A Vacation Turned into Nightmare

I was a defence officer serving in the Indian Navy with whatever little pride that was left in me. I was to retire on 30 Apr 2011 and hence decided to go on my last vacation sponsored by the Government of India in the form of Leave Travel Concession. We were three families, in all 12 members who made elaborate arrangements and headed towards Kashmir. The children deserved a break after the grueling examinations and were excited about the ensuing flight, the white snow of the valley etc. Finally the day came when we all dressed smartly and arrived at the airport. The first setback was the announcement about our flight being delayed by 1 hour. We had already checked in by then and asked our baggage to be routed to Srinagar directly. Since we had to take a connecting flight from Delhi to Srinagar we went to the manager of Air India (AI) and expressed our apprehension about missing the flight at Delhi. The AI manager- a very cool and confident gentlemen, suggested not to worry and confidently claimed that the same aircraft which is flying from Bhopal to Delhi will be going to Srinagar. He further assured that he will send a message to Delhi airport about our delayed departure. Assured, we took the flight to Delhi and on our way we realized that this flight is not going to Srinagar. On arrival at Delhi we rushed to the AI counter and informed them that we have arrived late due to delay in the departure at Bhopal. We were asked to rush to the gate and check if we can board the flight. As we dragged our hand baggage and the smaller children through the number of check points, we met one very diligent CISF Jawan who decided to frisk all of us before allowing in. When showed the armed forces identity card and requested to allow us in as we were about to miss the flight, he retorted, “yeh fauji icard nahi chalega idhar”. (This Defence I Card will not do here). Frustrated by the insult, we were going through his sadistic ritual and halfway, a well known Member of Parliament from Bihar happened to pass through the same check point with his entourage of at least 6. The same diligent CISF Jawan made way for the MP and his men, greeted them all with a smart salute followed by a bodily bow in respect and allowed the entire entourage without any checks. I realized the value of my ‘commission’ that late in my career when I was about to retire. Finally, we made our way to the gate to realize that the flight had already left Delhi and we were told that our baggage had been held back. We were asked to go to AI office and claim a hotel room for the night.

Disappointed, we reached the AI office to be told that we were not eligible for a hotel room because the PNR numbers of Bhopal-Delhi and Delhi-Srinagar tickets were different – something we were blissfully unaware. However, after talking up the hierarchy we were finally given hotel accommodation at Centaur, Delhi. The next challenge was to get to Srinagar. AI initially declared that it is next to impossible as the flights are going chocker block. To our surprise and dismay, while we were still lingering around to see what could be done, the AI staff suddenly declared that 12 seats are available for the next morning flight as there was a bulk cancellation just then. Though it sounded unbelievable, we passed our tickets and got the same endorsed for the next flight hoping like hell we reach Srinagar. Jubilant that we got the tickets and also the hotel stay, we were extremely thankful to the AI staff and went on to collect our baggage and that meant another elaborate checking by the diligent CISF jawans. At the baggage area no one had a clue about our baggage and after 45 minutes of discussion the AI staff finally declared that our baggage has been taken to Srinagar as we had done a through baggage check-in. Fuming and fretting, we landed at the hotel with instructions that our baggage be delivered to the hotel room by evening. On arriving at the hotel, we were surprised to see a mob of around 2000 boys and not so pretty girls that had gathered right in the reception area. There were loud announcements being made on mike with no respect to the guest who may be staying in that hotel. On enquiry we were told that our mighty AI is conducting a recruitment drive for cabin crew. Somehow, we managed to pass through the commotion and reached our rooms to be greeted by domestic friends like cockroaches. Soon we also realized that most rooms in the hotel are unoccupied and we were the most esteemed guests of the entire hotel. By dusk we were enlightened by the fact that this hotel is a government property and the only people who stay in this are unfortunate passengers of AI, the cabin and flying crew of AI and is used for all and sundry purposes of AI including recruitments. The stewards and other staff are on the government payroll and are in the average age group of 45 to 50. In all it is a property which is sustaining on the inefficiencies of the AI – one leaning on the other. The total bill to the AI for our overnight stay amounted to roughly Rs 48,000/-. I am not sure if both AI and Centaur are ‘Navratna’ companies of the Government of India.

Finally, our baggage arrived late in the evening and we managed to sleep after a decent change of clothes and next morning moved to the airport skeptically. But AI took us to Srinagar without anymore surprises. The next few days were fantastic-thanks to the hospitality of the Indian Army and the local populace of Kashmir. It was the day before our departure from Srinagar that we got another surprise – the pilots of AI decided to rub more salt on our wounds by going on a flash strike. We were frantically looking for other options but no one at the AI office was willing to confirm the cancellation of flights. The next morning we decided to cancel the ticket and go by road up to Jammu and catch Jhellam Express to reach Bhopal on 30 Apr, the last day of my service with the Indian Navy. It was courtesy Indian Army once again that there were few seats reserved for us under the military quota. We reached the AI office and declared our intention but were promptly told to rush to the airport and that the airport staff would put us in some flight or the other up to Delhi. We took an about turn and rushed with family and baggage to the airport. It was some congregation of humanity, some amused and most disgusted. The AI staff asked us to stand in the queue of King Fisher airlines. After 30 minutes King Fisher refused any seats. Then we followed the queue of Jet Airways, then Indigo and finally after constant pestering and explaining the gravity of the situation about my retirement on 30 Apr and the regulation that stipulates mandatory presence on duty on the last day of service, the AI manager was kind enough to put me on SpiceJet craft up to Delhi. Friends and families stayed back at Srinagar, cancelled the AI tickets, purchased new tickets in indigo Air and reached Bhopal on 01 May 2011 while I hopped into a train at Delhi and travelled without reservation to reach Bhopal in the morning of 30 Apr.

We all thought that the saga is over but it was not to be. We had to claim the refund of the tickets we cancelled. The AI office refused to process the refund claim at Srinagar saying that the refund can be processed only from the station where the tickets were bought. I left Bhopal to take up my new job at early hours of 02 May 11. I could return to Bhopal for processing the claim only in June. In the AI Office I met the manager- the same very cool and confident gentlemen who started our nightmare. I thanked him for all the help and asked for my claim. He promptly played the ball back into Srinagar office and said, “It is possible to process the claim from anywhere in India”. Had somebody told me this, I could have processed it from my new location and did not have to travel back to Bhopal and waste two months. Finally, he was very helpful in asking one of his staff to process the claim. I gave a sigh of relief and assumed it to be over but the staff came back to tell me that the system is not accepting the PNR numbers as AI has switched over to a new system recently. The entire AI staff understood all that I wanted to tell them even without my uttering a single word. If I had the luxury of indecency, I would have given them choicest of abuses, that too in Hindi. Finally the manager asked me to come after three days. I went back and sat through for three hours before getting my claim processed. At the end of the process, the staff very courteously said the money will come back to my card within the next two to three months.

I wish someone had taken my photograph then. It would have said it all!!!