Up In The Air

Which can be a calmer place to write than 38127 ft above earth? Yes, I am writing this post on my way to Mumbai in the Jet airways flight. Its a direct flight from Brussels to Mumbai. So I don’t have to waste my time in getting down at some airport, waiting at the transit, again going through the security and once again waiting for the plane to take off. It’s my first direct flight and I am totally enjoying it.

I just finished watching Ishqiya and thought of starting Karthik Calling Karthik. But then I controlled myself. I am the worst movie buff one can ever find. In my last Emirates flight from Duesseldorf to Dubai, I watched three movies one after the other. By the time I reached Dubai, I had started convincing myself ‘No Gouri, its all in your mind. you are not gonna have the migraine. Try and divert your attention..’ But I couldn’t fool myself and bore the punishment of my stupidity. That was one of the most terrific flight experience I ever had. I couldn’t even eat the delicious food of Emirates. Ofcourse, as soon as I reached Mumbai I felt good and even better as I saw my Dad, sister and brother approaching me.

Although I have travelled quite a bit in last one and half year, I am not yet used to form an opinion about the airports. It was an exciting experience when I started it after marriage. I can never forget the journey to Germany, the Duesseldorf airport, Duesseldorf train station and finally the first time I saw that loveliest house in Oberhausen. Later, when I travelled back to India with Turkish airlines, it was an chaotic exoerience. First, the flight from Duesseldorf to Istanbul was pretty late. Then even the flight from Istanbul to Mumbai was extremely late. Even while coming back, it happened the same. When we reached the Istanbul airport, it was already the last call for the Duesseldorf flight. And like typical Indians we had loads of luggage in our hands (Don’t know when we Indians will learn the funda of ‘travelling light’). To top it, we had been to The Village the previous night and with the usual donno-when-will-I-get-it-again attitude I ate till I couldn’t eat more. Result…bad stomach…in the flight!!! Nothing can match that irritation and that embarrassment! And with all that heavy luggage and a disturbed stomach I had to sprint. Phew….what a worst flight experience it was. I truly wish, I never have to travel with Turkish airlines again.

Airports can be extremely boring, especially while travelling alone. My worst memory is of waiting at the Mumbai airport for the Emirates flight. To entertain(???) the waiting passengers there are TVS, which air news channels,  at all boarding gates of Mumbai airport. That day, to provide the worst experience, the Aaj Tak channel was on. Grrrr! What a bullshit channel it is. Either they think that, they can make good humour (which is an award winning overconfidence) or they just simply fool around. I want to salute the people who regularly watch that channel. What an incredible patience they do have! Coming back to the topic.. against my wish my mind was getting distracted to the news(?) again and again. Well, because they were broadcasting a very interesting news..how a MP (Member of Parliament) humiliated a government employee. He entered the office, called that employee in a very arrogant manner and slapped him. The news was limited to just three sentences. But come on…if it doesn’t sensationalise, it will not be Aaj Tak! They showed a camera recording of how that MP entered and the way he called that employee ‘E Kala Jacket…idhar aa.’. Showed once..twice..thirice…ok enough, I diverted my attention….’E Kala Jacket’….the loud voice again caught my attention and I again diverted my mind….’E Kala Jacket’…attention caught..mind diverted…’E Kala Jacket’…attention caught..mind diverted…’E Kala Jacket’…attention caught..mind diverted…aaaaaaaaaa….I was fuming. The way their repeating that scene was a bigger humiliation to that government employee than the actual incident!!

But I cannot deny the fact that, airport is one of the best places to observe people. At the European airports, normally the crowd is with light luggage, elegant handbags, comfortable travelling clothes. At Indian airports, the crowd is with a-little-bit-more-than-a-human-can-carry luggage, decked up women, big queues and so on. Once at the Goa airport, I went to the WC. There was one cleaning lady doing her usual work. While I was freshening up, there came a foreign lady. Suddenly this cleaning lady, who was quiet till now, started welcoming her and asked whether she can assist her in any way. I was shocked. This lady didn’t say a word to me,then why so much of a curtsy to a foreign national. I didn’t expect her to assist me, but this attitude of neglecting her own countrywomen and licking the shoes of a foreign woman was quiet disgusting. Probably her experience taught her the better chance of getting a tip from foreigners. So may be she was not totally wrong. But she was already getting a salary for her work, then she should have treated everyone equal.

So on and so forth..these air journeys are full of experiences. Although I can go on and on telling my experiences, I have to stop for the time being since my laptop is soon gonna sleep. I mean, the battery is almost finished. Three hours and one minute to reach…my dear Mumbai, I am coming!!