Planely speaking

I miss my old house and the old airport. Very badly. Especially since these days my daily route to work is so staid - flyover constructions :-P Earlier, I would always catch an aeroplane or two take-off / land and I'd watch it until the tiny blip flashes out of sight. Even trains fascinate me equally. Maybe it is due to my limited travel. For a long time my longest train journey was 8 hours ( Bangalore-Chennai ) in the evergreen Brindavan Express !!! I can assure you I've been seated in every window-seat on that train -- Okay, I'm not that old :-P  There's something about airports and railway stations that excites me instantly. The very prospect of traveling in a flight gives me an adrenaline rush.

My dad had a job that took him to nearly every city in India. Even before he got married, he had been to north-east-west India - everywhere! Lucky him. When we were kids , my dad ensured that we always got to see a new place every now and then. I will always remember my first flight. We flew to Trivandrum from Bangalore. After that, my memory's hazy and to this day I don't recall how we went to our native town and Kanyakumari. But the flight.. Oh wow! I was probably 9-10 years old. It was an early morning flight and the airport was just 10 minutes from my old house. My mom was up by 4 (or midnight I am not sure) and packing idlis (snack made with lentils & rice) for everyone!!! Old habits die hard. All my dad's repeated reassurances that food was most definitely provided in every flight fell on deaf ears. Thankfully we weren't forced to eat idlis. My brother was a naughty, chubby and very cute kid. While boarding the flight, at the sight of the pretty air-hostess with a tray full of toffees, my brother couldn't stop himself. He attacked the entire tray promptly ( Not the air-hostess silly - he was a kid remember )!!

Yet another time, many years later we went to New Delhi on a holiday. The flight from Bangalore to New Delhi was 3 hours long ; a dream come true for 'flight-maniac' moi ;-) The only disappointment here - My brother was in primary school still and he got a complimentary toy. Me - nothing !! Come on, I was only in 9th or 10th ( I think ) :-(   I love receiving and seeing off people at airports and railway stations. I can stand at airports for hours watching the flights, observing people and even admiring their luggage :-D To tell you the truth, I simply forget the people I am with and stand mesmerized noticing everything and everyone else. I sometimes even envy the security guards. One of my friends is an air-hostess and I never get tired of listening to all the airport stories she has to share. Oh yes, I love Arthur Hailey's Airport too :-)

My first flight abroad was eventful but not really fun though. I was least bothered about the purpose of my trip or the country, places to sight-see etc. Long aeroplane journey was the only thing buzzing in my mind. I didn't go directly from Bangalore. At Bangalore airport , my parents & brother saw me off. Flew to Chennai where I had to wait until midnight for my flight. At Chennai domestic airport, all my relatives came to receive me .. and then see me off. I will never forget the look on my teammates` faces when they saw the huge gang that welcomed me at the airport. They mumbled Hi's and were speechless for nearly two minutes. My grand-parents and cousins went overboard with their emotions and crushed, squeezed and hugged me the moment I stepped out of the domestic airport. No, it wasn't a re-union after years. We do meet pretty often - Chennai is like backyard for me actually. My uncle sensed the abnormality and made some small talk with them. My colleagues felt a tad out of place amidst my boisterous family and they told me they'd wait inside the International terminal while I said my goodbyes :-D Once they left, we clicked pictures. Correction. We did nothing but click pictures. Yeah, I have solo pics, family pics, pics with cousins, pics with my luggage - you name it !!  It has got to be my best 'airport' moment till date ;-)

Once inside the flight, all my excitement was short-lived. Mine was the last seat in the flight (right at the back) and my colleagues were ahead. I wasn't even beside the window. I promptly took the window seat and decided to beg the rightful owner of that seat when he/she arrived. It was a nightmare come true for me. A foreigner sauntered in and demanded his seat. I pleaded ( even smiled !! ) and gave him a pitiful glance. The 'wet blanket' refused to give in. If looks could kill, I would've ensured he dropped dead right then. I plonked myself on the aisle seat very grumpy.

Since I had nothing better to do ( TV was awful - some really really unheard of Tamizh movie ), I dozed off. This guy kept shooting stuff on his video camera ( probably his first flight or new gadget ), eating noisily & drinking most of the time. All this at midnight! Thrice I was woken up because his royal highness had to attend to nature's call or whatever !!!! I used to be woken up like this - with a poke on my shoulder. I mean, whatever happened to manners -- 'excuse-me', 'please', 'a moment' .. of course not.  Everytime he poked, I would scowl and grit my teeth. I'd stay awake because I knew he'd return but Heaven knows what he was upto. I would doze off eventually , tired of waiting , only to be poked again. Aaargghhh!! Far from a pleasant , enjoyable happy flight ! The third time I decided it was time for sweet revenge! I pretended to be fast asleep when he returned and all his incessant poking was ignored. I shifted in my seat and made him wait impatiently for 5-10 mins. I secretly hoped he would go back to the restroom and I could lock him in. Royal pain in the wrong place he was. I was so fed up of the poking that I scowled at the air-hostess too when she woke me up to serve me my meal.

At least my return journey was great. Again no window-seat but the guy beside me was every flight-lovers` dream come true. He willingly gave me his seat ( Ok I pleaded again but the pitiful glances were not necessary ) and we chatted a lot ( it was his first flight to Bangalore ). Turned out he was also working in the same place I did , albeit a very senior colleague. He thought I was a college student on a holiday. How I wish. Ha ha!!

My dream flight would be one that goes on and on alternately shuttling between nice spacious airports !! :-D  I definitely need a window-seat , preferably with a ton of books and junk food at my disposal. For company and entertainment, I'll settle for Johnny Depp after a lot of deliberation. I hope he's a good listener. I could go on and on but I think you got the point or didn't you ?! ;-)

I took this snap from the flight back to Bangalore .. and I'm so proud of it. If you get to see some of the atrocious snaps I generally click, you would also clap hard at this ;-)


                                   "... Sweet Virginia Blue Skies ... "