Not So Humble

Sometime back I was transferred from Gurgaon to Chennai by my company. As I was to relocate in the middle of the academic session and due to other family compulsions, I decided not to disturb family and relocate alone to the Chennai.

Company provides facility of moving belongings through designated transporters to avoid any difficulty or harassment to the employees. But as I was to move alone, so thought to use above facility when my family would be joining with me.

I am man of few needs, so decided to carry things, which I need along with me as luggage when I join at Chennai for the first time, to save cost and time. Four briefcases were taken out to fill with essential stuff which I might need for my living at Chennai. My most of the needs were met with Hand bang and one large brief case. However, two large briefcases were left which my wife have brought as her luggage, when she first came to live with me after marriage, carrying her stuff. You can very well imagine these would be good enough to hold lot of things. Packing these two additional bags, I packed stuff which by any standard, I would have done without.

Even after whatever additional I needed, a lot of space was left out for additional stuff. So, I packed GST Manual, few other essential books, foot mat, pillow, yoga mat, exercise rollers etc.

With All this stuff, I departed from home at 4 AM to catch my early morning 6 AM #AirIndia flight to Chennai. I hired Uber or Ola, I don’t remember because none of the guys ever created any fuss with 4 bags of luggage that I was able to easily pull.  Individually these were not heavy, this statement is not because of my exercise and weight lifting regime but what the machines reflected at check in counter of #AirIndia. All four bags put together were 41 kgs.

There I came to know, I was permitted to carry only 20 kg as check-in luggage and I will have to pay for the balance weight of 21 kg. I had some inkling that I will be charged, but not the shock of the life which I was about to get. My ticket costed company something around Rs 4800, so any additional baggage charge would be nominal amount which I will pay and carry the additional luggage.

So, when the lady at the counter, as ever smiling asked me that I will have to pay additional charges, I without blinking asked for the amount. She said it would be roughly be around Rs. Twelve thousand at the rate of Rs. 500 per kg plus taxes. Her words came as bullets straight into my heart, ripping it apart with immense pain and agony.

However, like a Bollywood or Hollywood hero, I mustered all my courage and countered but in a meek voice losing all my confidence, ma’am how it could be when my own ticket is just for Rs. Four thousand and eight hundred and I am weighing over 68 kg requiring much larger space and attention for covering same distance and you are saying I have to pay Rs. Twelve thousand for just 21 kg. Nothing prevailed, and I was told its #AirIndia policy and rates are far lesser than other airlines.

With no options at my disposal as to leave baggage anywhere or to call someone at this juncture to take back the luggage (don’t even think off, I should have asked my wife to take back luggage – this is her time to go to her school, where she is a primary teacher, she would have preferred to dump me to the court for divorce rather than coming here and taking back the luggage. Even my mobile phone would have burst out of fear of connecting with my wife’s mobile at this juncture.) Humor apart, time was too short for anyone to come and take back the luggage.

As lady at the counter has asked to pay cash at other counter, I searched all my pockets to find requisite amount and in low voice I told her about not having the cash. I thought this might generate some mercy on her part and she might waive the charges but curse to our prime minister’s demonetization and digital payment initiative (however personally, I have loved and advocated demonetization but please no debate on the topic, this is my very personal choice and view), she again with cunning smile said, I can make payment through debit or credit card.  

At the payment counter, not yet fully accepted the defeat, I gave my #americanexpress card which 95 % of the vendors refuse to take. But here at payment counter, my religious counterpart smiling Sikh, took it with ease and swapped for the payment. Payments were processed with ultimate dagger in my heart for such a daylight robbery.

Finally, I reached Chennai without any further fuss by anyone about my luggage. When I opened my bags, value of every item had instantly multiplied with a rate of Rs. 500 per kg. Some items like foot mat which didn’t cost originally more than Rs. 200 were sitting pretty at around Rs. Six to Seven hundred. A new realization had dawned upon me about role of these items in my life. I was enriched, and these items had become nothing short of memorabilia for me for the rest of my life.  

(The views expressed constitute the ideas & opinions of the author and the author alone; they can’t in any case represent the views and opinions of the author’s employers, supervisors, nor do they represent the view of organizations, businesses or institutions the author is, or has been a part thereof.)