The flight to Nagpur was at 0900h with a transit halt at Bombay for about four hours. We're off to attend the wedding of Radhika and Lalit - the bride is the daughter of my good friend, Academy course mate and Squadron mate, Sekhar Murthy. Gary, who was again with me years back at the Academy as a Divisional Officer, had fixed up a tryst at his place on our return leg. Working for the Jet Airways, he was 'monitoring our flight' throughout, as he cutely put it!
Though I'd sound gossipy, I must add on a couple of vignettes from the onward flight.
(a) The 'silent' communication.
There was this cute, newly married couple, presumably from Rajasthan - the aircraft had arrived at
Bombay from Jodhpur - accompanied by the gentleman's mother. Both the ladies had the 'pallus'
of their sarees draped around their faces as per custom. As they took the seats in front of us, the
mother insisted on sitting between the couple, much to the chagrin of the husband! Couldn't help
but notice the stolen glances and the silent communication between the couple all through the flight
duration of an hour and twenty minutes!!
(b) A 'smelly' neighbour.
Now, this is gonna sound rather nasty but say it, I will because of the agony it had caused all
through the journey. A pretty young lady was my neighbour on the aisle seat smartly dressed
in jeans, jacket, leather boots et all. That she was reeking of sweat causing nausea, would be an
under statement. She must have had to make the trip in haste to fulfill an urgent commitment,
and had sweated through to make it in, perhaps! And she made the cardinal mistake of unfastening
her seat belt, soon after the aircraft had landed and was taxiing into its parking bay. She definitely
must have been 'dying' to meet her commitment but I sincerely hope that she maintains her personal
hygiene, in future, though you would rightly insist that it's no bloody business of mine!
Pradeep, our 'saarthi' was at hand with a placard bearing my name at the entrance of the airport. The temperature outside was a blazing 46 degrees Celsius!
Tailpiece.
I think we're the only guests of Sekhar and Vijaya, other than the immediate family, who'd travelled farthest to attend the wedding and because of it, became the cynosure of everyone's attention much to my discomfort. How could I tell them that it was only a couple of years ago when I'd attended my classmate's son's wedding reception and we're housed at their place, 'the course mate and good friend factors' notwithstanding?!
Though I'd sound gossipy, I must add on a couple of vignettes from the onward flight.
(a) The 'silent' communication.
There was this cute, newly married couple, presumably from Rajasthan - the aircraft had arrived at
Bombay from Jodhpur - accompanied by the gentleman's mother. Both the ladies had the 'pallus'
of their sarees draped around their faces as per custom. As they took the seats in front of us, the
mother insisted on sitting between the couple, much to the chagrin of the husband! Couldn't help
but notice the stolen glances and the silent communication between the couple all through the flight
duration of an hour and twenty minutes!!
(b) A 'smelly' neighbour.
Now, this is gonna sound rather nasty but say it, I will because of the agony it had caused all
through the journey. A pretty young lady was my neighbour on the aisle seat smartly dressed
in jeans, jacket, leather boots et all. That she was reeking of sweat causing nausea, would be an
under statement. She must have had to make the trip in haste to fulfill an urgent commitment,
and had sweated through to make it in, perhaps! And she made the cardinal mistake of unfastening
her seat belt, soon after the aircraft had landed and was taxiing into its parking bay. She definitely
must have been 'dying' to meet her commitment but I sincerely hope that she maintains her personal
hygiene, in future, though you would rightly insist that it's no bloody business of mine!
Pradeep, our 'saarthi' was at hand with a placard bearing my name at the entrance of the airport. The temperature outside was a blazing 46 degrees Celsius!
Tailpiece.
I think we're the only guests of Sekhar and Vijaya, other than the immediate family, who'd travelled farthest to attend the wedding and because of it, became the cynosure of everyone's attention much to my discomfort. How could I tell them that it was only a couple of years ago when I'd attended my classmate's son's wedding reception and we're housed at their place, 'the course mate and good friend factors' notwithstanding?!
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