Emotional Baggage

Mrunalini and Loukya rushed toward the baggage collection counter as they were already late to catch their flight to Gwalior. Mr. Kishnamurthy, at the baggage counter, collected the passports and boarding passes and examined those. After a few minutes of validation, he exclaimed, 'Madam, I am afraid, though your luggage weight is perfectly within our exemption limit, both of you have to pay for your emotional baggage! Mrunalini and Loukya were startled and laughed and said, 'Sorry, Sir, We did not get you.' The official repeated that passengers had to pay for their emotional baggage as per the new terms and conditions.

Louka paid no credence to the officer and shouted, 'Mr. Murthy, I think your airline company is trying out these odd means to hoard money from the passengers!'

Another official intervened and explained that all the people boarding the flight had been contacted earlier at some time or the other. Through this new initiative, they only hope to reduce people's emotional baggage!

He also pointed out to many people who had signed up for the cause and handed over a few policy documents along with case study files; according to the files, both of them had to abide by the rules and make payment for their emotional baggage! He also informed them that their flight had been delayed for 3 hours due to poor weather conditions, so they had enough time to decide on their payment options.

Mrunalini and Loukya were baffled by the strange behavior of the airport officials.

They had been the closest of friends for a while now. Louka was a young marketing manager in a renowned company but recently lost her job. She did not speak about this to anyone, not even to Mrunalini though they had been regularly talking to each other, planning for the trip.

Mrunalini looked puzzled after reading the documents and busted out, 'I think we can strastraight away pay off these people and get rid of the problem, it seems like new bait for the airlines' company nowadays!'

An old lady approached them and was eager to discuss the matter. Louka briefed her entire situation and realized that there was also a no payment option for the people who had started dealing with their emotional baggage lately.

Mrunalini and Loukya were still shocked as even in their wildest dreams, they did not expect anything similar to this. They sat on the bench before them, going through the papers once again.

Another young man interrupted and asserted that he had been in contact with some counseling group in the past as he had some personal relationship issues. He advised them that the best way to fight negativity of mind was to first acknowledge it and then confront it before it was out of control.

Out of utter dismay, Loukya started sobbing, and she groaned and said, 'Mrini! I cannot handle this anymore! I have been hiding this from you, but you know what, I have lost my job a few months before. I have started doing some freelancing work now, but I am wrecked. The day I lost my job, it seemed the whole world had fallen apart, and all I could do was to stare at it. I had been so obsessed with my job and I had even smudged out about my profile to all the people around me in the past. This was so overwhelming that I never spoke about this to anyone. But trust me, I feel so relieved, pouring my heart out to you now!'

An hour passed, and Mrunalini pacified Loukya, held her hands softly, and promised to be by her side throughout all odds. Finally, Louka took a deep breath, gathered herself, and blubbered, 'Mrini, why are you ready to pay for your emotional baggage? What is your situation?'

Mrunalini reluctantly said, 'I do not want to divulge into old memories; those are extremely depressing and more than grief it is a hollowed-out feeling. I cannot say anything right now, Loukya. I am filled with guilt and I might not be able to change my situation ever.' Louka compassionately hugged her and said, 'It's fine, if you ever feel ok to share, please do so and always remember that I am there to listen.'

After a while, the airport officials gathered and announced that the emotional baggage charge was just a stimulus to motivate people to speak up to their near and dear ones; they emphasized that the airline company had collaborated with the 'Clinical Counselling firm to aim at de-stigmatizing mental health conditions. They encourage people to speak about unpleasant memories that often tend to carry a lifelong burden; hence no extra payments were to be made.