At Hong Kong we were to board another Cathay Pacific flight (CX 872) from Terminal No 67 which was quite a distance away from Terminal No 2 where we had landed. As we got down from the plane, one air hostess was waiting to collect all the passengers going to San Francisco. We moved together as a group to a cabin baggage security check point .But after the check was over the Air Hostess mysteriously disappeared. And we were left to fend for ourselves!!
Here we were in a new place, in a foreign land, totally at sea. We certainly did not want to miss our flight and wait for another one. The whole process would have been complicated and we would have reached San Francisco late giving several anxious moments to our son in the US .Our baggage would have gone by our original flight which we were to board. We did not know as to what to do as time was running out .We had precisely 15 mts left to board our next flight. Confusion and anxiety confounded. And were we nervous? When you are in trouble where do you turn to? The Lord of course. Latha and I started continuously chanting “Om Sri Sai Ram “.Swami says “Why fear when I am here”.
Suddenly we saw a male purser who was taking a group of passengers to the Tokyo flight .We rushed to him and asked him to guide us to Terminal No 67.He very kindly took us to an elevator which took us three storeys down below and told us to catch a train out there. Worried I asked him as to how much time it would take for the “train journey” and he replied ONE MINUTE!! We thanked him profusely and took the elevator to the “rail terminal” below .Boarded the “one bogey” train and fair enough, within one minute we were at the end of our “train journey”.
Continuously chanting “Om Sri Sai Ram “we then used another elevator to climb three storeys up and rushed to Terminal no 67, which was still a good half a km away. Fortunately we had only a light small hand baggage with us, making the “run” that much easier! Latha had a tough time though, keeping up with me. And – Whew – we were finally in our fresh flight with just five minutes left for the aircraft to take off.
Most of the passengers had already boarded the aircraft and the Pilot, through the PA system was welcoming all of us aboard Flight no CX 870. For a moment I froze because we were to board Flt No CX 872. Did we get into a wrong plane, by mistake? Fortunately within seconds, the Pilot corrected himself, apologised for the error and welcomed us aboard Flt No CX 872. I heaved a sigh of relief and re checked with the air hostess that the flight was indeed our flight and we finally took our allotted seats. Swami’s Sankalpa again prevailed.
The journey from Hongkong to San Francisco was very peaceful .We could see on our mini TV screens, the route the pilot was taking to complete the 12.5 hour non stop flight We kept hugging the coastline of China and Japan and finally we flew straight across he Pacific Ocean. It was dark throughout the journey and we kept eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping ……We were woken up for snacks (Biscuits pastries, rasagollas and fruits, coffee), Lunch (Dal, boiled vegetables, Rajma, Nan pulao, ras malai) and Breakfast (Paratha, fruits, upma, ras malai).Our air hostesses did not allow us to open up the window blinds so that we were not confused about the changing night and day outside!!
As were nearing San Francisco the pilot announced that we were about to land .I opened up the window blind and saw the beautiful coast line .It was about four in the evening – Pacific Time (San Francisco) time. My watch was no longer relevant. We had left Mumbai on 11 Apr 0450 am and almost 24 hrs later we were nearing San Francisco and still on 11 Apr 4.00 p.m.
We finally landed at San Francisco airport at 4.45 pm about 20 mts behind schedule. As we were about to deplane, I saw a lot of people doing their job on the ground below, the first thought that crossed my mind was – 15000 miles away from India - in San Francisco Swami you are very much here and I was reminded of His statement: “I am above you, I am below you, I am behind you, I am around you, I am within you – there is no place where I do not exist – I am Omnipresent and present everywhere”.
Here we were in a new place, in a foreign land, totally at sea. We certainly did not want to miss our flight and wait for another one. The whole process would have been complicated and we would have reached San Francisco late giving several anxious moments to our son in the US .Our baggage would have gone by our original flight which we were to board. We did not know as to what to do as time was running out .We had precisely 15 mts left to board our next flight. Confusion and anxiety confounded. And were we nervous? When you are in trouble where do you turn to? The Lord of course. Latha and I started continuously chanting “Om Sri Sai Ram “.Swami says “Why fear when I am here”.
Suddenly we saw a male purser who was taking a group of passengers to the Tokyo flight .We rushed to him and asked him to guide us to Terminal No 67.He very kindly took us to an elevator which took us three storeys down below and told us to catch a train out there. Worried I asked him as to how much time it would take for the “train journey” and he replied ONE MINUTE!! We thanked him profusely and took the elevator to the “rail terminal” below .Boarded the “one bogey” train and fair enough, within one minute we were at the end of our “train journey”.
Continuously chanting “Om Sri Sai Ram “we then used another elevator to climb three storeys up and rushed to Terminal no 67, which was still a good half a km away. Fortunately we had only a light small hand baggage with us, making the “run” that much easier! Latha had a tough time though, keeping up with me. And – Whew – we were finally in our fresh flight with just five minutes left for the aircraft to take off.
Most of the passengers had already boarded the aircraft and the Pilot, through the PA system was welcoming all of us aboard Flight no CX 870. For a moment I froze because we were to board Flt No CX 872. Did we get into a wrong plane, by mistake? Fortunately within seconds, the Pilot corrected himself, apologised for the error and welcomed us aboard Flt No CX 872. I heaved a sigh of relief and re checked with the air hostess that the flight was indeed our flight and we finally took our allotted seats. Swami’s Sankalpa again prevailed.
The journey from Hongkong to San Francisco was very peaceful .We could see on our mini TV screens, the route the pilot was taking to complete the 12.5 hour non stop flight We kept hugging the coastline of China and Japan and finally we flew straight across he Pacific Ocean. It was dark throughout the journey and we kept eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping ……We were woken up for snacks (Biscuits pastries, rasagollas and fruits, coffee), Lunch (Dal, boiled vegetables, Rajma, Nan pulao, ras malai) and Breakfast (Paratha, fruits, upma, ras malai).Our air hostesses did not allow us to open up the window blinds so that we were not confused about the changing night and day outside!!
As were nearing San Francisco the pilot announced that we were about to land .I opened up the window blind and saw the beautiful coast line .It was about four in the evening – Pacific Time (San Francisco) time. My watch was no longer relevant. We had left Mumbai on 11 Apr 0450 am and almost 24 hrs later we were nearing San Francisco and still on 11 Apr 4.00 p.m.
We finally landed at San Francisco airport at 4.45 pm about 20 mts behind schedule. As we were about to deplane, I saw a lot of people doing their job on the ground below, the first thought that crossed my mind was – 15000 miles away from India - in San Francisco Swami you are very much here and I was reminded of His statement: “I am above you, I am below you, I am behind you, I am around you, I am within you – there is no place where I do not exist – I am Omnipresent and present everywhere”.
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