As we are about to turn a leaf and open the page on the first day of 2012, with much to consider and reflect upon over the past year besides ambitions and desires to collate for the year to come, I wonder what can be of any significance that I can write in this column. I decide against concocting a series of philosophical questions or telling you about new places I want to explore and instead, a little incident that occurred on a recent flight comes to mind. When this unassuming Indian man wearing a warm hat came to sit beside me on the flight from Mumbai to Dubai, I sensed though could not confirm the smell of no deodorant and lack of showering, and my immediate reaction was to look around and search for another seat. But by the time I did this and took my seat again, I could no longer smell anything and decided that changing seats would be rude. Perhaps he was a builder or worker coming to work in Dubai for the first time. He seemed nervous to even be on a flight, sitting upright, almost scared to move, possibly in awe at this creature of the air.
I had fallen asleep by the time we took off and intermittently awoke during the three-hour journey. When I woke up half an hour before landing, the man was sitting in exactly the same position. I wondered if he had eaten anything. Did he perhaps think it costs to have the meal or use anything on the flight? I wanted to tell him that his ticket includes everything but wondered how to do this without offending him. Maybe he had eaten and I had missed it. Five minutes later, my curiosity gave way. "Did you eat?" I asked in Hindi. His eyes shifted either from irritability or nerves, I could not tell. An unintelligible yes?
Again, difficult to comprehend. "First time on a flight?" I tried a second question, but again wasn't sure what he said in the midst of frowning. "What are you doing in Dubai?" at which he named another country which I finally understood as Seychelles. It seemed wrong to press further. I wondered if he had been told not to speak to anyone. I had a vague recollection of someone sitting him down before heading further back in the aircraft, but was too exhausted to have noticed much at that time. A few minutes later, when the lady in the seat diagonally in front of us arose to use the bathroom, he gazed at her, mesmerised. The air hostess then came to collect the headphones and he handed over his unopened packet. I was convinced he must think everything had a price.
"Here," I said handing over a pack of biscuits I had just received having skipped the meal. He shook his head and looked away, frown still intact. I wondered what else I could do, but the flight soon came to an end and I quickly left to get my bags. If nothing, it had been eye-opening or rather a humbling experience, sitting beside this man, albeit for the entire last 20 minutes of the flight that I was awake.
— For more from Meera Ashish log on to www.talefourcities.com
