Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 1: Delayed Departures

15th & 16th July 2023 - Coimbatore Airport

Exactly a month ago, on my 58th birthday, I was waiting for a delayed flight in Coimbatore airport. We; my wife, son and I, were flying to Delhi on our way to Ladakh for a short vacation. The incoming flight from Delhi was delayed and so our thoughts about take off in that aircraft, was getting a bit jittery. Weather was generally playing havoc all over the country and delayed flights could also mean a cancelled flight. We were to land in Delhi around 1.00 AM and hop on to a connecting flight to Leh at 6.45 AM. 

With no firm announcement of our flight's ETA or revised departure times, tension was running high. There was a real chance that this delay could make us miss our onward flight to Leh. The fact that the ground staff were distributing some complimentary snacks to the waiting passengers at half past ten at night didn't make the situation any better! 

As we sat munching on the snacks, they announced that the incoming had landed and we'd depart for Delhi shortly. The tension drained, as we clambered aboard the shuttle bus. As we rolled towards the waiting aircraft I was reflecting at the turn of events that made me a reluctant passenger on this trip.

25 years ago, when I started practise as an ophthalmologist in my home town, I purchased my first PC. It was a HP Vectra running Windows 95. Since, I had just started my clinic, I had plenty of free time in hand to teach myself to use a PC. One of the first things I did was create a document that I had named, 'Places to go before I die'! It contained places in Africa, South America, South-East Asia and many  in India that were famous for wildlife sanctuaries or national parks. Significantly, Ladakh didn't figure in it because Kashmir was not in the list and Ladakh was still a part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state. 

My son was on his semester break, going from his 3rd to 4th year of engineering and his mother wanted to go on a trip. The planning began almost three months before but I was very undecided. The situation at home and in the profession wasn't all that happy, so a week's break was not something I could afford. Beside other pressing issues, and the thought of leaving a very a sick dog at home, things weren't looking very rosy. Peppy was family, and leaving her to go a trip, 3500 kilometres from home and at a mean elevation of some 15,000 feet wasn't looking like a holiday I really wanted. The devils were dancing in my head but I had to finally relent. Sending mother and son to the same place while I was at home also wasn't a great idea. The veiled threat of Acute Mountain Sickness made up my mind. Three is better than two. So leaving Peppy under the care of my sister and niece (she was by now recovering from surgery), and after a rather early birthday celebration,  I was at the airport boarding a flight for a journey that would eventually make me look at Life differently.

On the flight, which finally took off about two hours behind schedule, they started serving what should have been our dinner but had now become our midnight snack! The weather outside ensured that the flight was jerky and the risk of having to use the barf bag in the seat pocket in front of me was real! It made the 'muscular upma' even more unappetising. I decided to skip the 'magic'! Luckily, for us, nothing untoward happened till we eventually touched down in Delhi a little after 1.30 AM. 

We had a few hours to kill before our next flight, onward to Leh. After printing out our boarding passes and checking in our luggage, we proceeded to security check. At the departure lounge entrance, the chap in security had given me a quizzical look. The face in the photo on the ID document I had presented, my driving license, and the face looking at him were starkly different. I was older, balder and have recently sporting a new 'salt & pepper' whiskers! I told him in Hindi, "Mein booda ho gaya aur mera mooch bada ho gaya!" (I've grown older and my moustache has grown longer!). He suppressed a guffaw and waved me through. I was thrilled. It is not everyday you come across a security chap who could take a joke and smile?! I thought CISF had started recruiting more humane personnel. 

How wrong I was, I would know in a few minutes, but that is for another post.......