A whiff of dust was let off when the airplane tires grazed against the tarmac at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport at Houston. Even after having seared through the blue firmament for almost a day, the huge machine looked raring to go. By the time Capt. Mehra got the aircraft stationary at Terminal D, it was 7 am in the morning. The flight to Houston took almost 19 hours including a brief stopover at Chicago. Sameer was wide awake and gaping at the seat-back TV screen. For most of his co-passengers, the fabulous in-flight entertainment system with AVOD, kept them oblivious of the time elapsed. But Sameer was in a daze staring stark at the numbers on the screen which showed he was almost 9000 miles away from where his heart and soul were. He was not in the land of the unknown, but yes, he was surely in a moment of forlorn.
There was an air of urgency everywhere. For those around, the serenity seemed to wither away. Their patience and composure had all but stayed on. An elbow, en route to grabbing a cabin baggage above, almost cracked Sameer's temple. Even after eons of development, Darwin's theory of evolution seemed to have been propounded by people around him in the airplane. "What a mad race against time by an avid bunch of mortals whose run can ultimately take them closer and faster to their grave only", he thought. Sameer seated himself once again for everyone to make good their exit. Finally, he acknowledged and nodded to a 'have a great day" greeting by a flight steward, who saw him off the plane.
The queue at the immigration counter seemed never-ending. Sameer felt an unusual squirm throughout the wait. It could have been the fact that he was unsure of the formalities ahead. It could also have been because he didn't know what to expect from the immigration officer. He was locked in the precincts of his own confusion and non-clarity. In his mind, he quickly got himself versed in a few answers for some probable questions. From the immigration check to the baggage claim and then the underground train for inter-terminal transfer, Sameer was following others like a zombie.
It was a big sigh of relief, when he finally managed to hand over the travel receipt to the chauffeur of the airport shuttle. The walk across various concourses to the travel counter had taken a heavy toll on Sameer's weary legs and body, which was all agog for some physical rest. As for the mind, which had been working overtime since many days, rest seemed to be a long lost proposition.
As soon as he paid for the trip across the counter, Sameer realized that the cost of travel was also his first expenditure in US dollars. INR 1700 seemed much more expensive as compared to USD 30. For the moment, he had no choice. He knew he had to be prudent in his expenditure for it was an earning of his lifetime that he was going to put at stake in his new quest. Between Simba, his family and himself, he had chosen himself to invest in. Was he selfish? Could he only think about himself? Would this decision of his augur well for his life (which in truest sense for him was his family)? He ushered himself on to the rear seat of the shuttle van and headed for the dormitory home on his University campus in search of answers to many more identical unanswered queries and irking dilemmas. Only time could say whether the answer would be propitious, if at all he got them!!!!!!!
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