Lost Baggage

               
                    Travel is beautiful and adventurous, unless you are too lazy and home sick.Situations around you keep changing and sometimes surprises you every moment.You have to be prepared enough to enjoy and keep going,otherwise it would be maddening or vexatious and even you may end up losing anything. sometime it could even cost your life.Travel demands not only healthy body but also healthy mind.

Here comes a short story from my recent travel experience....

Its 2:15 PM, Landing at Frankfurt Airport-Germany

I returned from my homeland-India after summer vacation.12 hours of travel...with drowsy eyes and barotraumatic ears, i dragged myself  to the baggage counter after completing immigration check. Looking at some pretty fellow passengers,air hostess and cute children playing around, i waited to collect my heavy weighted two suitcases from the conveyor belt.When i took out my baggage, i found one of my suitcase wheels was missing...looking at that, I was broken."Still a long way to my home....!!". 

Its 3:05 PM, Approached airlines office

I still needed to travel 250 more kilometers by train and then a local bus.I was already very tired and recovering from a much horrible sickness for the past three months. Searching around at the huge baggage collection area, i found my airlines company desk after few minutes and rushed there. And I registered a complain about my broken wheels." I wished it would be replaced in the airport itself with a new suitcase".  I asked the official for  'immediate' replacement without having any idea of such options exist.A official inspected my  suitcase damage and consulted with his colleague and then said 'NOoo'. He gave me a sheet with a reference numbers and said "soon our service company will reach you sir, they would either repair or replace your bag. we are sorry for the trouble."

Its 3:55 PM, Entering into Bahnhof- Frankfurt Flughafen

At that moment, I had an instinct says "some kinda trouble around me".Railway station(Bahnhof) which is just two floors below in the same airport complex.I had a ticket already for the super fast intercity express train(ICE), so i just checked the timings of trains and went to  'platform 7'.I put my backpack and other two baggage in a chair and relaxed .Watching at the Autobahn (Highway) next to the station through the huge glass walls of the railway station with the sun shines across,gave me the feel of watching some automobile race in a movie on a big 3D screen.And then i was looking at colorful people around the station,actually it is so amusing for me to watch many tourist who were landed in the country for the first time and looking all around skeptically.... U no ... now I am more than a year old German-being... OK!!.  

 Its 4:48 PM, Train arrived

As my baggage were heavy, i couldn't not lift and keep it over luggage carrier  above the seats. So i wanted to find a place to put my two heavy suitcases somewhere at the corner of the coach or between the seats.Finally i placed it safely near to my seat at the end of coach. By the time i settled down in my seat, train had almost reached its next station-Frankfurt am main.Its close to Frankfurt Flughafen station,about 15 to 20 min. I was feeling hungry, so i decided to snack some home-town eatables,which i carried in my backpack.I looked around for the backpack, it was missing.....Ohh-shit moment for me!!! No chance of theft.......only 3-4 persons moved around my area since i got into the train.I checked for misplacement but it is nowhere in my coach. Heart rate was going high !! My laptop, all other electronics goods and few original certificates were inside.Only possibility would be that i missed it in the platform chair itself at Flughafen station, so i decided to got down at the next station and return back.Its quite hard to come across theft  incidents any where in Germany, even in newspaper, its very rare to find such kinda news. I had a little hope....I know, its not India, but still Indian in me dint let my nerves to cool down. Anxiety and fear conquered me.

Its 5:07 PM, Frankfurt am main arrival

To find the next train to Flughafen station, I ran to the departure display board and  found one starting from 20th platform at 5:20 PM, i hardly had less than 5 min to catch a train which is 15 platforms away.With all my energy i ran hard pulling more than 40kgs of luggage behind.At the moment i was entering in to platform, train started moving slowly away from me.Its not like India again, Doors are Automatic..A very possible act of catching or jumping out of a running train in India is a stupid logic in Germany....crazy isn't??    Heavily panting i carried back my baggage and got into a another train which is scheduled to depart after 15 more min.



 Its 5:50 PM, Back to Frankfurt Flughafen


I got down at platform 4 and started running to platform 7 to check out my backpack.I carried my luggage to one floor upstairs, which is a common waiting area and left luggage near a chair...leaving to god and run to plat form 7.Some of the incidents and stories i heard about honestly of German people flashed over my mind. I believed that it would be proven to me today. With a very big smiling face and tension in the mind , i reached the platform 4,but i found only empty chair.There was nobody around to enquire, only a small drinks and snacks vending machine was standing alone. I went before the machine,looking at my long face in the reflection of the glass.I asked myself....."do i feel crying?? Should i cry??"...then i told the machine if "you were a small shop with a shopkeeper, he might have probably helped me." Only ICE trains come there and probably more than 4-5 nos of trains crossed  in that one hr of time... .. mostly elite people travel in it....more tourist comes to that station of course...all such thoughts running through my mind. Don't even know what to do. My mind stuck in worries.I sat down in the same chair for a while.



Its 6:05 PM, Checking for a Police station

This would be a second complaint for the day, already i have done one for my damaged suitcase.I would rather call  that day 'a day of complaints', I never even visited a police station in India, but today....i laughed inside myself looking my own pity situation.I went upstairs, my luggage were still there...Not fcuk'd up this time.I walked around and spotted a security guard and went up to him and started to explain the things in my own German language, Immediately he asked me "Grüne Farbe?" (Green colour?)..........ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... a very loud voice echoed inside myself , air stuck my speech. "ja... Das ist meinen Rucksack".


Its 6:15 PM, Backpack was back

This fat , gentle security guard given me a piece of advice and gave back my luggage...Cool isn't?? I was the happiest person in the world at that moment. Before handed over my bag, he asked me a couple of question to check whether i was the right person.Luckily there were two things which helped me to prove myself.... I had a photograph of me and my mom framed and my flight ticket present inside the backpack.He also said how police would search a bag if it was lost in the station, they would stop a train and check everybody and it would cost me heavily.It was quite shocking.... its not a simple thing  to do ..if it would have happened, that come in the  news papers and news channels in Germany...!!  

 Anyway it was a happy ending for the day...I assumed that my year ahead in Germany would also be in the same way.

6:35 PM, 'Platform No: 7' again.... Boarded train to Nürnberg. Happy journey!!
   




               
             


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