The wheelchair and me

 In the last couple of years, I don't feel confident traveling alone when I go out of the station.  The reason -the anxiety syndrome that I have developed because of tripping and falling a couple of times. Fortunately,  so far I have survived with minimum or no collateral damage.

While I don`t mind traveling long distances by cars driven by call drivers,  train journeys are definitely a `no.. no` for me because of the long distances one has to walk with baggage in hand, climb steep stairs sometimes,  and the nightmare of using the toilets in a moving & undulating train. Even for travel by air, I used to prefer a friend or a family member to accompany me as it happened a couple of times last year. Besides, I also find it difficult to stand in one place ( like in queuing ) for a long time

In December last year when I was visiting Coimbatore to follow up on a lead I got about getting an apartment in Nana Nani, I found that there was no one to accompany me on the flight to Coimbatore.  So, reluctantly I decided to use the wheelchair service offered by Indigo. Since It was the first time I was using the wheelchair I was self-conscious and imagined that every other guy was staring at me. I went through the check-in and security process, physically helped by the Indigo staff, and reached the Departure gate within 15 minutes of arriving at the airport. I decided that henceforth  I will opt for the wheelchair service whenever  I travel by air.

Every time I am checked in, the girl at the check-in counter personally brings the boarding pass, and gently enquires about the reason why I was opting for a wheelchair before handing over the same to me.  I felt cared for and secure,  traveling alone. I know most of the seniors who travel abroad use this service during their international travels.

 A few days ago when  I was traveling by Indigo from Coimbatore to Chennai,  when the girl asked me the usual question, I decided, in keeping with my policy of making at least one person happy every day,  to be generous with my praise of the wheelchair service of Indigo and how it has made me travel alone with confidence.  The girl requested me to record my comments on their feedback app and opened the app for me.  Suddenly I found myself surrounded by all the check-in counter staff, as they did not have a long line of passengers waiting to check-in. After I finished recording I found a senior staff member presenting me with a  thank you note which contained the following line: `When you bring joy to others, you receive more joy in return`. I was pleasantly surprised that this is what I tell people all the time and recorded it in detail in my article titled `Joy of Giving`. The staff insisted on taking a group photo with me (attached)

 I was delighted that I had made more than one person happy that day. My day was Made!.