It was a snowstorm and I'm out

I was travelling back to US from India in January 2024.  To be honest since I was away from Rochester, I was not keeping track of weather back here. When I finally landed at JFK, I received a weather advisory email from my housing. That's the time I finally got to know. Anyways I was feeling tired after 29 hours  (including the layover) of journey from CCU - JFK.  Again I had to wait for roughly 7 hours to catch a flight to ROC.

I had already checked in my luggage and was waiting. The waiting times at airports are actually not bad for me because I enjoy spending time with myself. Anyways, as usual if you purchase the direct ticket from ROC<->CCU, it's always that for atleast one leg of the journey you need to wait for longer hours. 

My flight back to ROC was scheduled initially around 10:15 PM with JetBlue. And each time from 7pm onwards I was receiving emails that the flight is getting delayed for half an hour  and I received almost 4 emails saying so! TYPICAL JETBLUE !!

Finally, we got to know that the flight is now scheduled at 12:30 AM, I felt it's still good atleast I can get back home and relax. I made my way to the designated gate , where all passengers were  waiting eagerly to board.

At that point, I felt like I was almost there. My body was begging to lie down and crash. And then, just as I thought it was almost over, an air hostess came and announced that the flight from ROC to JFK (the one we needed) wasn't able to arrive because of the weather.

This is the first time I had ever experienced a flight cancellation right at the boarding gate. What made it worse was that there were no immediate solutions offered to the passengers—no alternative flights, no hotel arrangements, nothing! When I contacted customer service, they told me they couldn’t arrange a hotel or any immediate flight. The best they could offer was a seat on a flight two days later. I was dumbstruck! Normally, I avoid taking buses or trains when I have luggage—especially after flying in from overseas.

I headed downstairs to collect my checked-in luggage, which had already been returned to the carousel. While picking it up, I noticed three young Asian women—possibly Chinese—who looked just as jinxed as me. Since they were also collecting their suitcases from the same carousel, I figured they were my co-passengers on the same flight to Rochester. I approached them and asked what their next move was. I also let them know that I’m a student too, feeling completely lost, and shared my concerns. They seemed tense as well. That’s when I found out they were students at the University of Rochester. They told me they were planning to stay at a nearby hotel for the night and figure things out the next day. They wished me good luck and headed out. I smiled, wished them back, and watched as the area around me slowly emptied. The place felt quieter now. 

It was already past midnight—the new day had officially begun. I had mentioned earlier when the flight was originally scheduled, but by this point, I wasn’t even keeping track of the time. If I had to guess, it was probably around 2:30 AM, and I still had no idea how I was getting home. I sat down on the floor and racked my brain for a way out. I checked flight prices, and they were literally insane. It was priced like a last-minute rocket to Mars! Delta was charging $2,500 for a flight the following evening. That meant waiting another day and a half at JFK.  I knew I have come up with a better plan.

I checked Greyhound buses, I looked into train options, but same-day availability was practically nonexistent. Everything for the next day was sold out. Booking anything—flights, trains, or buses—around the start of the Spring semester is a nightmare for the same day or the day next. Had it been any other time of year, I might have had a better luck. But at that moment, getting home the same day seemed nearly impossible. 

Needless to say, by this time I got so many phone calls from my parents and my very close relatives! All of them seemed to be worried —maybe even more stressed than I was. I had my laptop open and was updating my mom on the situation. Just after I ended the call, out of nowhere, a  stranger, —a young man  approached me and waved hello. He said he was also a student at RIT and let me know he had figured out a way to get back to Rochester. Now wait a moment, how did this person got to know that I am a student at RIT, that's because I was carrying an orange tote from RIT. Sometimes we do not even realise how a small thing can even lead to something or somewhere out of nowhere that takes us a step closer to convergence.  I realised you can't find some paths without even getting lost. That's the beauty in which the universe responds. And perhaps this is one my biggest realization in my grad school. I would not have realized and learnt much unless I had decided to fly overseas to pursue my higher education.

His  name was Shubham, sorry I do not recall his surname ,  he  was from Nasik, Maharashtra.  He told me he were to be in same flight  to Rochester, that got cancelled and wanted to let me know that he will be taking FLIXBUS from NYC to Rochester and said that I should not delay buying tickets since there are only few seats left. I took  few moment , got back to my parents and finally bought the ticket to Rochester. I felt very relieved and happy from inside 🙂 that I was finally able to figure out a way back to home. Now doing all these probably took me to the dawn of the day, it was almost around 4 am and the bus would depart at 7:30 am. 

*************************************************************************************************

The bus ride finally began. It was the first time I was traversing cities by road in the U.S., and honestly, I had never visited New York City for any travel or recreational purpose. As the bus snaked its way through the outer edges of NYC, I caught a fleeting glimpse of the Empire State Building.  There was a sudden rush of emotion once I saw it —as if a lighthouse —majestic but at distant, pierced through the chaos of past 48 hours. There was a brief moment of joy. I’ve said this to my mom many times—New York City always finds a way to hold me back, even when I don’t want to stay. Be it on my way to India or back, I always seem to get stuck for hours at JFK—thanks to a delayed or cancelled flight.

Despite multiple invitations from friends to explore the city, I’ve never taken up the offer. There have been three solid chances to see NYC properly, but deep down, I want my first real tour to be with my parents. I want that moment to be ours. I hope we make it there someday. 

For the first 30 minutes, the bus seemed to just circle through the boroughs of New York, offering a mini city tour before truly beginning the journey. Till now the weather was  normal.  Skyscrapers faded into smaller towns, and slowly the scenery began to shift. Slowly the bus changed its place to a different city. I do not recall all the names of all the cities, here are to name a few: Avon, Batavia, Oswego, Syracuse (the one closer to Rochester). There was something oddly harmonic about the ride.  Each town had a bustling heart—a central intersection full of life,  but what was common and that is true even in Rochester was the presence of old architectural buildings.  There was a place I wish I caught the name, it just resembled the Darjeeling Mall. Completely in all way! For a split second, it felt like I am in Darjeeling — it brought me back the memories that I had during the Darjeeling trip with my parents back in 2012.

Roughly two hours in the ride, as the bus moved farther, I started to see — that slowly there was a squall of flurries that began to swirl as if it was their tiny scout. But that was the  first sign that the storm was kicking off. Things escalated in few moment,  a full blown snowstorm started (the picture above). There was thick veil of snow and sleet  and nothing was visible. I sat by the window, watching the world to vanish in white. (যেন মনে হচ্ছিলো, পুরো তুষারে তোলিয়ে গিয়েছি)The more the bus moved forward, I genuinely feared that the bus might skid. At one point, I lost all hope and just prayed for everyone's safety! The storm became very dense. The  bus  started feeling little shaky ,  the storm really exhaled directly onto the bus — an icy gust that chilled me to my bones. The blizzard became so dense, it felt as though we were headed into the unknown—like nature had swallowed the road ahead. and there we were, facing potential existential dread😨!