It was just last week when I had just woken up from a bad unfinished sleep. I walked up to my balcony and stared down at the street where the familiar world still existed. School kids running up to the their school buses chased by parents, the local tea shop doling out cigarettes and tea to patrons, dogs having their private parleys, cabs reversing their cars while the Airtel music played. Yeah it was all in place, all things that annoyed me still existed. Today though it's all gone. I'm in a foreign country and all that I can see from my hotel room is a deserted street with cars packed in perfect order, empty balconies of other hotels, beautiful houses I used to see in Hollywood films. There's silence and silence and more of the same silence. Everything is perfect. People follow rules, at least in the mornings😄. There's order and yet I feel lost and unsettled.
It feels like the rug was pulled from under my feet.
I just travelled from India to Poland. I had prepared for over a month for this. Travel tickets, visas, clothes, international adapters for electronics, laptop, phone- went the whole nine yards. It was draining and yet it was not over. Had a marathon 19 hour journey ahead, with an 8 layover in between. This was no vacation I accept, but couldn't this have been a little more palatable to human being? But then that's how it works. Take it or leave it. So I took it😄.
First leg was from Bangalore to Dubai, yeah the Burj khalifa land. We got the cab to the airport. I was going to be the select few who get to fly from terminal 2 on the day of it's inauguration. After lot of confusion if my flight was from terminal 1 or 2, finally it was going to be terminal 2. So we reached the terminal. It was quite a sight. Looks like they went all artsy to design the architecture. There hangings from the roof which resembled something which I cant describe😬. I did wonder what if they fell on someone's head. Wrong thoughts on the day of the flight. So I alighted and made my way inside after bidding goodbyes to my sister and mother. The insides of the airport were quite exquisite but I still wondered about the roof hangings falling on my head. The mandatory queue welcomed me to check in my bag. I joined the queue. There stood the typical crowd in front of me. The business man type who had a ear pod on while he fingered the phone and held on to a laptop packed in a sleek bag. The family type, with the raucous kids who played hide n seek only to fall somewhere inviting mother's wrath. The couple type who were on to vacation and exchanged glances ever minute or so just to reaffirm their oaths of togetherness n bed games. Then there were the likes of me who were traveling for work but had no clue how to travel like the businessman for example. Our bags were overly pregnant, our passports n documents in disarray, the laptop bag like a trekking rugsack, sweating in spite of the air conditioning, dressed up in formals with rebook shoes, minds frantic with all things that can go wrong. Well each stage of the process felt worse than the college viva. Finally it was time for my check in and as expected I had more weight than allowed and as expected of any self respecting middle class guy I tried to negotiate with the the staff to let me carry all that weight without paying. The guy was a Malayali and I tried to connect our ancestry and make a case but no. He didn't relent. In fact I think he didn't relent because I brought up our language and ancestry to the table. Yeah, we are like that only.
Check in done I headed for the security and emigration. The security check proved to be another testament to my middle class credentials. I was carrying 2 laptops, a kindle and of course the portable phone charger. Then of course the multiple chargers, mice to support the aforementioned. I was pulled up by the security guy. He looked at me with disdain and said that I better remove all of that from the bag and send it for scrutiny again. I did it. I used at least 5 baskets for the stuff I had. I was like fighting for the baskets to put my stuff while mentally making note of the stuff that went. Once it was all over I had to put back stuff into my bags. I felt like Arnold from the movie commando when he loads up ammunition on his body before going for his war. I wondered if he might be willing to do a satire of that scene. Having loaded myself n bags, I headed out for emigration. The officer looked at me and the passport at least 5 times. I wonder why they do it. Is it just to verify or was it a tactic to detect terrorist credentials from her mental database. I thought I might as well turn back n leave but she said I could pass just then. Oh really? I wondered. I passed the gates and just like that I was out of my country. I'll have to get myself verified again if I were to step back. Hmmm, that's a scary thought.
I was hungry now and looked for some place to eat. There were many cafes but none with Indian cuisine. That was a shocker. Did these cafe guys also get emigrated that they abandoned Indian cuisine? At least in terminal 1 I remember there were Indian restaurants. Terminal 2, though, seems to have completely gone global with no inkling of anything Indian. To wonder all this was "Made in India".
Now I had to find something that would ease my hunger. There were pizzas, some french ratatouille style cuisine, chocolate cafes-all of which would lead to a revolt in my intestines. So I asked the staff at one place the most middle class thing - "what'll I get quickly?". He smiled and said "Soup". I said ok. He headed back and went to work. I fiddled with my phone while observing people having croissants, cappuccinos, salads n the lot. I wondered if I'll ever get there. The soup came and went in my belly. The cheque came and I wondered if I should summon the soup back from my belly. It cost Rs.340. I could have bought Meghna biryani for 2 with that money. The waiter smiled like he had guessed what I felt. I smiled back and gave him the card to swipe.
