Fanatic readers worship Greece as the land of great philosophers. 90’s college pass-outs may remember it as the land of Olympics 2004. I remember it as the abode of Greek angel – Irene Skiliva 🙂 . For those who are not aware, she was a Greek model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 1996 in India.

This story starts on my journey to Athens.

Mercy

It was an afternoon flight. I had some cereals before boarding. I received my food plate while cruising. Alas, I got the non-veg meal as I expected. I tried to modify my food options before boarding. The airline did not allow that (Or I did not know how to do it!). My request to replace it to a veg/vegan meal bounced back in vain.

The supervisor came to attend to my request. She expressed her grief for not fulfilling my request. I enquired for any food, that can be purchased. It was a full flight. They did not have any such choice. I begged her to see if she could find anything. She was not hopeful and went back.

My tummy fierced in hunger. The aroma of food and the sweet sounds of the spoon and fork enhanced the fuselage. I was sitting like the angry rishi Durvasa cursing my fate for every clock tick.

Arrival sections of the airport usually won’t have any eateries. As it was my first visit, I didn’t know how long I needed to wait to get my next course of meal. I was calculating when the next meal.

I heard an ‘excuse me’. The same supervisor lady, offered me a food plate with macaroni and eggplants. She might have found some options from kid meals, I thought. However, the hunger, the food and the merciful staff are still memorable. I was not sure, how many times I thanked her.

Cordial

My first bus trip to Athens was so packed. It was a peak-hour trip in the evening. They did not have an option to pay fare to get a ticket. One of my project mates offered me a couple of ticket cards. He came all the way until the bus stop, pushed me inside the right bus, which went via my hotel.

The trolleybus was running in electricity. The trolley polls – which looked like the long horns of Indian rhinoceros – touched the two lines of the overhead electric lines.

I was not sure what to do with the tickets inside the bus. It was so packed like a Mumbai local train. I showed the ticket to fellow passengers and asked them, “Where to tap this ticket?”. He explained to me in detail, but in Greek. But I found the ticket punch machine based on his hand-gestures. It was close to another exit. It was like a hundi of Bhadrakali Amman Temple. One of the fellow passengers helped me to insert my ticket. It was supposed to punch my machine and give it back. (I understand they use cashless payments using credit cards now) But it spit my ticket back. From the Greek he spoke, I understood that my ticket was invalid. I had one more card to save my life. It failed too.

I was so close to my bus stop. I enquired if there was a way to pay for the ticket. It was possible. But I need to go to the driver’s cubicle. I was on the rear side of a vestibule bus, which is taking more passengers than its capacity. The man who helped to punch my tickets suggested, “You just go. No problem. It is free trip. free”. Finally I got down as a ‘With-out‘.
* With-out – It is the keyword for ticketless travel in Chennai.

A travel don’t have to be rules-based. Co-life travelers like the flight attendant who took effort to search for a food, the project mate who offered tickets, the helpful passengers make it merciful & cordial.

I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z 2022 with theme Yātum ūrē!