Rohtak: A sudden IndiGo flight cancellation forced a family from Haryana’s Rohtak district into an overnight dash across states, turning what was meant to be a routine trip into a high-stakes journey to protect a teenager’s academic future.
Rajnarayan Panghal, an advocate and sports enthusiast from Mayna village, had accompanied his 17-year-old son, Ashish Chaudhary Panghal, to Delhi airport earlier this week. Ashish, a Class XII student and competitive shooter studying in Indore, had returned home briefly and needed to be back in Madhya Pradesh for his pre-board examinations scheduled to begin on December 8. His college had also planned to felicitate him on December 6.
But just as the father and son arrived at the airport, they learned that the Delhi–Indore IndiGo flight had been cancelled—a development that threw the teenager’s academic schedule into jeopardy.
According to Rajnarayan, the news left them scrambling for options. A last-minute confirmed train seat was nearly impossible to secure, and missing both the felicitation ceremony and the first exam was a real risk.
“Once the airline informed us the flight wouldn’t take off, we knew we couldn’t rely on alternative bookings,” he said.
Determined not to let the setback derail his son’s preparation or attendance, Rajnarayan made a quick decision: he would drive the entire 800-kilometre distance himself. Without stopping for more than essentials, he steered through the night, covering the route from Delhi to Indore so that Ashish could walk into his college on time the next morning.
The marathon drive paid off. Ashish reached campus ahead of schedule, ensuring he didn’t miss his exams despite the travel chaos.
The episode highlights how the widespread disruption caused by IndiGo’s cancellations affected not just leisure travellers and business commuters, but also families whose plans carried personal and time-critical stakes.
