Chaits looked in wonder at the magnanimous Subang International Airport – they had to wait till immigration formalities were complete – Walking on the conveyor belts they reached the check-in counter for their next flight to Penang…
Little did Chaits know what this trip had in store for him…
They were checking their bags in for the flight when Chaits realized that he had a pouch with him that didn’t belong to him – he attached the pouch to his waist and asked the tour operator, “How much time do we have to board the next flight?”
“Why?” asked Sudhir their tour operator and guide.
“I need to pee.”
“We have 45 minutes to gather here. Those of you who want to pee – the toilets are there – noted as TANDAS – rest you stay here…” he pointed over to the place.
Chaits hurried toward the place thinking hard as to how he had an extra pouch… he remembered, when he was waiting to pick up his bags from the baggage area there was this Pakistani who had travelled in the same plane. He was struggling with number of baggage items and he had looked at Chaits desperately, had requested Chaits to help him… He had handed over the pouch to him when he picked up 2 more bags. Chaits had seen his own bag arrive and had rushed to pick it up and forgotten about the pouch. It had been almost an hour now and Chaits was sure he couldn’t search for the person at this massive airport. He decided to carry the pouch along and see what could be done once he settled down at his destination…
They boarded the flight to Penang and were hoarded off to a waiting bus. On the way to their hotel, they passed the magnanimous bridge of Penang over the sea and everyone was awed at the sight. They checked into the Ferrenghi Beach Hotel after thankfully accepting the welcome drink. They all were paired up with a partner except Chaits…
“We expected you to get your girlfriend along – so now you have a room, all to yourself…” Bajpai explained.
“Unless…” chipped in Christy, “you find a local girlfriend to keep you company…
“Well – that’s next to impossible…”
“Not really if you know him…” Christy said nudging Chaits who went red in face…
“Aw! Christy – don’t damage my good image…”
“I’m not damaging your good image – just suggesting you what you could do…” they all laughed and jested at Chaits’ discomfiture… once in the room he looked at the suite and felt that he should have got one of his girlfriends along. He found the bathroom and freshened up to join the others at the dining area…
“Ladies & Gentlemen – we relax today” Sudhir was addressing their group, “Evening – we go to a major seafood attraction here – It’s about 12.30pm, after lunch – you can rest or play yourself off at the swimming pool”, he said pointing to the direction of the swimming pool inside the hotel premise, “At 7pm – we assemble at the lobby & by 7.30pm, we move – you’ll have to arrange for your own transportation – a cab ride will cost you approximately 4 MYR (Malaysian Ringgits) & can ride up to 4 passengers so that may cost you about 1 MYR each…” Everyone started calculating mentally trying to convert Indian Rupee to Malaysian Ringgit… “Further the food & drinks are at your expense…”
Everyone looked at him in wonder. “Ok, don’t look at me like this… look at the Itinerary that was sent to you over a month ago….” They looked at each other wondering if they had bothered to go through it….
