<p class="bodytext">‘Sir, you seem to be wearing the wrong shoes,’ sounded a voice. Drawn abruptly to the present by the remark cutting through my train of thoughts, I looked at my husband, seated legs crossed, in the opposite row of the waiting lounge of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. And was I aghast to see a navy-blue shoe and a black one staring unabashed at me! And to think no one had noticed it, despite whiling away considerable time snacking at the airport food outlets due to a flight delay. Caught in the frenzy of passing through the security check and immigration, besides the long walk to reach the boarding gate, the slip-up had gone unnoticed. And before we could figure it out, the announcement came, asking to board the flight.</p>.<p class="bodytext">We joined the queue hurriedly, more to avoid the gaze of the curious onlookers. We moved quickly on the aerobridge, acknowledged the air hostess’ greeting, reached our places, dumped the cabin bags in the overhead compartment and plonked down in our seats. The physical and mental exhaustion of the travel of the past fortnight and the long waiting hours at the airport took their toll, forcing our sleep-laden eyelids to close and drift into a long-drawn sleep, leaving the mystery of the missing shoe far behind. Revisiting the beautiful temples of Bangkok and the historical sights of Malacca, we were gently nudged back to reality to have dinner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The next we knew, the flight was taxiing its way to the terminal of Kempegowda International Airport. Excited to be on home ground at last, the last leg of the journey was spent in silence as we stared in awe at a starry night above the shining silhouette of Bengaluru’s <br />sky scrapers. </p>.<p class="bodytext">In the morning, and again, my mind went over the places visited – Singapore’s Botanic Gardens, Marina Bay Sands and the Universal Studios; Malacca and its heritage sites; the Buddhist temples of Bangkok, etc. Where could it have happened? Zooming in on one of the pictures, I could see an almost imperceptible difference – while the black and the navy-blue shoes looked alike, the black had a red sole. A sudden thought prompted me to call up the shoe showroom to enquire if they sold other brands and if, by a rare possibility, the mix-up could have happened there. The manager was sure they didn’t.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Determined to crack the case, I started from square one – from boarding the flight at Kempegowda International Airport to the return from Kuala Lumpur International Airport – this time, thinking aloud. Sinking into our seats after a long drive and the seemingly never-ending wait, we released our tired feet and pushed our shoes under the front seat to doze comfortably. Suddenly my husband yelled out! The passenger in front must have done similarly, and, still drowsy at the end of the journey, both seem to have worn the other’s shoe while alighting. Phew! Mystery solved!</p>
<p class="bodytext">‘Sir, you seem to be wearing the wrong shoes,’ sounded a voice. Drawn abruptly to the present by the remark cutting through my train of thoughts, I looked at my husband, seated legs crossed, in the opposite row of the waiting lounge of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. And was I aghast to see a navy-blue shoe and a black one staring unabashed at me! And to think no one had noticed it, despite whiling away considerable time snacking at the airport food outlets due to a flight delay. Caught in the frenzy of passing through the security check and immigration, besides the long walk to reach the boarding gate, the slip-up had gone unnoticed. And before we could figure it out, the announcement came, asking to board the flight.</p>.<p class="bodytext">We joined the queue hurriedly, more to avoid the gaze of the curious onlookers. We moved quickly on the aerobridge, acknowledged the air hostess’ greeting, reached our places, dumped the cabin bags in the overhead compartment and plonked down in our seats. The physical and mental exhaustion of the travel of the past fortnight and the long waiting hours at the airport took their toll, forcing our sleep-laden eyelids to close and drift into a long-drawn sleep, leaving the mystery of the missing shoe far behind. Revisiting the beautiful temples of Bangkok and the historical sights of Malacca, we were gently nudged back to reality to have dinner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The next we knew, the flight was taxiing its way to the terminal of Kempegowda International Airport. Excited to be on home ground at last, the last leg of the journey was spent in silence as we stared in awe at a starry night above the shining silhouette of Bengaluru’s <br />sky scrapers. </p>.<p class="bodytext">In the morning, and again, my mind went over the places visited – Singapore’s Botanic Gardens, Marina Bay Sands and the Universal Studios; Malacca and its heritage sites; the Buddhist temples of Bangkok, etc. Where could it have happened? Zooming in on one of the pictures, I could see an almost imperceptible difference – while the black and the navy-blue shoes looked alike, the black had a red sole. A sudden thought prompted me to call up the shoe showroom to enquire if they sold other brands and if, by a rare possibility, the mix-up could have happened there. The manager was sure they didn’t.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Determined to crack the case, I started from square one – from boarding the flight at Kempegowda International Airport to the return from Kuala Lumpur International Airport – this time, thinking aloud. Sinking into our seats after a long drive and the seemingly never-ending wait, we released our tired feet and pushed our shoes under the front seat to doze comfortably. Suddenly my husband yelled out! The passenger in front must have done similarly, and, still drowsy at the end of the journey, both seem to have worn the other’s shoe while alighting. Phew! Mystery solved!</p>
