I am the Magan Madari of Surat airport.

Surat: A loud noise of the mobile phone woke Magan Madari from his afternoon siesta. Champak Chaploos was on the other line and he wanted to give secret information about the ‘kaand’ at the Surat airport. Champak says “Sir, we spotted birds inside the terminal building. They (birds) are flying here and there and pooping on the passengers. Now, what to do? Please give some ‘gyaan’. To this, Magan said, “Bhai, keep this as a top-secret, otherwise our reputation is at stake. media persons will be active and our ‘aakas of the airport’ will be in trouble”

“Don’t you even think of posting the photos of the birds on Twitter or FB? Media persons are always snooping and this will be a good ‘masala’ for them for the coming few days” warned Magan Madari.

Madari is not an employee of either the Airport Authority of India (AAI) or the Surat airport. Still, he is so passionate and kind-hearted that he doesn’t like to hear anything ‘negative’ for his ‘Aakas’ at the Surat airport—he might be getting special treatment at the airport, or the airlines would be offering heavy discounts on the flight tickets–. Whatever the case, this gentleman is always on the forefront and doesn’t give a chance to his ‘Aakas’ to counter the questions raised in the public.

For Madari, Surat airport is the second home. He is free to loiter inside the terminal building, attend the functions and events, and even take a chance to visit the tarmac with airport officers to click pictures of the aircraft’s landing on the runway and even during the welcoming of the new flight with a water cannon salute. This tall and slim Madari has become synonymous with the so-called ‘holistic development of Surat airport. AS the airport expanded with more flights and infrastructure, so do the stature of Madari grew leaps and bounds.

Holding a post in an organization for more than a decade now, he had the chance to attend the Airport Advisory Committee (AAC) meetings chaired by the Member of Parliaments (MPs), the Airport director, and other senior officials from Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), District Collector’s office, etc. Munching on the snacks and tea and raising one or two irrelevant issues in between, Madari never raised the issue of the buildings obstructing the flight path or drew attention to the need for the timely survey of the funnel path of the runway.  He (Madari) did not even bother to file official complaints at that time to stop such illegal activities and expose the nexus of the airport authorities and the realtors.

Maybe Madari did not want to hurt the ‘feelings’ of the former bosses of the Surat airport and the realtors indulging in illegal activities. After so many years of licking the boots of the realtors and the airport authorities, Madari’s conscience woke him up from the deep slumber. Suddenly, Madari came to the rescue of the flat-owners of the buildings obstructing the flight path at Surat airport. Without giving a little thought about his position in the reputed organization, he is openly supporting those who want to snatch away the houses of the ‘innocent’ residents.

Ends