The terminal

Poor air quality often leads to cancellations of flights in North India. But they get cancelled in other parts of the country, especially in the South, for different reasons. That is what happened when we wanted to travel to Kerala early December last year. We all knew well enough that the airline was in the thick of cancelling flights as it had fallen victim to a bug which was aptly named cancellation bug. How else could one explain its calling off an overwhelming number of flights left and right? However, since it had been accepting bookings and letting fliers do Web check-in, we were reasonably hopeful that the flight would take off. So, 11 of us, next of kin, found ourselves at the airport early morning on December 5 to catch a flight which was scheduled to depart in the afternoon. We did not want to take chances. That explains why we were in the airport in the small hours. Our destination was a far-flung village away from the airport in Kochi where the wedding of a close relative awaited us. All of us were holding confirmed tickets and had done Web check-in the previous evening. Thus happy and reassured, we proceeded towards Mumbai’s Sahar airport. Though we live in different suburbs of the city, all of us reached the airport nearly simultaneously. The airport was unusually crowded, giving one the impression that one had found oneself at a large railway station, say Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus where passengers were waiting for their train for days following a major train accident down the line. We checked in and entered the waiting lounge where, to our amusement, a game of musical chairs was in progress. People were scrambling for seats on chairs and sofas. Those who had missed the opportunity of occupying the seats walked up and down, keeping a close eye on the seats. They were, presumably, hoping that the occupants, tired of sitting, may give up them sooner or later. But alas, the sitters stayed put like legislators and ministers to whom seats, we all know, are very dear. Thus, we cooled our heels at the waiting lounge for over 20 hours before we were told, to our disenchantment, that our flight was not going to take off. Still we had to wait, for we had committed the mistake of checking in our bags. Three youngsters among us were deputed to retrieve them. At the end of the day, when it was almost 7, an hour or so after the sun had set over the city, we beat a retreat. Alas, our travel to Kochi had thus terminated at Mumbai’s Sahar airport! While on my way back home, I contrasted the flight cancellations during the pandemic days and the recent ones. While the former was owing to significant reductions in passenger numbers, the latter was thanks to pilot and crew shortages. Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson famously said, “To travel hopefully is better than to arrive.” For the 11 of us that day, to sit hopefully was better than to travel! cvsuku46@gmail.com Published - February 15, 2026 03:15 am IST