It’s been 3 hrs since I arrived. The place has emptied over the last few hrs, but it’s slowing filling up again as the sun rises.

Now I am starting to get anxious.

I see a number of rusty yellow public phones around. It looks like it takes Rs1 (1 rupee) coin for a call.

Problem #1: The smallest amount I have is a Rs1000 note.

There are a few shops around. I try and buy a bottle of water (Rs20), but the shopkeeper can't change such a large note. Fortunately there’s a taxi driver nearby who broke it up for me (of course he also wanted my business as well). But that still left me with a bunch of notes and no coins. So I asked the shopkeeper if he could break the Rs10 note into coins. I told him I needed it for a phone call. He didn’t have enough coins, but he took pity on me and gave me a Rs1 coin.

Ok. I got my coin. Now I can make a call.

Problem #2: Who do I call?

We had been given a few numbers to call depending on where we were and who we wanted to contact. In Delhi I had the number for the hostel we were staying at. So that would be the most logical place to call.

Problem #3: Would anyone be awake to take my call at this time of the morning? Would they speak English? How do I get them to put me through to my team mates since I don’t know what room they’re in?

Problem #4: What number do I dial? I.e. on our list of contact numbers, the instructions were to dial 011-91 first. Is that an international prefix? Or a local area code?

Problem #5: I only have 1 coin. That means only 1 chance to get this right. If I stuff up and dial the wrong number & prefix, then I’d be stuck here.

Problem #6: I’m getting quite stressed now.

Maybe I should try something else. Perhaps the best thing is to call our local contact Tim. He should be able to contact Pierre and/or get me out of here.

Problem #7: I have his house number which is in Lucknow. And I have his mobile number. Does that mean he’s still currently in Lucknow? Or has he come to Delhi to meet the team? Can I actually call Lucknow with Rs1 coin, or is that an interstate call? How do I call Lucknow? Do I need a different prefix? I still hadn’t answer problem #4. Do I need to dial 011-91 as well? What if I get through but he’s not there? I could try his mobile, but the same problem all over again.

Gee, I though having all these numbers were supposed to solve my problems. Good thing I didn’t work this out early when I first arrived, or else I would’ve panicked!

Maybe I should’ve called earlier. What if they stayed up all night worrying about me? Oh why didn’t I call earlier? Then I wouldn’t have had to spend the night here at the airport without sleep.

Oh, hang on. I still don’t know what number to call.

I see 2 airport security guys around. So I go over to see if they can help me with this. After much confused discussion, I worked out that 011-91 is the international prefix. I also found that that the prefix to Lucknow is 0522, and to dial a mobile I need to first press 0. And nope, I can’t dial to Lucknow or to a mobile with only Rs1.

I still I didn’t like my chance of calling the hostel in Delhi. So I was back to square 1.

Problem #8: By now I’m really stressed!! And I need to pee. There are no toilets in sight – how can there be no toilets in an airport!?!?

As I looked around for the toilet my eyes fell on this funny phone booth for international calls. I saw this earlier but didn’t pay any attention to it, thinking that I don’t have the coins to call Australia, nor do I know the prefix.

But when I saw the phone booth this time, I realised that there’s an old man who’s been sitting next to it for some time. Maybe he wasn’t just sitting there reading his paper. Maybe he knows how to operate the phone.

It turns out that the international phone is not a coin-operated phone. It’s a normal LAN phone with a timer hooked up to it and this man charges you for your call. And better still, not only can he do international calls, but he can also call Lucknow.

So I ask him ho much it’d cost to call Tim’s house in Lucknow. Answer – Rs10! That’s 10 times the cost of a payphone for a local call. But then I reminded myself that the exchange rate is AUD$1=Rs30. So this phone call is only AUD$0.33.

I make the call. But no one answers.

Maybe they’re still asleep. I let it ring for a bit longer...BRRRING BRRRING...

Still no answer. D’oh!!

I hang up and ask to dial Tim’s mobile.