The Lounge

Claimer: All characters appearing in this work are real. Any resemblance to real persons is purely intentional.

The recent heavy rains in Mumbai have prompted this reminiscence.

July 2005 is and likely to remain unforgettable for most of the Mumbaites for a long long time. And so shall be the case for many like me who were visiting Mumbai, especially on the 26^th of July.

I love Sales & Marketing part of my job, because it offers me an opportunity to travel, visit different places, meet various people, learn diverse cultures, enjoy multifarious foods and most of all gather lots n lots of experience. It was during one of my such visits, this one to Mumbai, where I experienced what I call until today, an epitome of customer delight!

I landed in Mumbai on the 24^th evening for strategy discussions with my HQ planned on the 25^th & 26^th for two very large projects which we had targeted to acquire. We reached a decision by the afternoon of 26^th. My supervisor of that time, who is known for his sharp instincts, sensed some trouble from the density of the rains and insisted upon me to leave much earlier to the airport than I had planned, for a late evening return flight to Delhi. On my way to the airport, I found the intensity of the rains quite unusual, however not being from Mumbai, I could not gauge how unusual those rains were. While we neared the airport, my car driver had to take a long detour to reach our destination, as there was water logging on the scheduled route. From the rear view mirror, the driver sensed an element of anxiety on my face, and tried to relax me by informing that we should be reaching the departure porch within next 10 minutes.

It took me 25 minutes from that time, which included walking for 5 minutes, while I carried my cabin as well as check-in baggage, as the entry to the airport was full with cars & taxis & autos. I was hoping not to miss my flight when the lady at the counter declared that my flight was delayed.  To my and many other passengers’ surprise as well as dismay, the airline staff could not confirm the revised time of departure. This then gave me a chance to utilize a complimentary service offered by the airlines, which I as a frequent traveller cherish to make use of whenever I have some spare time – The Lounge.

As I entered the lounge located on the first floor, I found it brimming with people. There was not much choice of seats and I grabbed a chair which was closer to the coffee & juice bar, as all the seats next to the mobile charging points were already occupied. The first thing I noticed on my mobile phone, while I took it out from my pocket to call my family and inform them about the flight delay, was the funny looking screen. Since I had got a little drenched while I had walked some distance, the phone had got wet and some water had seeped in. My call was unable to get through so I tried a local number just to double check but still no luck. My phone had flunked! But luckily I could still text, so I sent an sms to my family announcing my delayed arrival. Murphy’s laws had started operating!

With no signs of any announcements for any of the flights’ ETDs, the passengers were kind of getting jittery and few of them were frequenting the airlines counter insisting for making available at least some clarity on the flight schedules. I enjoyed my usual glass of orange juice, followed by a cup of Cappuccino along with some light snacks. While I did that, I also went thru’ my unread e-mails of the past one week, a luxury which I never miss when I am in such a situation. However after some time, the prevailing situation had started getting on my nerves too.

As I got-up from my chair to walk to the rest room, I realized that many passengers were keenly looking towards the runway, however nothing could be seen. The water curtain formed by the intense rains was as good as an opaque wall. By the time I returned, I witnessed a big hoo-haa happening. The airlines staff was announcing cancellation of one flight after another, and soon I learnt about the same fate for my flight. My immediate natural reaction was to curse my fate. I immediately texted to my family to break the bad news. While I composed myself again, I felt happy about my wise decision to have already shared the prices with my colleague in Delhi, which we were to quote in the tender due next day. For a change, for once, the Murphy’s law had failed!

It took some real effort on part of the airlines staff to soften the commotion, to bring under control the charged atmosphere, and it also took tremendous effort on part of the passengers to accept their fate. The next reaction from many of us was to attempt looking for a nearby hotel. Then the next unfavorable piece of news was broken by the airlines staff – there was a heavy water logging outside the airport and also almost all rooms in the nearby hotels were already taken by the passengers reaching the airport after us. After this announcement, the image of the airlines staff was almost like a villain in a Bollywood movie. Somebody from their side was smart enough to serve an early dinner, which could successfully divide the attention of many. After all food is a great leveller.

Fast forward – I stayed in The Lounge for two nights, held on to my chair, very closely experienced my different emotions of anger & frustration due to the delay, loneliness & helplessness as I was stranded, happiness & patience as I was being served food & water, and also witnessed various forms of human emotions emanating from the passengers, the airlines staff, the service staff, the food catering staff, the airport staff, the general service providers at the airport, etc. All in all, the treatment given by all the staff to the stranded passengers, that too in an emergency situation like this, makes me till date salute them in my thoughts. For me, this episode is an epitome of customer delight!

I was later humbled to learn how lucky I was to be safe on the first floor of the airport, resting on the comfort of a chair, in a cozy lounge, and being served, while many colleagues of mine walked in waist to neck deep water to their homes and while many people lost lives on the road. I cannot thank God more for putting me in a place which, from the appearance looked like a jail, however actually acted as my saviour!

PS: We out-bid our competitors and acquired both the very large projects!