The Big B menace

Starry eyes, and a security lapseThe security lapse at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan international airport, with its tragic repercussions in the h...

Starry eyes, and a security lapse
The security lapse at Kathmandu8217;s Tribhuvan international airport, with its tragic repercussions in the hijacking of flight IC-814 and the long standoff at Kandahar, has been a cause of concern to everyone. How could it happen? This is what people are asking one another. Well, I have a recent experience, of course far from tragic, which shows that lapses can occur and for the strangest of reasons.

This happened on a flight from Khajuraho to New Delhi a day after the ides of December. The single Jet Airways flight from Delhi to Khajuraho which reaches there in the afternoon and then starts back can well be described as a shuttle service. And that week it was always late due to some technical problem or the other at Delhi. So the guests would wait and relax by the hotel poolside to see the aircraft come, and only then would they rush to the airport. Why not have another vodka or a bit of lunch, considering the Chicken Manchurian Dosa, a hybrid concoction on air, isreally quite unpalatable.

On December 16, the flight which was bringing Amitabh Bachchan to Khajuraho for the inauguration of the light and sound show, to which the actor had lent his famous voice, was even later than usual. As soon as we saw the aircraft from the hotel, we rushed out and managed to get to the airport just as the flight touched down. Booking my baggage, I made it to the security check, got my bag scanned and sat down, all ready to board the plane. Two persons travelling with me still hung around outside, perhaps for a glimpse or two of the Big B.

While my travelling companions merrily boa-rded the plane, I was stopped. The airport official gave me quizzical looks, and I wondered what on earth was wrong. 8220;What8217;s the matter?8221; one of my travelling companions asked. 8220;The boarding pass has no security check.8221; Now this is something nearly impossible, for you have to pass through the security for frisking, metal detector test and all. The officials realised what the lapse was all about andrushed away with the boarding pass, had it stamped and put me into the plane.

Now what had happened was that I being bit of a lost case and also not a frequent traveller by air did walk through the check but since there was no one there, I walked on to get my bag screened. And then sat down to puff away on my quota of nicotine to cope with an hour and a half of no-smoking ahead.

Now where had all those security women gone? My co-travellers told me that they had rushed to the gate to get a glimpse of Babu Mo-shai. Looking at the ageing superstar walk in, they were overhead te-lling one another, 8220;Would he be 40 or 45?8221; Amitabh should certainly feel flattered, for he still looks less than his years, no matter what the gossip columnists keep writing abo-ut his faded charms. And still there are ladies risking a lot just to catch a glimpse of him.

As for the star-struck ladies on duty running away like this, well, let us be kind. Now, Amitabh Bachchan is not an everyday sight at Khajuraho airport. Andfilmstars have an aura which can cause distractions aplenty. So it was with these ladies in khaki. The officials at the airport, realising what it was that had transpired, qui-ckly rushed to have my boarding pass stamped.

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But the fact of the matter is that I got on to the plane without a security check on my person. It is a case of all being well that ends well. But what if the end had not been so well?