15 minutes of separation

"How long will it take to get to the airport ?", I ask. "It should be around 15 minutes", reply's my friend.

It was around 5:30 in the morning and I was on my way to catch the 7:00 AM flight back to Washington D.C from Chicago.

I step out of the car, onto the airport's departure area.

Time 6:53 AM !

Two reasons why I landed at the airport late. One, to start off we took the wrong route. To put it blunt, we drove in the 'opposite' direction towards indy. And it took us quite sometime to discover that. Second, we got caught in the monday morning traffic heading into Chicago. So what was to be a 15 minute cruise became an hour's ordeal.

Time 6:53 AM. I step out of the car, rush to the boot and pull out my luggage. Rush back to passenger side and wave a goodbye to my friend. He responds with a 'Go NOW' look.

I rush to terminal 2. In front of me, I find glass panels to the entrace. No signs to the door. I look around to find no opening or door handle or even a sign saying "Enter". Confused, I try the brute force approach. I stand in front of every glass panel hoping it would be the sliding door and would open. First and second attempt no luck. Third attempt success ! The door slides open. As rush in, I notice someone giving me a grin !!

I heave my luggage to the airline counter. The agent looks at me. "I have to catch the 7:00 AM flight to DC", I tell me. He calmly puts out this hand. I reach for my e-ticket print out and hand it over to him. He looks at it and returns it. "I dont need this, please give me your ID", he says. I reach for my wallet and the damn thing would'nt come out. Of all the time in the world, it has to find today and now to play tough with me ! Wretched thing.

I manage to pull it out and hand over my ID. After a few clicks he hands me the boarding pass. He then looks at me and says "Sir, you are late, surely you are going to miss your flight". I went completely livid. "I know that smart-ass", I say to myself. And what do you know, the guy does'nt stop. He proceeds to give me the next available flight information and that they would put me on it. I was like "NO!". By God I was going to catch this one. "Is that all, can I proceed" I ask. He says yes and instructs me to go through security check. Parting shot, I hear him say "But anyways you are sure to miss it". I ignore him and run to the security check point.

As I expected. Long line. Uttering a million "Excuse me"'s I manage to jump the long lines and get to the security officer and tell her that my flight leaves in another 7 minutes. She looks at my boarding pass, points to another officer and instructs me quickly go to her, in Hindi. No time for a thank you, I cut lines and jump bags to get to her.

Handing over my boarding pass to her I ask, "My flight is leaving in another 7 mins, could you let me through a little faster please". She looks at me and asks, "How many minutes did you say ?", I repeat "7 minutes". And she goes "Sir, if your flight is leaving in 7 minutes, do you know what that means ?" and I am like "What ?". She - "It means you have already missed your flight !!!".

Unbelievable. Could this be happening to me!!?? How could two people, in a span of few minutes, be so negative. I dont budge. She dismisses me to the end of a shorter line. Only 2 people in front of me. Security check done, I run. I run for my 'flight'.

Which gate ? The boarding pass said E10. And I was in...E1. God! Could it get any worse than this.

Carrying my luggage I run. The damn thing seemed so heavy. Oh ! why did I have to buy all those Formula One stuff in Indy, I curse myself. Gasping gasping...panting panting I look up to see where I was. The sign read E4. What! So much running and just E4. My legs plead , I cant...I cant run anymore. I slow down to a brisk walk. Thats the best I can do, and if the flight cant wait so be it.

From E6, I see a sign that read "destination". I could see E10. But no, I still could'nt pull myself to make the last dash.

Finally, I gasp my way to the agent at the E10 counter. She looks at me and asks "Are you the guy going to DC ?". Surprised, I manage to force a nod. She, "Please proceed to E12...".

Oh Noooo!! 2 more gates to go ? When is this going to end.

"...I will be with you in a few to open the door", she continues.

Ah ! finally the gates of heaven. I drag my poor self to E12 and wait. A few moments later she comes by, tears off my boarding pass, takes my luggage, opens the chute door and says "You can proceed to the aircraft, Sir".

I thank her and run to the door, into the waiting flight.

"So finally, you decided to join us....welcome aboard", greets the steward.

Hmmm...that was welcoming.

As I walk down the aisle, I hear a voice say, "Ah ! Photo finish entrance !".

It was Shiva. And he was all smiles.

I walk by him, find my seat, flop into it and pass out.