Memoir (Part 3)
In August 2001, an incident occurred when I was returning from Baba’s ashram “Prashanti Nilayam ” in Puttaparthi, India.
At Bangalore airport, I joined a queue of people undergoing baggage inspection to board my flight. About 20 people were lined up in front of me.
As soon as I got in line, a young male airport staff member came over to me, requested me to come with him, and kindly escorted me to the front of the queue. He must have instructed the female staff conducting the inspection to check my luggage first because she interrupted other ongoing inspections to attend to my luggage.
After the luggage check, as I was about to descend the stairs to board the limousine bus, the young man came and assisted me. When the bus arrived, he pulled me by the hand to help me board, then stepped down and watched the other passengers board. I assumed he would return to the building after all passengers boarded, but instead, he boarded the bus himself.
The bus stopped right next to the airplane. When I stood up to disembark, a fellow traveler, Mr. Hosokawa, tried to assist me, but the young man disregarded him, took my hand, and helped me down. Upon descending, he requested to see my boarding ticket. After handing it to him, he held onto the ticket, guided me to the rear gangway of the plane, assisted me up, and accompanied me into the cabin.
I thought he would leave at that point, but instead, he showed my boarding ticket to the cabin crew and spoke with them. I later realized that since my seat was around the middle of the plane, he had negotiated to have my seat changed to one near the rear entrance for convenience. Not only was I seated in the second-to-last row by the aisle, but he also negotiated for Mr. Hosokawa, who was traveling with me, to sit next to me. After securing our seats in the back, he exchanged a few words with the cabin crew and exited the plane.
Despite his duties within the airport building, he took great care of me with an unexpected level of kindness.
The plane departed on time, and shortly after finishing breakfast onboard, we arrived at Mumbai Airport.
After arriving at Mumbai, I discovered his kindness didn’t end there. When I stood to disembark, a female cabin crew member came and instructed me to remain seated. At that moment, I thought I was being asked to wait due to the departing passenger crowd.
Once all the other passengers had left, I attempted to stand, but the same crew member insisted I remain seated. She then informed me to wait seated until a wheelchair arrived, explaining that the young man had arranged for a wheelchair to assist my mobility upon landing in Mumbai.
With the help of a male cabin crew member, I descended the gangway and was ushered into the awaiting wheelchair. I completed airport procedures and was able to reach the bus in the parking lot without walking.
Although I have been kindly treated by many people before, this level of kindness was a first for me.
translator：Makoto Ishii