2009 05 20 and 21. Weds and Thurs.

2009 05 20 and 21. Weds and Thurs.

On the flight from Newark to Bombay I sat next to a Kerala Christian mom and her 11 year old son. His name was Sujay and he was a very bright and friendly kid. We had a nice time chit chatting and playing little games. He loved to tell me about fishing and he took great pleasure in showing me his collection of rubbery and highly realistic fishing lures. At one point the mom asked me where I was going and I told her my final destination was the Amma ashram. At that moment it seemed she got quiet and didn't want to talk any more. She spent a lot of time during the flight reading her Bible (and maybe praying for my soul! (smile)). Later on she seemed to warm up to me after seeing me and her son having a nice time chatting and having fun. We had a nice time seeing who could spin a little top for the longest time. I won when the top I spun fell off the seat back tray onto a magazine and kept right on spinning for a while longer. Sujay thought that was the coolest thing (me too, truth be told). I won, and that was the important thing. (grin)

Sujay fell asleep at one point and after he woke up he told me in great detail a dream he just had about a rather gruesome train wreck (at first I thought he said "plane wreck"). He took innocent delight in telling me the all gory details. Out of respect for my dear readers, I won't share them here but needless to say its not exactly what I wanted to hear while floating along suspended at 30,000 feet in a very old 747.

I think the Indians have some kind of national zeitgeist aversion to anything looking too new. Looking around the economy cabin and the bathroom almost everything looked dilapidated and repaired multiple times. But we landed safe and sound so at least the important things like wings, engines and pilots were in good working order. I imagined us landing safely and coming to a halt at the gate and then, after the last person stepped off, the plane gently collapsing into a pile of aeronautic rubble. Knowing the Indians, they'd just slap it all back together and squeeze a few more miles out of it. One thing about being a predominantly third world country is I bet the Indian economy is VERY efficient with very little going to waste.