"This isn't what I planned for today.", mumbled Sonia under her breath. But the day had begun as usual. In the morning, she received a message from IndiSlow, "Hi Sonia, get ready for your trip! Your flight IndiSlow 3F 176 to Bengaluru departs today at 11:30 am. We look forward to welcoming you aboard. Safe travels, The IndiSlow Team."
Though a colleague had warned her that the IndiSlow's schedule was completely haywire, she had no other choice but to go ahead. This trip was urgent. After all, her wedding reception was in Bengaluru the next day. How could she possibly cancel the flight and skip her own reception?
Since childhood, Sonia had dreamt of becoming a bride. She always wanted a big fat Indian wedding - the kind of wedding that Madhuri Dixit had in "Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!" and Kajol had in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai". Then she grew up, finished her studies, got a job, met Siddharth and fell in love with him. Through it all, that little girl's dream stayed tucked in some quiet corner of her heart. When their marriage was finally fixed, it felt like her long-cherished dream was about to come true.
Hers was a cross-cultural marriage. Sonia was a Bengali, while Siddharth hailed from Karnataka. The wedding was to take place in Kolkata and the reception was scheduled in Bengaluru. The wedding, in stark contrast to Sonia's expectations, was a tedious affair. The endless rituals, keeping a fast the whole day while watching others wolfing down delicacies, relatives coming out of the woodwork, the chanting of incomprehensible Sanskrit hymns while sitting in front of the fire - it was not fun in the least. At the height of despair, even the thought of divorcing Siddharth crossed her mind. Then realisation dawned that she couldn't possibly divorce him unless and until she married him. She was looking forward to the reception where she would have to do nothing except accepting gifts from the guests with a smiling face.
She left for the airport in the morning, along with Siddharth, her parents and a handful of close friends and family members who were supposed to attend her reception. The information board displayed that the flight would go ahead as scheduled. But minutes before the scheduled time, a gentleman from IndiSlow informed the passengers that they didn't have a pilot to fly the plane.
Passengers were furious. The rumour mill was abuzz that the flight might be cancelled. Sonia had no option left but to cancel the flight, her heart sinking.
No alternate travel arrangement was possible at this last hour. Sonia headed home with her entourage, called in the salon girl, decked up in fineries and appeared online for her wedding reception in Bengaluru. With folded hands, she and Siddharth apologised to the guests for not being able to attend their own reception in person and thanked them profusely for their gracious presence. Being a gourmet, Sonia sighed for missing the delectable spread of the reception buffet.
Image source: Downloaded from Unsplash and edited by AI.
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