As usual, the overhead luggage compartment is completely full and has no space for the bags of the two gentlemen who have just walked in to occupy their seats on the 1st low across from me. This guy is dressed in jeans, brown shoes and a open necked white shirt, some scraggy white hair on his head, slightly unkempt and glasses, horn rimmed glasses. The other chappie was wearing a coat, white shirt n tie.
In his tow are two crew members of KF airlines kow-towing to him and all bent over kissing a lot of ass. immediately suspicions were up that he was a celeb or a VIP. These guys had two bags which found no space on the overhead luggage compartment. So the air hostess proceeds, without asking around, to remove the bag already there and replace it with this guys bag, lets call him Mr. G.
The guy sitting next to me suddenly erupts. He goes " What the hell ? why are you removing my bag ? How can you remove my bag without even asking me ? Who is he - some kind of VIP " Mr. G speaks up immediately - " No sir, I am no VIP, even if I was this still should not happen at all" then he turns to the air hostess and asks her " please remove my bag and let the gentleman's bag remains there, you may look for another convenient place. Sorry sir for this, she was only trying to help." The fattish guy goes " She should not have done that, the least she could have done was ask me". He is now a bit cooled down due to the fantastic handling of the situation by Mr. G. The air hostess in the meantime quips up to mr G, " Sir I will ask the captain to keep your bag in the cockpit". I am now looking at him with renewed interest. fantastic conflict handling.
I do not know him from any other persons and soon the flight lands at Mumbai. We are queued up for disembarking. The fattish guy, my neighbour, speaks up again. he goes," I am sure you are a VIP, sir, tell me who you are ?" Mr. G says," No no I am no VIP, I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you" The guy is persistent, " I am 100% sure you are a VIP" he turns to the airhostess, " please tell me who he is "
She turn around, and says," He is Captain Gopinath" (erstwhile of Deccan Airways)
This guys is now sheepish and says," sorry I was rude" and Captain G says that his reaction was natural and not to worry.
I, now an avid reader of Forbes India magazine, had finished reading an article the week before about the new venture of Captain G, starting a cargo airline with nationwide network and central operation of warehousing, stocking etc at Nagpur. In fact the same morning (when we had arrived from Mumbai) we had see the craft and explained in detail the operation to my German colleague.
I gather some courage and tell him : "Congratulations on your new venture. It is something that was needed in the country for a long time and it is sure to be a big success. " He turn around and says " thanks, this is my new venture and we are making nagpur as the distribution hub as it is the centre of India and very convenient logistically" I am sure a nicely negotiated deal with the Nagpur airport will also have some role to play in this.
He then starts to talk about what they are doing and what they plan to do. This is all while we are waiting for the rolling stairs to come and transport us to the sweet firm ground.
Not being able to resist, after listening to his spiel about his products and to do justice to my German colleague, Dr. Sven Wieczorek, I smile proudly and tell him " My colleague & I sell super speciality gear pumps and were on abusines strip to meet a customer. If you were need some talk to us."
With this we are gone in a swish. Me remebering him to be a seemingly humble guy not out to blow his horn and probably him remebering me as the guy who sells super speciality gear pumps.
