Cricketers, Passengers & Some Pondering..

A few months back I had gone to the airport to pick up a friend. The flight was delayed by a couple of hours for arrival. Now since I couldn't leave without him, I was deciding how to kill the time. I picked up an over priced coffee and sat down at one of the many tables outside the Arrivals at Bangalore International Airport.

The Champion's League was going on then in October, the final was staged in Bangalore between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings. The KKR team had just landed and out came the players and support staff. I did a double take and noticed Wasim Akram walking towards the team bus that was waiting for them in the VIP driveway. I ran up to him and shook his hand while clicking a selfie with the greatest cricket bowler of all time. Before I could digest what was happening, the remaining players and staff strolled out. I kept shaking hands with them and wishing them luck for the final. Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir along with Robin Uthappa came walking briskly and the eager fans were all taking pictures and wishing them luck. The last man out was Yusuf Pathan who obliged for a picture with me. I noticed he wasn't that tall as he appeared to be. It was a fun sport celebrity spotting moment.

With a good 1 hour and 45 minutes to pass I looked at my phone to discover the battery was just 20% left. That ruled out any browsing or games to pass time. So I ended up looking at people. Wondering what emotions must be going on with different people departing and arriving. The son leaving his parents for higher studies abroad is all excited and nervous but at the same time full of sorrow of leaving his folks behind. The parents are all proud and joyous but worried about him too. A couple getting separated as the husband has to travel for his job. A sad wife looks on as he walks away from her. A family leaving for a holiday all bubbling with excitement. Looking forward for a good time. There were single passengers too. Business trips, visits to hometown, weekend getaways etc. Whatever the occasions you could literally read off from their faces.

I got up and strolled towards the Arrivals and saw a different set of emotions here. Mostly happy faces. Except for the odd ones that left their loved ones behind. An airport is a nice place to ponder and remember about who and what matters to us.

So finally I'm writing after 3 years. Life has changed a lot since then. More to come.