All in the game – part III
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Anna international airport welcomed Anil with all grandeur it had to offer. He practically didn’t have any time for anything. All he had in his little suitcase were unwashed rags!! He had to run around the campus to get various things done in a very short time. But Imran looked as cool as ever even in such tense times. He arrived at the last possible moment to the airport and looked like he was going for a vacation.
As they were going through the formalities Anil asked Imran.
“Man!! How can you be so unaffected by anything around you??”
“The game does not affect you much if you realize that you are just a spectator and not a player.” Imran replied calmly.
Anil didn’t want to talk any more about it!
If there is one thing that made him look forward to the trip then it was his expectations about the airhostesses. He had never been in a flight journey before and had been to the airport just once. He had once come to see off his friend. That was when the famous “kissing the sculpture” incident took place, which was briefly mentioned in first part of this story. His friend looked the other way after the incident and Anil had to return home ruing his bad luck.
As he walked up to the plane he was thrilled by the size of the huge bird. Here is one machine which regularly transported scores of people over thousands of miles across seas through the air!!!!!!!! The enormity of the functionality stunned him.
He walked up the steps and handed over the ticket to the hostess who guided him to his seat in economy class. His seat was in a three-seater setup. As he sat on the one corner, Imran took his seat in the middle. The other seat was already taken. There was a lean man with a very neat moustache and fancy spectacle seated there. He was wearing a dark suit and looked very decent. He was more like “don’t-disturb-me-and-I-wont-disturb-you” kind of guy by the looks. He was comfortably seated and was reading a magazine.
As they settled on to their seats Anil’s heart was beating faster with excitement. He looked at Imran only to find that he was as composed as you would find him sitting in his cubicle. Being a restless chap Anil couldn’t help talking to Imran. So he said!!!
“So!! Imran, how do you feel?? aint it exciting???”
Imran turned to him with his lips expanding slightly into what looked like a smile. Then he said
“Giving in to feelings shall only leave you reeling in the end”
On hearing this, the bespectacled gentleman looked at Imran through the space on top of his spectacles and then continued to browse through the magazine. But his behaviour wasn’t the same after that. He looked disturbed and soon closed his magazine and put it aside. For a minute he looked like he was deeply in thought and then he took his fingers to his eyes as if to control his tears.
Anil who was watching all of this, felt bad for having talked to Imran. He resolved not to talk to Imran during the course of the journey, but wasn’t sure how long he could keep this new resolution.
After a while he could hear the announcement ”Good evening, ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking, please fasten your seat belts as we will be taking off very soon”
He could see that the airhostesses were helping the passengers to put on their belt. He was hoping to fumble with his belt long enough so that he can get some help from them but surprisingly and sadly there was no need for that and he got it right after a couple of tries!
As the plane took off he could feel the butterflies in his stomach. He felt the way he had felt when he got into the giant wheel for the first time when he had gone to an amusement park during his childhood. As he was struggling to come to terms with the anxiety he felt someone strongly clutching his hand. He turned to see Imran closing his eyes tightly and forcing himself to the seat. And the funniest part was that his other hand was grabbing the hand of the bespectacled gentleman who was looking at Imran with fear and confusion. Anil suppressed his smile with a lot of effort.
Soon the plane was into the sky and Anil was able to see the beautiful view of the lights from the city under him. Imran had released his hand and apologized to both Anil and the man on the other seat. While Anil acknowledged with a smile the man responded with a hesitant shake of his head. He was looking a lot more nervous and confused than the way he looked before. After a few minutes Anil decided to break his resolution and wanted to tease Imran about his fear of flight travel!!
“Hey Imran bhai!!! How were you feeling some time back??? Or should I say you were reeling !! ha ha ha!! “ exclaimed Anil
Imran who was visibly disturbed by this replied with a mild smile!!
“Feelings and Reelings are inescapable when you are a pawn in God’s dealings!!”
Upon hearing this, the bespectacled man threw a disturbed glare at Anil and Imran. He looked at his watch and grew restless as he started looking around.
Then out of nowhere he jumped up from this seat and shouted “Long live mother earth” and suddenly all the airhostesses pulled out sophisticated firearms and started pointing it on to passengers nearby to them.
At the same time there was an announcement from the speaker nearby.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your new captain speaking. The plane has been hijacked, just sit tight and be nice boys and girls and nobody will get hurt”
Anil couldn’t believe his ears. Plane hijack with a bunch of girls???
To be continued…………..
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