buses pulling people in and out.

An  Air Costa employee stuck his head into the bus, “anyone for Port Blair?” Two men got down. Another four were brought and deposited in our bus.

We finally settled into the flight—but it did not take off.

“There is a medical emergency on board,” said the captain’s dismembered voice from the cockpit. “Is there a doctor on board?”

“Oh Lord!” I thought, what with the Hippocrates oath I took when I graduated,  I have to get up and figure out what is going on!

Fortunately, two enthusiastic youngsters jumped up before I could unfasten my seat belt. They proceeded to the back of the aircraft.

After what seemed like an eternity, the disembodied voice announced, “the passenger wants to disembark. He does not wish to fly.”

Surely he could have figured that out before he bought the ticket, checked in his luggage, waited in security and boarded?

Off loading a passenger seemed to be a complicated process. He was escorted to the door by the purser. The stairs were fitted back on. Two ground staff and a security personal boarded. The captain emerged from the cockpit.

Another announcement, “we are sorry for the delay, but his luggage has to be identified and removed.”

A young man loudly told his companion, ”that is in case he checked in a bomb and has then decided to get off.”

“Bomb,” shouted an elderly woman, “there is a bomb! I want to get off too!”

Needless to say, it was another  hour before that was sorted out.

Once we reached Hyderabad we were told to show our boarding passes as we disembarked. “This flight is proceeding to Ahmedabad, please have your boarding passes handy for inspection.”

Another delay while passengers searched for misplaced boarding passes. They were made to stand on the side of the tarmac while they rifled through their hand baggage. Only   the queue in the plane moved forward! Then the bus to take us to the terminal could not move. There was a discrepancy in the head count of the passengers who had disembarked.

I could have told them what, why and where. One passenger never left Chennai.

My elderly gentleman friend  complained, “ I don’t know why I came by plane. It was only because my daughter insisted. The train is much more efficient.  And” he continued, “at this rate I don’t think there is much time saved by flying!”

I couldn’t agree more.

Dr. Gita Mathai

The writer is a paediatrician with a family practice at Vellore.

yourhealthgm@yahoo.co.in