A true friend indeed

Boarding a morning flight at Bengaluru my wife and I reached Coimbatore. The taxi booked by our son through Robert, a long lost friend of his, picked us soon from the airport and drove straight to a posh hotel in Coimbatore where a spacious three-bedroom had been reserved for us. Arriving by a night flight from Mumbai, my son, Suresh joined us at 10 pm.

The next morning by the same cab we reached Palani hills, worshipped Lord, Palaniandavar and headed to Kodaikanal. Staying in a luxurious hotel atop the mountain for three days and having the time of our lives in sightseeing we drove back to Coimbatore and sojourned in a high-class hotel for a night. Up with the lark the next morning we packed our traps soon after breakfast and were waiting to get to the airport.

To board the flight to Bengaluru scheduled to take off at 2.30 pm, we checked out at 12.25 pm. Negotiating through the dense mid-day traffic on our driver took us to the airport. We were offloading our luggage from the vehicle with scarcely half an hour to go and check-in. Shocked, Suresh stood looking for his small trolley bag that contained his laptop and other important items. He remembered, however, to have left it inadvertently at the checking counter of the hotel. Straight away he called up Robert-- who was a resident of Coimbatore who had by chance come to the hotel during our departure--to bring it to the airport tout de suite.

Until his arrival at the airport with my son’s trolley, we were oscillating between the fear of cancelling our tickets and the faint hope of Robert bringing the bag in time. Carrying the item and riding his motorbike through the city, Robert reached the airport and handed it over to Suresh. Only five minutes were left for us to check-in. Thanking him, we moved allegro to the desk, obtained our boarding passes and joined the other passengers who were travelling to Bengaluru.

Had it not been for the timely presence of Robert at the hotel and his instant response of bringing the left out piece of luggage to the airport, we would for certain have missed our flight and sustained a sizeable loss. It was only by sheer providence that we boarded the flight with all our bag and baggage.