A Couple of hours @ T3

I have always given a thought to ‘When things go wrong, they go wrong in a hurry’ but never to the one where wrong is replaced by right.

June 11, 2012- The day was similar to any other day during my stay in Delhi apart from the fact that I had to end my 1month vacation that day. The morning was the same; it started with my mom shouting at me to wake up early as we had to leave by afternoon. Early as in 9.30 AM; I usually get out of my bed after 11AM. I had been looking forward to the day when I would head back home as I had been missing it badly since the day I left and the decision to leave behind my personal diary turned out to be a blunder. But when the day finally arrived it seemed just so weird to leave Delhi behind. Human tendency, I guess.

With bags packed, lunch ingested, my parents and I made our way to the Indra Gandhi International Airport, Terminal 3 at 2.35 PM to catch our first Air India flight (No. AI 473) scheduled at 5.05 PM to reach Bhubaneswar. I think, by then, I was so used to listen about ‘how awesome T3 is’ by my brother that instead of getting a increase in my curiosity level, I found it at zero. For me, it was just another airport where I had to catch a flight to get back home and I was not at all fond of travelling in airplanes since my first journey on 20^th May, 2008 (Bhubaneswar-Bangalore).

As soon as I stepped out of the Meru cab outside the airport, at 3.05 PM I asked Mom to get a trolley because in the past, I have never been successful in getting the trolleys out safely from the way they are kept together as if interlinked- either they move together or they don’t move at all. After getting the first trolley out my mom made me pull the second one and miraculously I did it without getting myself into trouble. With our luggage on the trolleys, the three of us headed inside the Terminal 3. At first nothing amused me and I kept on imagining my brother showing me this and that with pure enthusiasm in his eyes. We got our boarding passes from the Air India counter and checked in.

 As soon as we checked in I headed towards the 1^st shop that came into my view because it was filled with books and by then I was a little curious about surfing around with a slight smile on my face which said ‘Oh…kay! So this is bhai’s T3’. As I neared the book store (I don’t remember the name) I saw a few people in small groups taking photographs with someone. With people in the front I could not see who the person was so I kept moving slowly. My steps were moving one inch at a time. I was  peeping, trying  not to get caught in the act as if I were entering someone’s extremely private property and was sneaking to avoid anyone’s attention just like they do in Bollywood movies. So with my eyes at the same place, getting closer, I first saw a staff member of the store whose picture was being clicked and I was like “What the hell??? Is it someone who got a Nobel Prize in serving his customers?” And with a bad tempered mind I moved faster and eventually looked to that spot again and then I froze saying “oh My Goooo……………………………….” As soon as I was out of the freezing moment I managed to say the ‘D’ of God and without my consciousness my right hand had already managed to take my camera out of my bag. I looked back and forth for a few seconds; from the man standing right in front of me to my parents and then back. Now I was angry again as my parents seemed to walk slower than their normal speed and the reason for this was everything was running in my mind with a superfast speed. I wanted one of them to run fast and take my camera to click my photo. Having no hopes, I ran back to them asking them to walk faster… “Papa! Come fast. Faster. Click my photo. It’s Ranveer Singh right here next to that book stall. Come on.” Both my parents were about to ask something and I guess they asked also but I paid no attention at all. I ran and landed up right next to Ranveer Singh saying “Hi! I’m Akankshya” Generally I wait after saying so but not then “Can I click a photo with you?” And he said “Sure” with a SMAAEEEL. He obviously had been doing this for a while now I thought. I handed over the Camera to my Dad and stood right beside him with his right hand around me. I would have literally killed Dad if the snap would not have been good but it was perfect. I wanted to talk to Ranveer but with more people arriving I thought giving them a chance would be fair. So I ended up saying “Thank you so much” and he smiled again.

Ranveer Singh and I @ T3 on 11th June, 2012

 I was on cloud nine and my Dad was like who was that? He obviously had not seen Band Baaja Baraat or Ladies vs. ricky Bahl so I don’t think it was, by any chance, his fault to ask so. But at that moment I could only say “He is Ranveer Singh aka Bittoo Sharma aka Ricky Bahl” with a big ear-to-ear smile which was struggling to stretch even more. My mom had seen me watching Band Baaja baraat a few many times and she knew very well that I really really liked the movie so she didn’t ask many questions- just a silent spectator. I called my brother to let him know but network failed. I really really missed him because on 10^th June we clicked photos together with the Tech Guru/Journalist@ NDTV ‘Rajiv Makhni’ at the Spice Indiblogger meet. I know he would have been as excited as me and if not he would have surely known that feeling after all he had a meeting with Aamir Khan last year. My excitement did not subside but I decided to behave as if I’m a bit stable so I went on to surf books where my mom came and said “Now he is alone. You can go and have a brief chat with him.” I declined the offer with the thought that he hardly would have got any moment alone so if he has a bit of time for himself without any fans then let him be without any more fan disturbances.

My brother, Rajiv Makhni and I @ The Spice Indiblogger Meet, Delhi

As I moved on from the store with a big smile, I decided to try Espresso at CCD, about which I had heard and read a lot recently.  Espresso, I was told, was coffee without milk. If it were some other day, then I would have given a thought to how it would taste, surely bitter but at that time my thoughts were occupied by Ranveer. I finally had my first espresso and fortunately I ended up liking it.  Then I asked my parents to have a look at the food court there, not that it would be any different, but it was T3. So by then I was chanting T3 just like my brother, our reasons being completely different. So after wandering here and there for a while we went to our Gate from where we had to board our flight. As soon as we reached there, I saw a vending machine and I wanted something out- I needed anything or not did not matter. I ended up vending a Water bottle for the first time. After that we headed towards our plane at 4.35 PM and were safely seated in our respective seats.

“The last couple of hours have been one of my memorable moments. Thank you to who so ever is responsible for everything that happened” thought my heart and brain in unison. So with a lot of first time experiences, our flight took off and I found a hope arising in me which said “If I could meet The ‘R’ of my R.A.S.H then someday I will surely meet the A.S.H.” And surely even right things can happen in a hurry, sometimes.

PS- R.A.S.H: Ranveer| Ayushmaan | Shahid | Hritik. – The ones with great dance moves. And yes I’m a bollywood freak, by birth.