My First International Flight

"Hey Mom ! Pack my favorite toy !" called my daughter at the top of her voice. "You know, I cannot go to South Africa without 'Patch' !", was her soft explanation. I had no choice but to pack a small soft toy dog. I had strict instructions from my husband on what things he wanted after a gap of couple of months of enjoying the tastiest home cooked Indian dishes. My parents had their say of having me pack medicines, snacks to add to the heavy luggage. I had my views of packing some trendy clothes. And so it went, till the two bags were full and a third got added ! So many things to take care of, things had to be sorted as per hand bags and bags that would be handed to the airline.

All this packing and handling was onto me; my daughter being just a eight year old. But brave that she is, she told me "Hey mom, don't worry, I will carry one of the bags !". With her reassurance, we started off in our already booked airport pick up vehicle from Pune to Mumbai. Both of us were going abroad for the first time and it made us excited, nervous, apprehensive and a bundle of energy. We reached the airport and were directed to the luggage cart. "It doesn't move !". I applied all my strength. By that time, my daughter got curious and put her hand on the handle and the cart moved. Oh ! so this was the mechanism, off we went inside the airport through numerous gates and security checks, till we had nothing to do but wait for our flight and that too for three hours. In our excitement and over eagerness, we had reached early, had completed our formalities early and exhausted our energy early !

After a long wait, we found ourselves on the bus to the air plane. A short welcome and greetings, and both of us were comfortably seated with the window seat as a bonus. But then everything was dark due to the early morning flight. We enjoyed our one hour looking at people, the air hostesses, the food, the chairs, the instructions. And then, we watched a movie. People around us were sleeping soundly, but the two of us, try as we might, we could catch only the proverbial forty winks. The time difference added just the right ingredient to make us even more confused when we finally landed at Johannesburg. The fetching of our baggage which includes going to the particular 'carousel' and picking up our heavy bags was an activity where my daughter took full responsibility of spotting our bags and running with them !

The usual 'Hello', 'How are you ?'; sounded distant to me. Indians are used to not being greeted and here the two of were acknowledging some of the 'Hellos'. At the security check, I took time to adjust to the new accent and for once both of us wanted some hot 'upama' or 'poha'. Finally, after some quick steps we were there waiting for my husband at the circle. He was very happy to see the two of us all fit and fine and grinning from ear to ear. "Mom, now you need not worry. We are with Baba" said my daughter and I knew how right she was.

My first flight to South Africa was over and so were my apprehensions. We enjoyed our stay and the different food and the small garden in our courtyard added the colour to our trip.

‘M’NIK v/s ‘SAI’NIK

Sure, only the title is captivating; reality though, sadly; is quite disturbing. ‘My Name Is Khan’, a much awaited Shah Rukh Khan film has run into a controversy with the Shiv Sainiks. Its sad that movie lovers of a certain region would not get to see the movie in theatres due to the already tense environment that the people involved have created, be it with their words or their egos or their so called ‘wisdom’.

In between, the movie watchers have formed their own opinion of avoiding such tense situations. Money loss, life loss or property loss; are just a few ‘petty’ issues that the people have to handle. It’s indeed wise on their part to actually stay away from such issues and situations.

The people involved in either the film or the political party are doing their best to suit the wishes of the people above them. Ultimately, they are the ones who suffer like the public. The people at the top, though, suffer maximum amount of stress and anguish and a high sense of insecurity.

This whole situation brings one to think that if none benefits then why come up with such self created problems ? Why does one issue lead to the escalation of another issue and cause so much heartburn to others ? Why does one keep ones ego above everybody else’s or everything’s benefit ?

With so much being done for the publicity these days, either for promotional reasons or propagation purpose, who knows what the reality is, besides considering the fact that the somewhere, the public, party and promoters are getting a raw deal.

Migration and 'Im'migration

The first thing that comes to the mind is a flock of flamingoes coming all the way from Siberia to India to enjoy the warm weather. There are other birds and animals who follow the pattern of migrating from one place to another in search of better living conditions. Hardship is just a part of life and adjustment to the different territory is another parcel of life.

The recent past months show a lot of social unrest in some group of people regarding the inter state migration of people to some preferred part of the country. Folks, indeed Mumbai is in the limelight, it has always been and probably will always be.

Times have changed so much. 10 years back, most of the Indians would dream of wanting to work in some foreign land, earn money and lead a comfortable life. Even I was in awe of the stories that I heard; that of being alien in some foreign land and being all by oneself. The luxury that people experienced would also be the focus of many a conversation. The talk also included the warmth that all Indians shared amongst the natives of that land.

These thoughts brought me to another reality - weren't Indians themselves fighting on a regional basis ? The same behaviour was exhibited by the other countries for the Indians. They also felt that the job loss was to be conveniently put on the Indians who it seems agree to take up any work which they would squirm upon back in India. Indeed surviving in a different land is tough.

One of my visits to the Lion Park in South Africa, introduced me to an Australian Lady who had come all the way just to be with the Giraffes. We discussed so many things, talkative personalities that we were. The 30 minutes of conversation made us realize that it is after all just a human to human bonding that matters. No matter what hostility we have towards each other, it is ultimately the bonding also that brings us together.

The migratory birds stick to their flock and prefer the comfortable convenient destination. Even we humans try to be in our own group and look for greener pastures.