Picture this— One of the most common sights on our airports—fatigued travelers sitting haplessly on one of their check-in luggage; because their other checked in luggage hasn’t arrived yet. But knowing our airport authorities’ matchless expertise in this domain—Baggage Claim– this “haplessness” one day becomes “effortlessness” with experience! Or so what the seasoned travelers claim.

The baggage belt keeps on rotating and rotating like a pendulum would on a clock; but the much coveted baggage still remains out of sight.

I have always felt this experience like a mirage—you see some distant bag on the belt coming towards you, bearing the same color as yours; but when it gets closer and closer and closer, you discover it isn’t yours!!! It is familiar, but not yours. And you retire back to perch on that other lucky bag of yours which somehow landed at the correct place in a timely manner (or should we say “untimely” manner!)

The most suffered lot is the hoard of travelers who have traveled via a connecting flight. Their suffering is unparalleled; and more immense than the suffering of those who have arrived via direct flights.  There is a thick possibility of them filling up the “Lost Baggage Form” more often than not.

How preposterous one feels, waiting for ones own belongings to fall into one’s lap; yet dozens of bags keep coming on the belt; out of nowhere; nobody standing nearby claims those bags (wonder whom do they belong to!!!!!) and yours is never amongst the lot!

The experience is so commonplace; that those who don’t receive their luggage on time can’t be labeled “Unlucky”; because there are many such guys; but those who receive theirs on time could be definitely labeled “Lucky”.

Especially intimidating is the time of the day (night), when the bags are all out playing this game of hide and seek with you!…

Half dozing, half yawning, you are compelled to sit through this “patience examination”; when in fact, you should have left the glittering airport long time back, retired to the coziness of your destination—whatever it would be—a hotel room, your own house etc.

But who cares?

Experiences of people have been hilarious when it comes to talking about “Baggage Claim”. People have ended up home with bags whose nametags have been torn or missing; only to realize that the bag which they claimed as theirs on the airport, has in fact been someone else’s! And then the horror strikes them, when they wonder in whose hands might their bag have gone?

These are not stand alone incidents, and they can’t be just passed off by calling them a goof-up. It happens on our airports all the time; than in any other airport, in any part of the world.

Coming back to the “Who cares” bottom line, it is an underlying fact that our “Baggage Claim” authorities on airports are more or less, or democratically speaking, solely responsible for this muddle.

We Indians, anyways never travel light. And to add to this weighty misery, is this lifetime experience when we are strangled in the middle of our airports at 3.30 AM, eagerly waiting to meet our near and dear ones, and the baggage goes for a toss!….

We painfully sit near “Baggage Claim” glowing board; hoping we don’t have to go home with someone else’s “Unclaimed Baggage!!!”

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