Having satiated some of my hunger I headed out for the boarding gate. The queues awaited me. All the types from the check in queue stood in front of me. Finally I entered the aircraft. It was completely filled. I passed the business class where people sat like they owned the aircraft. Did I notice a smirk from one of those or was it my complex? Either way I had to just bite it n move. So I did and reached the economy class or rather the middle class. Staying true to our credentials all the overhead bins were overflowing as the air hostesses fought to stuff it all inside. I wondered if these could fall down while on flight. Now that would be some news. I wondered if the air hostess might fling away my bags. Luckily she didn't. She was able to stuff my bags inside.
So all set we were to start the journey, the first leg of my journey. I started thinking of what food would they serve. After all the soup is supposed to be an appetizer. People had started their favorite pastime- movies. Cram in as many movies in the 4 hour time limit. Transformers, John wick, everything on offer and people gorging on it. I was too tired to suffer another assault on my eyes. So I tried to sleep but couldn't. It was too claustrophobic inside. I turned to movies. Transformers - rise of beasts thundered on me. It just felt like any other special effects heavy movie. The bad guys n good guys fighting over some cube or so glittering kind of thing. Bad guys steal it before good guys recover it or something like that. Who watches such movies for story anyways. All I wanted was some distraction. Soon the food trolleys came out. Then started the anticipation of what's on offer for me. Had my meal pre booked. Still I wondered what it would be. Soon they came and threw a vegetarian food packet. It was a weird one. One hot food packet of dal rice, some fried cashews and some mixture. That was it. I finished it soon and wondered if I could get more but it was so crowded that it was the last I saw of the air hostess. The lights dimmed and I tried to catch up on sleep. When I opened my eyes it was time for the landing. What? Already? So we landed in Dubai. The glittering place was quite a sight. I wondered which was Burj khalifa. The flight landed on all three. As I entered the airport, we were welcomed with security check before heading to the next gate. What? Not again. I had heard there are 2 security checks usually. I mustered all the non existent courage inside me and went ahead. The routine started, laptops, Kindle, portable battery, belts, bags… I crawled out finally and headed out to the airport.
There it was a carnival laid out in front of me. It was midnight and still the shops were open. The perfume shops, the luxury watch shops, the liquor ones, the "Relay" outlets with a mishmash of everything, the cafes. It was midnight and it was alive. Not for me though, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I tried to find a lounge. Found one but my credit card didn't work there. I cursed myself for not getting a credit card which had lounge access. Moreover it was a sitting lounge and not one to sleep in. So I found another one. It was an interesting concept were we could sleep for few hours but boy was it costly. 5 hours for 100 dollars. That's 10k back home. I decided to think it over. I tried to sleep in the normal seats but was too worried about my bags, not that it mattered much. So I went back to the sleep lounge and bought my 5 hours of sleep. It was a place of the half the size of a kitchen, almost like a tent made of concrete n wood. The bed was foldable as a chair. I unfurled it and kept thinking if it was a good idea, will I get sleep after spending 100 dollars. That's all I remember before waking up at 4:30 in the morning. Not bad I thought. I had another 30 mins so I slept some and then left for the boarding which was at 6:30.
We boarded at 7 or so. It was going to be a 6 hour flight and it didn't look very cozy at all. I wondered if I could swap this flight for the one from India to Dubai but then that's all I had. Surprise Surprise though, guess what did I get for breakfast? Idli and upma and it did taste pretty ok. So I had the meal and wondered what next. A girl say beside me and I wondered if she was Polish. Might as well get to know the Poles before landing. So I mustered some courage and asked her if she was from Poland. She did not respond, in fact she didn't even turn my way. Oh, so this this how Poles are gonna treat outsiders I wondered. I tried to get some sleep but couldn't. The girl beside me was trying to get something from below the seat and after some struggle she brought out a pair of glasses. Wasn't that mine? Oh yeah it must have fallen when I was sleeping. She said she was trying to find her glasses and instead found mine. I thanked her and asked her again if she was from Poland. She said no. She was from Czech Republic. That's when I realized she was wearing the iPods. She must not have heard when I asked her first time. She asked if I was from India and the conversation started. It was a huge relief from the monotony of the flight. We spoke about Poland, her country Czech Republic, Vienna, Prague. I told about some places in India to visit. It really helped kill time in an otherwise boring flight. Soon it was time to get down. We got down.
I was in Poland and so the rug was off and I had landed, not in all fours though. Something new awaits me and I await thou.
PS: thank you Hana for the conversation we had. For someone arriving to this part of the world for the first time, there are many many apprehensions and uncertainties. To speak with someone helps calm down the nerves.
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