Father's Day: An unexpected friend

I have for some reason, been very unfortunate when it comes to returning to my country after vacationing in another country. My dad and I have once had some really bad experience in Sri Lanka which I would not relate here. Fast forward to a year and a half, my dad, my brother (five yrs old) and I were again vacationing. This time in India. We had our tickets confirmed and went to the airport to come back to our country to face with the lady in the counter, who informed us that somehow our names were missing from the confirmed list. We were lost. Practically stranded in the departure terminal without a way to reach home. 

We went back to the hotel that we were staying and tried calling the agent for the airline back at home. He seemed to be ‘conveniently’ out of the country. The tickets for our country were rare to come by as the school was starting in three days and so were the offices. The people were so desperate for tickets that they were ready to pay huge amounts for just one single ticket. Dad and my uncle went to the airline office and the airport to try and get someway so that we could get to our country in time for school. More importantly dad had an important government visit to Thailand which was scheduled for four days later. We met airline managers, airport managers and even tried to see other airlines to no avail.

Days later the school had started and dad’s trip was scheduled on the very day and we were still in India. We went to the airport where we were met by a man who introduced himself as a person from the airline and promised he would help us and sort the problem out. My dad is not fluent in English and I always translated what he had to say to the other people during all our airport escapades. This man told us to come the next day. We went to the airport again, by this time I was exhausted and my head was hurting and I had totally lost my composure and was very harsh on the officials. 

We were very lucky that day and got some seats and leave the country. I was relieved and happy. We did not see the man from the previous encounter until we were ready to board the plane. He came and told us that he never had a daughter and the way I was with dad and helping him talk with the officials’ everyday touched him. He told me to visit him the next time I went to India. I was very nice to him though on the inside I was thinking more in the lines of ‘this guy is totally bluffing to get us out of his hair’. I never contacted him again and did not expect to ever hear from him again. As days passed by this man and my encounter with him was pushed to that nook of my brain where the data is never revisited.

A few days ago my aunt came from India and asked me about a man with the same name as the afore mentioned man. She told me that this man called her, found where she was staying and visited her. I was filled with remorse for underestimating someone’s genuine care for me. While everyone celebrates father’s day today I want to remember this man. Though he never had his daughter, a girl somewhere in the world is thinking of him on this father’s day. Next time I go to India which is in a few days I will most definitely visit this man.