“Alright – Let me explain – breakfast & one meal included with the stay & city tours along with flights & flight transfers – anything apart from this – you pay extra…”
People calculated of what & how they’d spend. ‘Will the money they carried be enough?’ That was the question everybody had in their mind… “And yes – I’m extremely sorry – I should have informed this before…” they all looked at Sudhir… “If during travel, someone asks you to help him or her with their baggage – SAY NO – you never know what it contains… There have been instances where people like you tried to help & later got arrested because the bag they carried with them to help the co-passenger contained drugs or weapons. If that happens – it’s out of my scope to help you. I hope none of you have helped someone on our way here…”
Cold sweat broke on Chaits. He was aware of strict laws in the Eastern countries… After a tense meal, he rushed to his room & opened the pouch that he’d carried all along from Subang International Airport. He quickly ransacked the pouch for its content. It contained few toiletries a tooth brush, paste, etc. Chaits heaved a sigh of relief. He put them back & decided to dispense off the pouch when his hand touched a squarish soft bulge. He re-emptied the contents & looked around to find a hidden compartment. It contained a paper pouch… His heart beat fast – he hoped that it contained few tissue papers – slowly he opened it – he couldn’t believe what he saw. It was a thick wad of local currency he counted it to be 50K MYR & that was huge… he re-bundled the cash & tried re-inserting it in compartment of the pouch but something else was obstructing… he looked inside & found a small paper package – he carefully opened it – it contained a USB & the paper that wrapped had an address in Kuala Lumpur with a telephone number. Chaits was too honest, someone else, would have been greedy, kept the money & forgotten about the pouch… Chaits looked at his itinerary – he had 2 nights stay in Penang after which they move to Kuala Lumpur… keep their extra baggage at Holiday Inn & proceed for a night’s stay at Genting Highlands & return to Kuala Lumpur for another 2 nights stay…
‘Hmm – I can meet the person when I’m at Kuala Lumpur & return his pouch to him… the poor chap must be going crazy & cursing me or his luck for losing all this money’ Chaits thought… He actually wanted to catch up on sleep but was not able to sleep so he put on the TV and started surfing channels he was amazed to find a Hindi movie being telecast on the national network. He was ready with the best of his white shirts that he normally wore on a bottle green trouser. He had his latest pair of comfortable black sports shoes that he’d purchased for this trip – they had a wonderful grip… Seeing nobody in the lobby he looked around and found a sweet girl at the reception – he turned on his charm & approached her…
“Hi!”
“How may I help you, Sir?” she gave a professional smile at him – but her eyes showed, like most of the secretaries in Mumbai – ‘She was Impressed’… The secretaries in Mumbai not only were ‘Impressed by him’ – but they ended up saying ‘I’m Pressed by him’ after a fantastic date…
“I’m your guest put up in room 507 and I was amazed to watch a Hindi movie this noon.”
“Oh! They show them every day. We have lots of people with Indian origin in this country.”
“Hmm – that explains it – hey! We’re supposed to go to popular seafood place around… would you know where that’d be?”
“Umm – that should be the Eden Seafood Village. It’s hardly about 3 miles from here… you go out of this hotel & take a left on the main road & follow the road till you reach the place – no turns…”
“Wow! That’s nearby…”
“Ya and try those spicy dishes cooked with special Malaysian fervour – I’m sure – you’d love them…”
Chaits could almost see her mouth, watering at the thought – he smiled at her “Well, do you like the food there?”
“Oh! Ya!” was her instant reply.
“Maybe we could go there & I can treat you to your favourite dish…”
Her tiny eyes widened “Are you asking me out on a date?”
She had a local oriental accent & it was difficult for Chaits to understand whether she was excited or angry at his proposal…
“Oh! I was just asking you to give me company. I’m new around here & don’t know the roads. I thought I could treat you for showing me the place around…”
“I wish, I could but I’ve the evening shift & I’m stuck here till 2 am…”
“Aw that’s not fair. A lovely lady like you should be home by 10 pm latest…”
“I know but my colleague who does this evening shift has asked me for a favour. His daughter is sick & he needs to be by her side…”
“Oh! I’m sorry to hear that…”
Her face brightened, “Perhaps, you can treat me on Sunday – it’s my day off.”
“I wish I could but, we all would be at Kuala Lumpur on Sunday – maybe next time when I revisit… here’s my visiting card, meanwhile, we can keep in touch on the social media sites. By the way I’m Chaits…”
“Hi… I’m Lin” she took his card & put it in her purse, “You can meet Kaz Chan there & tell him that I referred…”
“Katzchan?”
“No – Kaz Chan. He’s my brother-in-law & the Event Manager there – he’ll offer you the best of services at a discount…”
“Wow – thanks – Lin, are there any rules preventing people skating on the roads here?
“No… Why?”
“I love skating & I got my roller skates with me. That’d also save me some money…”
“Sir, I think your group’s gathering there…” Chaits looked at his group arriving…
“Thanks” and he joined his group…
The story takes on a turn from this point and people who have read it have been excited and asked me for the sequel of this story…
If you want to read this further, I am giving you the link to buy the book…
Kindle India: https://amzn.in/d/cpkuOLh
Paperback India: https://amzn.in/d/1tJ9jl1
Kindle International: https://a.co/d/hy7g1PS
Paperback International: https://a.co/d/9p1Oj95