F for Flight

Considering how utterly exhausted I am, I can’t believe I am writing this post. Also, the WiFi in my hotel room is very unsteady, so I doubt I will be able to post this today. Anyway, I had a very early morning flight today. One that forced me to pull myself out of my cosy bed in the middle of the night. I believe waking up at 4 am is nothing short of a heinous crime.

Mint dropped me to the airport. I was beginning to get a slight headache. The thought of waking up at 4 am had not allowed me to sleep peacefully the previous night. I was going to Hyderabad on a work trip and I knew I would be having a long day. I thought probably I should try to sleep for a bit at the airport, since I was quite early as usual.

I got my boarding pass and walked through security check. Maybe I would get some shut eye on the chairs next to my boarding gate. Unfortunately, when I did reach there, I noticed several folks sleeping on the chairs, all heads tilted and mouths agape. I decided I didn’t want to sleep anymore. Yes, I was just worried I would present a similar sight. Or maybe I wouldn’t, but the thought of it wouldn’t let me sleep anyway, so why try?

So I walked around, observing random people. I know, people watching is a favourite pass time at the airport. Most people are so well dressed for flights, even domestic ones. At times the airport reminds me of a fashion parade. Anyway, I decided to come back to Mumbai and go shopping. I want to own trendy shoes and clothes too.

When we finally boarded, I realised my seat was in the middle row. Argh! I found myself sitting between two men. One bald and the other semi bald. By now, I had given up on the idea of getting some sleep. So I thought maybe I should read. I had remembered to carry a new book with me. While I was rummaging through my handbag, I remembered I had kept the book in the other bag. Which I had checked in. I wanted to kick myself. How brilliant am I? I carry a book for the flight and then I put it in my check in luggage. Okay, in my defense, I left it in that bag because I wasn’t planning on checking it in. I remembered on the very last minute that that bag contained a bottle of my body wash and face wash and that I had to check it in.

Since I was left without a book, I decided to pick up the newspaper tucked in the pocket of my front seat. The only thing, it was in Hindi. Oops. While I believe I speak fluent conversational Hindi, reading in classic Hindi doesn’t come to me easily. I agree, that is such a shame. I remembered a conversation I had had with my domestic help just the day before. She was suggesting we keep one of our spare mattresses on the bed in the guest bedroom. In response, I told her, ‘Nahi, woh bohut uncomfortable hoga’. And then I paused and wondered. What is ‘uncomfortable’ in Hindi? Mint who was around only needed one more chance to point out to me that my Hindi wasn’t up to the mark. Hmph. I went on to Google. The first result said it was ‘asuvidhajanak’ Really? I thought suvidha was facility and asuvidhajanak would mean lacking facilities. Not exactly close to ‘uncomfortable’.

Anyway, coming back to the Hindi newspaper in my hand, I decided to try reading it and see how much I could comprehend. Just as I began to read, the semi bald guy on my right let out a laugh and said something like, ‘You will find it difficult to read that. Give it to me. Here, take this English paper’. I smiled at him and exchanged newspapers. But HOW did he know I would have trouble comprehending that level of Hindi? Or is it something the older generation takes for granted? Do people in my segment really struggle to read in Hindi? If that is true, then it is sad. Mint says he has no such issues with reading and comprehending Tamil. I wonder then why I find it cumbersome to read and understand a language I studied in school for 10 years? Perhaps it is time to work on it!

So with those thoughts floating in my head, I landed in Hyderabad, in the wee hours of morning. It was the beginning of a long day.

 

PS – I wrote this post yesterday, but like I mentioned, the lack of connectivity didn’t allow me to post it. I know I am also lagging behind in my responses. I will get back to approving and replying to comments as soon as I get back home. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me in my last post..