Life of S ~ The Russian Roulette ... Vol. IV

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As he opened his eyes, S realized that his watch read 8 in the morning and he had an hour left before he could make things happen in his favor, or atleast give it a try. His thought process at that time didn’t let him realize that it had been 18 hours that he had spent at the airport. He was only concentrating on his plan of action. He knew that he had to contact SP in India to ask what the progress was, and before that find out from the cops what was it that they wanted from him, before he would be let free. He tried to smoothen down his hair and look as fresh, neat and presentable as possible. He thought that the cop who got him into all this was probably off duty by now, and it was kind of a fresh start with only one problem; now he had to start from inside the prison, which was not going to help him much.

But he had no choice left but to keep trying. His eyes were on his watch and as it struck 9 AM, a cop entered again. S asked his translator to talk to him and he was told a new story this time. He was first asked his nationality again. On hearing India, the cop said that he could be let free if his company representatives came to the airport to pick him up. "Damn you!!" Could you not say this in the first place!!! S would have tried to get this done right from the beginning. Anyhow, now he got the feeling that there was a future and he could get his ass out of there. The next problem was that the public phone was no longer public. So S had to find a new resort. His Kazak friend was like a walking-talking database of all the people in the room. He told S that there was another lady who had a cell phone and now again each call would come at a cost. With no choice, S made two calls @ USD $5 per call. The first call was to SP, informing him about the new situation and telling him what was needed to be done henceforth. S then called up Svetlana, a lady at the Company office in Moscow. The language problem was bound to arise again and so he asked his dear old friend, the translator, to tell her about the situation.

Interestingly, the translator didn’t know S's name. So S showed him a bracelet with his name written on it. S was so thankful to his friend PC for this wonderful gift on his previous trip to Mumbai. Finally things started falling in place when Svetlana told us that she was aware of the situation and she was writing a letter to the Passport Control Office. She told S that it was only a matter of time before he would be out of there. This was really motivating!! Soon, at around 10.30 AM, S received a call from one of his managers, Edmund. He was very concerned about the way S was being treated and the way S spent the night at the airport. It felt nice to know that the company he worked for was concerned and that they were trying to do their best in getting him out. He told S to relax, something he was already doing by then, and that not to worry. S will be out of there very soon. S just replied, “Take your time!!” because another hour or two would make no more a difference to the time he had spent there. He was cool as a cucumber at that stage and his sixth sense told him that he will be out of there in a couple of hours in the worst case.

Thereafter, S plugged in his IPod into his ears and decided to take some rest. Each time the cops opened the door, S hoped that it was to call him. On one such cameo by the cop, he told S's Ethiopian friends that they would not be allowed to catch their flight to Cuba and instead would be sent back home. What a pity!! As for S, destiny had something else in store. He was not the first one to leave. First, an elderly man got the call. S was not sure whether he was being sent on a flight back home or whether he had someone waiting for him outside!! Nevertheless, the old man was happy to leave either ways. As he moved out of the room, he bid good bye to all the new friends he had made in this encounter and there was an emotional touch to the whole situation. Most of the people in the room envied him on one had, and at the same time felt happy for him as he left the prison. There were others in the room who had spent a week there and had found themselves a new home.They didn’t care less about anyone entering or leaving the room. The had their luggage spread in one corner and were getting comfortable to the life out there, watching air-planes land, people getting off the flights, new people getting onto the flights and the planes leaving.

to be continued...