What an experience!

As the English proverb goes, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’.

Apart from the phrase being short, simple and sweet, it’s also very meaningful to my life.

A few days ago, I experienced what it’s like to be in a big problem and how to, with the help of others, solve it.
I was supposed to leave for Paris on February 17th with Madame Sigg and a group of French students. I was proud of myself for being at the airport half an hour earlier than the assigned time. I thought this was necessary to ensure that there were no hassles caused because of me.

Everything was going fine until we arrived at the check-in counter and Madame Sigg asked me if I had a visa for Paris. I replied with a subtle shake of my head, still thinking about why I needed a visa. The lady at the counter said, “You can’t go if you don’t have a Visa.” I gave her every explanation possible, but no luck.
So, it was decided that I wasn’t going. As I was trying to figure out what had happened, Madame hugged me goodbye and told me not to worry. As much as I didn’t want to, I began to shed tears. I tried to hold them back but it just wouldn’t work.

One of my friends’ dad told me to get my ticket to be confirmed for the next day so that I didn’t have to go through any trouble. Unfortunately, I was put on the standby list for the next flight, which was the next day, because the flight was full.

My friends’ parents were very generous and gave me a ride home as my parents had already left. When I reached home, my mom gave me water and sat down with me to discuss what I wanted to do further, go to the French Consulate first thing in the morning and get the visa and then take the flight to Paris the next day or to not go.

The pessimist thinker tackled the optimist thinker inside me and I, automatically, began to think that there was no use of even thinking about going the next day because it’s not as easy as it looks. I doubted that I would get the visa easily as it generally takes seven to ten days to get a visa. And even if I got the visa, my ticket was not confirmed and I couldn’t get on the plane without a confirmed ticket.

I blurted out, with tears in my eyes, “There’s no use of going anymore, the whole experience is spoiled.” My mom said many things to convince me that missing one day wouldn’t make much of a difference and that I should try my best to get the visa and go to Paris. Nothing convinced me until my mom made her last try, “It’s better to regret something you have done, rather to regret something you haven’t.”

All of a sudden, I felt as if the positive thinker had somehow come back. I felt charged up to make an effort. The beginning of my good luck was with my friend’s dad (uncle Vik) who offered to help me out with the formalities for getting the visa. As my dad was busy that day, uncle Vik drove my mom and me to the French Consulate office and within one and a half hour, I had the visa in my hand. I thought this to be a miracle. I thanked god for it.

We left for the airport and reached there in half an hour, perfect for check-in. I got my boarding pass with instructions to listen up for my name, as I am on the standby list. The person at the check-in counter said that I shouldn’t have much problem with getting my ticket confirmed because a lot of people cancel their tickets about fort five minutes before the boarding time. That was relieving. I thanked god, yet again, for another miracle.

I got through the security check and waited in the waiting area. I sat there for about ten minutes, waiting for my name to be called but that didn’t happen. Worried to death, I went to the counter and showed the lady my boarding pass. She punched in a few numbers and said, “You are on standby and this flight is full, sorry, you can’t go.”

My mind went black. What did she mean by ‘you can’t go’? I went through all the trouble to get to the boarding gate for her to tell me that I couldn’t go? I stood right where I was and called my mom to let her know the unfortunate news. She didn’t believe me at first and when I was able to convince her that I wasn’t joking, she told me to tell the lady at the counter my whole story of how I was held back from going in a groups of nine students, etc. I did that but it seemed to have no effect on her. Not knowing what to do, I looked around and my eyes fell on the clock. It was seven minutes to take off. I had lost all hope when two businessmen hurried to the counter and kept their boarding passes on the counter. I came to know that one of them was on the standby list, whereas the other one had a confirmed ticket. As they were businessmen, they needed to go together and could wait till the next day. They saw me pleading to the manager and one of them said, “I think this young lady would like to go…so…” and the lady at the counter cut him off by saying, “let me see your boarding pass.”

My heart bloomed and the excitement was inevitable. The lady punched in some numbers and gave me a confirmed pass. She told me that I had to hurry. I thanked the two gentlemen who were gentle enough to do such a thing. I walked as fast as my legs would carry me. I thanked god once more for making the impossible happen.

This experience has taught me to never give up, stay positive and do whatever you can to achieve your goal.
It doesn’t hurt to fail after you have tried your best to make something happen but it hurts to find out, later that you could’ve done something but you didn’t. Hence, I had to agree with my mom: “It’s better to regret something you have done, rather to regret something you haven’t.”