The Airport, I get into the line and walk till the check-in counter. I give me luggage, and ask the pretty lady behind the counter, for an aisle seat on the emergency exit row so that I can stretch my legs. Unfortunately, it wasn't available and poor me had to settle for a middle seat. The lady hands me the boarding pass and says with a smile "Mr. Gupta, Have a pleasant flight and I hope you have two hot chics sitting next to you". I smiled, being 20-something, I always wished you had an option to say, "Give me the seat next to the prettiest girl on the plane".
Anyway, it was not so. I sat between a 20-something slob who slept most of the flight and an elderly gentleman. This made matters worse!! You see, I am restless, a little edgy, and this elderly gentleman had the aisle sit. Oh Boy!! how I sat through the journey just to save him the trouble to get off his seat and get back in (which took nothing less than 5 minutes!!)
But sitting there, in my seat for 2 hours, without much movement (except one trip to the loo) caused me to stare, stare at the people around me, and wonder what they did, what their struggle were, what their story was.
The elderly gentleman next to me had another friend travelling, another 70-something sitting on aisle seat on the other side of the aisle.
You know I realized how once you are 70-something, the struggle in you would be more or less dead. There will be pride, a pride coming from some sense of achievement and from experience. Pride from the fact that they know (more often than not) what is really bothering the young, they can see through our problems probably better than ourselves. But, no one will listen to them, the middle-aged are too busy striving, the young too busy being different. They are lost in time and space, the body wouldn't allow, the people won't listen and it is all too late to act.
Anyway. allow me to to tell you a small incident.....
They had their meals paid for with their ticket, but since it was a 2 sector flight : Goa-Mumbai, Mumbai-Delhi, their meals were already served to them in first sector. Without realizing this, the air hostess of the flight gave a whole nice sounding rhetoric on how they are special and they have meals as part of their tickets. She dutifully, took their orders and served them. As soon as she served, the other air-hostess whispered that they have been travelling from Goa and are probably already served. She confirmed this, and took back the food already served (Indigo's customer service department should train air-hostesses better. A Rs. 200 loss here would have been totally worth the ugliness of taking back food, having two grumbling oldies and a bunch of people like me who witnessed this bad customer service. It is not the hostesses fault, probably she is under-trained, over-worked or just unhappy with her job or boss). Anyway, the two oldies grumbled silently, one took out a remaining sandwich from the earlier meal, while the other opened the half empty juice pouch. The sight caught my imagination, the two had lost the will to fight or tell the air-hostess that it was rude to serve food and take it back, but the two had the pride to take out the remaining food and eat it with all their heart. I loved it, it is a story I will remember forever.
The behaviour had defiance , a child-like defiance for the indifference people have for the old. I am no different, but that moment, that minute, I was lost in them. At the end of the journey, I helped one of them get his luggage out of the overhead cabin, and I got the most gracious smile in return. I think just the fact that I acknowledged him, his problem, was more than enough for him. He stepped back from the crowded aisle and said "your girlfriend might be waiting for you, why don't you walk ahead". I politely declined asking him to go first.
That is why I love flights, this one was on 21st November, Flight 6E 190, Indigo airlines. Also, what made things exciting was, me missing the boarding call, announcement for me and a special transit bus etc. etc. Looking forward to the trip back, and hopefully some hot women next to me this time....
real good one Rishabh...even I wil remember this one :-)
ReplyDelete@ Thanks Macha
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