Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
August 30, 2013

I am the inveterate air traveller. The globetrotter. Your man in aviation who knows the ropes, airports are like ‘take me home’ stuff, ask Vohra, he is the cool guy. I know the real deal, the best seats on each aircraft, the whole nine yards, unlike 90 per cent of the human race that makes a mess of the procedures, is clumsy and oafish and clueless about the systems and what to do. Nothing intimidates me.

So okay, it happens to the best of us. Last evening I lost my boarding pass. It just did a Houdini on me. I have spent years laughing at people who lose their passports and their visas and important documents, I mean, come on how do you lose your passport, you dummy.

And now, I am standing there groping my pockets, zipping and unzipping my carry on, but no boarding pass. One minute it was there, the other gone. Dropped somewhere after security and the gate and I cannot believe it is happening to me… me, the man of the world, the ‘take Row 12 on an Airbus 320 and Row 26 on a triple 777, more leg space’ man. Fifty years of flying and over 1000 flights.

Now, I have to walk up to the counter guy and he has to have this lovely lady standing next to him and I have to say, haha I have lost my boarding pass, you know like make light of it.

And he has that pitying look on his face, like ‘amateur, must be his first flight, where do they come from, the yellow pages,’ and I am standing there all goofy looking, like showing my passport and my ticket and my e-gate and trying to make silly jokes (masquerading as Vohra charm) and then, the lovely girl next to the man says, it’s okay, Sir, it is not uncommon with the elderly.

See that crestfallen man dragging himself onto the flight...that’s me, brought to ground with a hard landing.

(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)