The cab driver was given the strict instructions to drive as slowly as possible so that I can devour one last look at the sleepy Hyderabad. Slowly meandering through the Banjara Hills, I reached Hyderabad Central where I had done more shopping than my bags can hold. With now PVR on the top, it was the favorite weekend hangout. Crossing the Central, I passed the Odyssey bookshop, one of the big contributor to my literary side. They handed over a discount card on my first visit to their shop in Dec 2003. With that I guess they bought my shop loyalty, as I never liked any other shop in comparison to theirs. By the time I recovered from the Central-Odyssey, I found myself near to Lifestyle, which catered to my Ray-Ban needs. Life style alone was responsible of ripping off my wallet by eight thousand bucks on two ray-ban. Thinking about the Haveli restaurant, which I visited the previous night alone, to pamper my taste buds by giving them what they badly wanted, an Italian Macaroni.
After 12.3kms of this roller coaster ride of sentiments, I reached Airport. Though I still think the cab meter was fast, another of the Hyderabadi intuition, and I would have reached in 0.3 km less.
Reaching the airport I enter the grind of baggage screening and rigourous security check. Thereafter standing in a long queue for getting the boarding pass, I reached the counter. People from adjoining queue desperately fighting for the common weigh machine, again made me feel will I find this anywhere else. I really wanted to have the fun of one last argument, but my guards were down and I couldn’t pick a fight. I will really miss, missing this opportunity. Then after trying various permutations and combinations between cabin baggage and check-in baggage, in order to not to simply fly cheap- a prime reason for anybody opting Air Deccan, I got the boarding pass.
After security check, the boarding began in 5 minutes. As the boarding process started, passenger ran a sprint for 10 meters final towards the out door. I being expert positioned myself at the advantage position and was ready to take off even before the word go. A lady, as usual utilized her wild card of being a lady, won the argument with the staff with a very complex point that though she reached last to the queue, but she started first. Staff officials had other important things to do, so they let her lead the queue. But they oversaw the sheer hard work and planning I had put in to become the queue leader. Though I had supported reservation in the on-going reservation-anti-reservation coffee-toffee argument, today I strongly felt how merit suffers in reservation.
I boarded the flight and as usual took my favorite and least competed seat (isle side seat, in the second exit door on right wing of the plane i.e. 14C) . Passenger started pouring in and soon the plane took off after the initial flight rituals. While the safety jacket was being demo-ed, I was thinking about the guy who was caught stealing that useless jacket. I wondered what the guy had thought of doing with the jacket after he had successfully stolen it. Anyway that would be a mystery to me and would go down in the books along with what is there in Bermuda triangle.
Shopping therapy is when depressed shop. Though the shopping brings you out from that state for the moment, only to drop you from a higher altitude into the depression valley when the credit card statement comes the next week. I think I also got trapped in this vicious cycle. I happened to have a look at the Brand Sale catalogue. I wanted to buy most of the item in that catalogue, but after a lot of revision and switching on my anti shopping guard , I bought a 1 GB pen drive. This was after reading the rules and conditions that there is no guaranteed delivery in UP, Bihar, J&K and Andamans and Nicobar.
I was shocked to see the comparison between UP and Adamans, though this will be a useful matter for another blog. These days it seems people think for blogs only.
The flight landed on time at Mumbai Airport and the temperature reported to be 27 degrees centigrade. Finding the temperature optimum, I decided to let go my Hyderabad nostalgia. After collecting my baggage from conveyor, I am now waiting for Pallavi to turn up.
