I arrived to the airport 4 hours early for my 1:50 am flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. At the Indian Airlines counter, the agent directed me to another row of agents. Here we go again- lines, lines, lines. Oh, India. I wasn’t worried; I had several hours before my flight. The area where he directed me to was empty, no flights for Colombo were listed. I went back. Annoyed, he sent a younger agent to walk with me. He couldn’t find the correct agent either. HA!

He instructed me to wait RIGHT HERE, so I did, observing the travelers around me. Business travelers, families, vacationers, I was mesmerized by the flurry of activity in the Delhi airport at 10:30 pm on a Monday night.

The young agent came back, clearly agitated. FOLLOW ME! I wheeled my baggage cart after him. He had gotten another agent to open his counter. I was impressed. I was expecting to be told to wait. The new agent was also agitated. When I made it to the counter, he shouted, YOU’RE LATE! Surprised, I retorted, “No, I’m early. My flight doesn’t leave until 1:50 am, see?” He merely shook his head. “Your flight was changed. To 7:30. Lucky for you, it’s running late. But it’s boarding RIGHT NOW. RUN!”

One last time, India always wins.