"Come on...come on... pleaeese.." my heart was pounding. "Your payment has been successfully processed" the screen flashed the message & I heaved a sigh of relief. It was my 5th attempt to book the air tickets online as none of my debit cards worked as they were trying to send OTPs to my India number, finally the corporate credit card came as a savior. Filling all personal and passport information online in a small screen of cellphone and getting timed out in payment step especially when you are in rush is the last thing I that wish even my enemy to face.
"Dimuthu, please come back to the hotel real quick". We need to rush to the airport".
"What??" I could hear his muffled voice that tells me that my call woke him up from deep sleep.
"Yes, our return flight to India is cancelled for tomorrow without any reschedule option as Indian government issued travel advisory in light of Covid 19 situation, I was worried if other airlines also would start snapping their services, so booked the return tickets today itself. I am cutting short my trip".
My wife started stuffing our things haphazardly in our suitcases in rush. The scene was very different an hour back. We were in Nuruwa Elia, a picturesque hill station, thoroughly enjoying our much-deserved vacation. We were just relaxing in the homestay and about to take nap after lunch on our 4th day of Srilanka trip. The plan was to go for boating in the beautiful Gregory lake in the evening and have dinner in the most rated restaurant of the hill town. Thank God, I checked my mail before taking nap and I got a jerk when I read the mail about flight cancellation. The family was asleep, not wanting to terrify them I did all initial searches on available airlines & tickets to get back home in the next available flight to India. Emotions were running high in my mind and started preparing myself mentally to spend indefinite period in Srilanka if we get stranded.
The phone rang, "I just reached the hotel, waiting outside for you", it was Dimuthu. He was a cheerful driver & we had already spent 4 days with him and visited Pinnawala Elephant camp, Dambola Royal caves & Kandi. He was engaging us in the conversation throughout ranging from Srilanka to Buddhism to his European customers to Super star Rajinikanth & Dhanush.
I saw my watch , it was quarter to 5pm. "How much time it would take to reach Colombo airport?" I asked, "anywhere between 5-6 hours depending upon the evening traffic on the hilly winding road", he replied. "God, it will be neck to neck, Lets go Lets go , I screamed. Our flight to Bangalore was at 1 am, and barely had any breathing time. The Schumacher (Formula 1 fame) in him emerged. He exhibited all his driving skills in overtaking vehicles, taking short cuts, driving through country roads in pitch dark, navigating sharp curves and nicely gently bumping on speed breakers without coasting much.
It was quarter to 11pm when we reached Colombo airport."so, you are not going to stay with us any longer" he quipped. After settling his bill and thanking him abundantly, we took leave of him and checked in our luggage in Srilankan Airline counter and walked up to the gate with a stride of exultation, "Yes, we did it".
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