Posted:
"Good Evening. This is an announcement for passengers of flight 1776 to Canada. The flight has been delayed due to severe weather conditions and is now expected to leave after 5 hours. We apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Further flight updates will be made available in due course. Thank you."
"Great!" sighed Shreya. As if coming on this trip to begin with wasn't enough, now the return journey was also testing her patience. It all began two weeks ago, when her stupid boss at her stupid company told her she had to attend this stupid training course and her stupid friends decided it was an excellent opportunity for them all to fulfil their forever wish of celebrating a birthday bash abroad. And here she was, two weeks later, sat on a stupid chair in a stupid airport, waiting for the stupid weather to sort itself out so she could take the stupid return flight back home. [Ok, Shreya, maybe that is enough "stupidity" for one day"]
Shreya flipped through the pages of the magazine she had read at least a dozen times in the last 2 hours. She had made numerous trips to the help desk to get further information regarding the flight, but no luck. If anything, the chances of the flight being delayed further looked more brighter than getting an early flight out of here. She was bored to death sitting in the airport lounge and had decided it was enough. She had to get out and get some fresh air.
As she got up and placed the magazine on the table in front of her, a leaflet caught her attention. As picked it up for a closer look, she realised it was none other than the Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Hum Paanch cast. They cast of both comedy shows were travelling to Canada this year in fact today to take part in some comedy award show. "Interesting" thought Shreya. "I might just head to this show myself once I reach Canada... if I reach Canada." Placing the leaflet back on the table, Shreya headed out of the airport. She was just outside the entrance when she felt someone tug at her arm with force.
"Hey! what the hell are you doing?" asked an alarmed Shreya. Upon seeing who had made the assault, Shreya's face transformed from irritation to shock. Stood in front of her with a belan was Meenakshi from the old zee tv show, Hum Paanch. Before Shreya could react, Kajal bhai and Sweety had appeared out of no where too.
"Kya re chamiya? kahan bhaag rahi thi..? vo bhi Kajal bhai ka bag lekar?" said Kajal Bhai whilst holding a knife against Shreya's neck.
"W...w...w... what? What bag? Listen I don't know what you are after but please let me go?" pleaded a scared Shreya.
"Abhe o English speaking maharani... hindustani ho to hindi mein nahi bol sakhti?" shouted Meenakshi.
"Are Kajal Bhai aur Meenakshi Didi... ye meri tarha hot and happening hai, isliye meri tarha English mein baat karti hai... ye style hai bare logon ka... tum duno ko samaj mein nhi aayega" said Sweety, only to earn a slap across her head from Meenakshi.
Shreya watched in surprise as she saw the characters of one of her favourite shows act out in front of her. Was this really happening or was she dreaming? "It can't be... it must be a dream for sure.. maybe all the waiting around has made me tired" she thought to herself. She picked up her hand luggage and proceeded to walk while the sisters continued with their banter, only to be stopped again by Kajal Bhai.
"Are o English speaking item, Kajal Bhai se bach kar bhaag kar jayegi kahan... bag de mera warna yahin dho dalungi"
"Oh not again. Dekho ye mera bag hai tumhara nahi... dekho is par mere naam ka label bhi laga hai" said a slightly irritated Shreya as she continued to explain to Kajal that the bag was indeed hers. But the Hum Paanch sisters were having none of it. The arguments continued as did the threats and Shreya was just about to give up on the fight, when the sophisticated Maya Sarabhai appeared and told the girls off for leaving the bag in the middle of nowhere.
"Leaving one's luggage unattended in a public place and then yelling at an innocent girl for one's own mistake is so categorically middle class." pointed out Maya Sarabhai, whilst straightening her saree.
"Are wah, aunty...ye bag aapke paas tha aur hame laga ye larki chori kar ke hamara bag lekar bhaag rahi thi" laughed Sweety. Maya rolled her eyes disapprovingly at her silly laugh.
Kajal had left her bag with Sweety while she went with Meenakshi to check the status of their flight, but Sweety, being the beauty conscious she was, decided to head to the bathroom and touch up on her make up as soon as she saw some good looking men enter the airport. And while this was happening, Shreya was heading out of the airport for a walk with her hand luggage bag which happened to be strikingly similar to Kajal's bag. Hence, leading to the confusion and accusation of Shreya running off with Kajal's bag.
Maya Sarabhai had managed to convince Meenakshi and Kajal Bhai to apologise to Shreya for the confusion and they all headed back in as the flight was ready for take off. Shreya grew up watching these characters on her TV screen and always found their antics cute and hilarious but having encountered the threatening side of Meenakshi and Kajal Bhai for real, it was Shreya's horrifying nightmare when she realised she was seated between the two sisters on the flight back to Canada. What a journey this will be? she thought to herself as she leaned into the plane seat to relax all the while listening to Kajal Bhai and Meenakshi bickering with the air hostess over some cold tea being served to them.
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