The Butterfly Effect ...

Coincidences, coincidences ...
I watch the movie barely last week, i am thunder-struck by the concept, the beauty of the ending, and think of reading up more on the chaos theory.

Turns out, i don't need to. Get a practical first hand, within days.

So, if memory serves me right, how do they put it -

"It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world."

Well, transliterate that into -

"Snowfall in Overland Park can cause you to lose your baggages in New Delhi ..."

So obviously, i learn about it the hard way.
A flight from Kansas City that was supposed to depart at 3pm, gets off the ground at 5:30pm; when salt has finally melted some of the heavy snow on the runway. The flight has a fated passenger to Newark. No points for guessing who. The passenger is turning and twisting in his little seat thinking of the next flight he is sure to miss. The accursed flight touches down at Newark an hour after the connection as left. After running 40 gate terminals around the airport (i land at gate 67, and takeoff at 103), i reach half panting, with almost zero hope, to see a plane to Peurto Rico departing instead of the one to New Delhi.

Now comes the hard part - locating someone who can help me solve this muck.
I ultimately trudge back down to don't know where; trying to locate a help desk. Surprising as it may seem, nobody on the airport knows what a help desk is !! I finally manage to see a long line at one terminal. Curiosity saved the cat this time. I happen to identify it as a 'Service Center' for Continental airlines. After standing in queue for about an hour amidst other helpless beings as myself, i realized i wasn't the only one hit by delayed flights. Pain reduced, you ask? Probably yes. Self sadistic pleasure i would call it.

Ultimately, i managed to get to the "agent" at the desk, identified the problem and asked for a solution - which came in the form of a quick tour of Amsterdam. I was to be re-routed to Delhi via a stop-over at the Schipol. Not again, i thought. If i missed my connection again, i would be stranded in the drug and sex capital of the world. Not a bad place to be though, especially when as the air-hostess put it - you don't require a visa in the Netherlands, only a smile.

Dreams, dreams. Reality came crashing down when i was instructed to take a sky train, find my shuttle, and retire to the nearest hotel for a one night 'complimentary' stay with a couple of meal vouchers, which would pass off as loose change at those hotel rates. Barely a few hours of putting up, and you leave again at 12 noon check out time. I wasn't in a mood to hang around at $100 a day. So back to the airport, where after the usual strip search at immigrations, i put my butt off to sleep on the lounge. Apprehensive, with no clue as to where my luggage was currently (despite the assurances from the helpdesk that it would be re-routed the same as me), and no idea of the departing gate, it seemed like a flight in itself, stuck in a seat for 7 hours, hearing every announcement, no where to go.

Well, cut to the chase, i came, i saw, and i went away. Schipol airport was cool in the festive season. Huge Christmas trees, lighting, and the mistletoe. Two eight hour flights and a stopover later, i found myself without my baggages at New Delhi and in love with the KLM flight attendant. As obvious, all she did was smile flirtatiously, take her baggages and leave - leaving me at the conveyor belt, head swooning, both for her and looking at the suitcases go round.

After spending Christmas night at the airport, trying to locate my bags, nothing came of it, and i had to file in a complaint. Its been over 7 days since i last saw my bags at Kansas. I havn't heard from the authorities at the airport, or the CO/KLM flight group. Pleaded with the IGI help center but to no avail. They find themselves as helpless trying to trace my bags.
So after giving up hope that i would ever see my precious wardrobe again, with all the new business suits, shoes, watch and stuff (includes the chocolates i was pestered for), i had decided to go ahead and buy myself atleast a new razor before anything else.

But surprisingly, some other butterfly must have fluttered its wings in Tokyo, because a windfall occurred this evening. As i was midway through this blog post, i get a phone call, immediately recognizing the KLM office number. I answer with a bated breath, and hear the good news. No, my cat is not pregnant. But something will get delivered. My dear baggages arrived at my door step late night - everything sealed and perfectly intact. I couldn't have done a better job myself.

So with all tension dispersed, i finally decided to gorge on the chocolates myself, rather than take them to the place where they were intended to go. As it is, most were melting. Too tempting to resist. My sister dug in as well. I feel good now.

That's one lesson learnt. Better let the official laptop get lost in transit than your personal luggage. Atleast then the office will be supportive in trying to locate it ...