The trip that easily could have not been - Part 2 of many

 An amusing first leg of the journey

I wanted to pen down my thoughts and emotions as soon as I stepped out of the flight. My moods swung from being irritated, annoyed to disbelieving and finally amused. In short an incredible flight journey. I took the AirAsia from Bangalore to Jaipur and from the time I went to the boarding gate found the atmosphere too funny. The scene at the boarding gate resembled one from a local bus stand with people carrying bags of all sizes and shapes, shouting at the tops of their voices on the phone and feeding hungry and angry children. Usually at such places I have to put up with an overabundance of quiet solitude where all you see are faces immersed in expensive electronic equipment with not idea of whether the neighbor was a human or a goat. I wouldn’t call the scene a welcome change but a diametrically opposite one.

As expected, all seats in the aircraft were taken. Thankfully I did not see anyone holding onto a seat using a handkerchief. But I did have to suffer in silence an impatient gentleman who kept poking and prodding me at the back with his sharp pointy fingers. My mistake was to keep a respectable distance of 1 foot from my predecessor in the queue. At one moment I turned back to give him an earful but restrained myself and successfully prevented him (through a calm word) from drilling a hole in my back. I reach my seat to find someone sitting in the window seat I had checked into. It was an old lady and her daughter was sitting in the middle seat and the aisle seat was empty. To ascertain whether they actually hold the tickets for the aisle seat I politely mentioned that they were occupying my seat. The daughter quickly offered me the vacant one saying “It’s okay. You can sit here”. I felt irritated just a bit before realizing that probably this was the first flight the old lady was taking in her life. And naturally she wanted to make the experience extra special. Sleep was my agenda for the entire duration of the flight and the seats looked comfortable enough, so I calmed down almost immediately.

The time for the flight attendants to show us the safety measures had arrived. It was one of most lackadaisical displays I have seen. The act of pulling the thread tied to the oxygen mask to release oxygen was completed at least 5 secs before the lady could announce its usage. And again while denoting the passage to exit doors in case of an emergency evacuation. The attendants were all quite young. They must have just graduated from college. And clearly not cut out for the job. Their movements were too quick and lacking the easiness of professionals. Their attitude a little too carefree and their chins were facing upwards just a tad too much. This inference of mine was further reinforced when I saw one flight attendant pushing a man into his seat. Although I would probably say the action was called for. This was just after touchdown and what a smooth landing it was. At almost the exact moment of the wheels touching down, an idiot gets up, opens the overhead locker and removes his bag. Naturally, the attendant was pissed at this behavior. He rushed straight at the idiot, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him into his seat and swiftly locked the overhead locker. The passenger deserved a slap at the least for this atrocious behavior. All this was happening while the announcement asking passengers to stay rooted to their seats until the flight stopped was going on. I get annoyed when I see people who can’t understand and act as per simple instructions. Like for example, when I see someone jumping a queue. I feel an urge to slap the idiot, give them a dressing down and make them start at the end of the queue.

But this was not an isolated incident. There were more of similar stupidity. Like almost everyone wanted to talk to people three rows before them and simultaneously at that. It was an absolute ruckus and more than one fish would have been sold, I’m sure. I woke up a million times because of the noise. Hollering infants were also aplenty. It is ofcourse not out of character for infants to holler. But I did find it intrusive and incredible for mothers to decide to walk them down the aisle instead of trying to calm them sitting in. I wouldn’t have minded it if they did not knock my hand off the side rest thereby waking me up. The scene at the time of deplaning was no different. Even when everyone in the queue knew there was no way to exit as the plane doors were still closed people tried to steal ahead of their neighbors. I firmly resisted one chaps advance and a sharp glance sideways at him made him stop his advance immediately. Of course there is no doubt that these chaps must have gone to some school or the other. But education could not teach them common courtesy. If this is how our country is in the 21^st century after almost 70 years of independence I cannot begin to imagine how the Englishmen arriving on our shores in the 17^th century would have experienced. I now probably understand what made Churchill call us uncivilized savages.

While, I say all this, I must also mention my experience with quite a few of such men and women. They have a lot of positive virtues. Enough to overlook these blemishes, appreciate them and even take them up as role models for better living. And that is where I do not appreciate Churchill for his comment. It is this realization that amused me and by the time I reached Zostel I was thinking back on the events of the day with a slight smile.