Luck of Love
Title
Luck of Love
Description
Journal Entry
Creator
Gayatri Kumar
Date
04/05/2020
Format
Text
Language
English
Text
Sometimes, all of a sudden, my dad’s face will freeze and he’ll lock a pair of solemn eyes on me. You’ll know he’s either sometime long ago in the past or somewhere far away in the future. He tells me, “If you hadn’t gotten that last flight out of New York, you would have been stuck there. I wouldn’t have been able to get you out. What would I have done? I would have shrunk into half my size from worry.”
When I was waiting at the gate for my flight, I heard my name announced through the corridor’s speakers. I can’t remember exactly how I felt then, but it must not have been good because I pretended like my name was not Gayatri Kumar. For five minutes I made no movement and kept my head down. But for five minutes I also thought of the worst scenarios that could unfold: “Ma’am, I’m sorry but your ticket is invalid,” or “Ma’am this flight is not to going to Delhi,” or worse, the absolute uncertainty of “I’m sorry, but we need to speak to you in private.” Of course then I had to find out which one of these it was going to be. There were two ladies working incessantly on their computers when I told them my name. “Are you an Indian citizen?” I shook my head and showed them my passport and OCI card. They looked at it closely and then searched through a paper on their desk with a list of names. “Ms. Kumar we just need you to know that India has issued a travel ban that restricts flights into the country, that will start exactly on the 13th.” It was 10 PM on the 12th. My flight took off at 11:00 PM. That’s how close I was to not making it at all.
When I was waiting at the gate for my flight, I heard my name announced through the corridor’s speakers. I can’t remember exactly how I felt then, but it must not have been good because I pretended like my name was not Gayatri Kumar. For five minutes I made no movement and kept my head down. But for five minutes I also thought of the worst scenarios that could unfold: “Ma’am, I’m sorry but your ticket is invalid,” or “Ma’am this flight is not to going to Delhi,” or worse, the absolute uncertainty of “I’m sorry, but we need to speak to you in private.” Of course then I had to find out which one of these it was going to be. There were two ladies working incessantly on their computers when I told them my name. “Are you an Indian citizen?” I shook my head and showed them my passport and OCI card. They looked at it closely and then searched through a paper on their desk with a list of names. “Ms. Kumar we just need you to know that India has issued a travel ban that restricts flights into the country, that will start exactly on the 13th.” It was 10 PM on the 12th. My flight took off at 11:00 PM. That’s how close I was to not making it at all.
Citation
Gayatri Kumar, “Luck of Love,” Documenting the Student Experience of COVID-19 at Sarah Lawrence College, accessed April 20, 2024, https://slccovid.omeka.net/items/show/18.