It was a season of firsts. It’s easy to see how that might happen as this was completely unchartered territory for him. His first ever business trip abroad, his first business trip in fact. The first time he would catch a connecting flight on an international trip. In keeping with this barrage, it was also his first time at the Incheon airport in Seoul and the first time he was in a place where everything seemed gibberish as it was in Korean!
Even with all these events unfolding at the same time, there was a calmness about him which seemed unnatural. The confidence was not stemming from the knowledge of what needed to be done once he alighted from the awfully long Korean Air flight, but from the belief that the airport would be developed enough to tell him what to do once he got there. Where this belief came from, especially given his situation, is one of the many mysteries of life.
This confidence, and the fact that he had five hours to go until the next flight, was primarily responsible for why he did not feel the need to ask anyone for help, nor seek out a familiar face, which would include anyone remotely Indian, as most people are wont to do in such a situation.
The confidence paid off, as the airport was expectedly very straightforward in its flow and clear in its instructions. The cynic in him gave a sigh as it made the inevitable comparison to airports in India, the optimist spoke about the New Delhi and Mumbai airports which were definitely comparable to the one he was in.
He got to the international transfers section easily enough and awaited his turn at the queue, with music plugged in and a book in his hand and eyes on the people around him, expecting to do justice to all three at the same time. That was where he found he caught his first glimpse of the person and began a Holmesian examination of his person, even though he had no way of verifying his conclusions.
“Definitely Indian, no great deduction there; surely Gujarati, its written all over his face. In fact so Gujarati, that he must be from some village in Gujarat. Probably planning to be an illegal immigrant in whichever country he is going to.” He gave himself a small whack on the head for making assumptions about Gujarat village folk and continued with the line of thought, once the conscience had its share of voice, however ineffective.
“I am sure he also has a distinctive Gujarati accent. I am almost tempted to go talk to him just to verify that. And definitely his first visit anywhere out of Gujarat.” Another whack immediately followed suit. He might have continued along that line of thought had it not been for the pretty face with long legs that caught his attention.
“Excuse me, is this the queue for transfers?” rang a voice in his ear through the music. He turned around to find the Indian Gujarati boy staring at him, a question mark on his face. He did seem to have chosen the only other Indian in the queue to put this question to.
A number of thoughts went through his mind. “Should I give back a curt reply showing him my superiority because he chose to ask me instead of the other way around?” Whack!
“Should I first question him about his history to verify my judgements about him?” Whack! This one was uncalled for.
“Should I tell him I know nothing just to show other people around that I am not with him? That might increase my chances of striking a conversation with a hot girl!” Whack! Whack!
The repeated whacks of his conscience finally won, and after what would have seemed to the guy like an eternity, he answered in his characteristic slow drawl, “yeah”
“yahan pe passport dikhana padta hai?”
“Agar poochenge toh dikha dena, warna nahi. Mostly dikhana padega”
“Ok, thanks”
After that brief interaction, all was forgotten as more strange faces, long legs and unheard accents took his attention and he passed smoothly through the baggage screening and onward to the duty free zone.
After the first half hour, every airport seems the same. And the duty free section to a person not interested in shopping does not hold a lot of promise after an initial burst of excitement. And he had three hours to pass in there. Finally, after walking back and forth for an hour, he decided to go to his gate and park himself till the flight is announced, hoping that he would not get too bored. A little was expected, but too much of boredom can make people do crazy things.
He reached the gate and found the same face sitting in one of the seats, seemingly asleep.
“Surely he will start talking if I sit near him”, the voice in his mind said.
As if the guy could hear his inner voice, he woke up and smiled him, in a ‘come, sit beside me’ sort of way.
“Oh what the hell, let’s have this conversation. Can’t be more boring than sitting alone, can it”, the voice again.
“Hi, I am .“
“Hi, I am Sidhdharth.” “I am sure he told me his name but I know I am not going to be remember it so why bother listening,” he thought to himself
“Aap bhi Fiji jaa rahe ho?”
“Haan. Aur aap”, he asked, wondering why he had to ask such a redundant question.
“Main bhi. Saat din ke liye jaa raha hoon”
“I definitely had not asked that. What is it with people giving out unnecessary information to strangers who clearly don’t care about it. But then, I guess, that is how u make conversation. And that is why I am so bad at it. I am definitely not telling him anything about myself. Let me just keep asking more about him”, ran his internal monologue.
“Aap akele jaa rahe ho,” he asked, in keeping with the decision his mind had made.
“Haan, ghumne jaa raha hoon”
“Wow…trip to Fiji all alone for a vacation. That serves me right for judging a person by their looks. I don’t know anyone who can afford a week long vacation in Fiji, however rich they may be. He must definitely have a super rich dad. But then, the clothes and hair style are so loud they are practically screaming. Surely such a person will have a more subtle sense of styling. I would definitely not put him as the type of person who would go on a vacation to Fiji all alone. Let me confirm this”
“Such mein akele jaa rahe ho? Koi friend ya rishtedaar hai kya Fiji mein?”
“Nahi…aise hi vacation ke liye jaa raha hoon. Fir Malayssia bhi jaaonga”
“Damn, I am in the wrong profession”, the monologue continued.
“Aap kya karte ho?”
“Photographer hoon.”
The inner voice started screaming now. The only image it could conjure up of a photographer was that of Akshay Kumar in Garam Masala with pretty faces and long legs all around him and this person definitely did not look like that. He just could not accept it.
“Photographer, matlab fashion photography ya nature?”
“Main saadi mein photo shooting karta hoon.”
Victory at last, proclaimed the inner voice. Atleast in part. How he was on a vacation to Fiji was still unfathomable to him. Time to stop the conversation though.
“Oh! Great. Aap mujhe flight announce hone pe utha denge?” Nice touch, he thought to himself.
“Ok”
He then closed his eyes and tried to pretend to sleep. After fifteen minutes of closed eyes and playing his favorite game of forcing his brain to blank out and think about nothing, he opened his eyes and was delighted to see that only fifteen minutes remained until boarding and not so delighted to see the guy still sitting by his side.
“Main aapko sach bataoon?”
He prayed to God that they are placed miles apart in the aircraft.
“Kya?”
“Main saadi karne jaa raha hoon. Photo dekhoge ladki ka? Yeh dekho!”
“Wow..that surely was unexpected. And why is he telling me this? And why in God’s name is he showing me the photograph of the girl? What am I supposed to say? Woah..the girl is hot! Lucky him” His mind was immediately flooded with images of the two in bed and he cursed himself for the perverted line of thinking.
“Wow…she sure is beautiful. Aap isse shaadi karoge?” he asked just to confirm that it was true.
“Haan, mere uncle ki wahan dukaan hai. Usne photo bhej ke poocha saadi karoge, maine haan keh diya. Thursday ko hai saadi”
“Toh aap akele kaise? Family nahi aayegi shaadi mein?” he asked, the brain faintly registering that boarding had been announced.
“Possible nahi hain. Passport nahi mummy daddy ka paas. Aur unko wapas aane mein problem ho jaati mere bina”
“Mere bina kyon? Aap wapas nahi aane wale?”
“Nahi. Wahin uncle ke saath dukaan mein settle ho jaaonga. Bas yeh log mujhe chaar mahine ka visa dede. Phir koi tension nahin”
“Par aap jaante hain yeh illegal hain,” he asked, the incredulousness still apparent.
“Haan, lekin chalta hain. Uncle ne kahaa hai koi problem nahi hogi, kisiko batana mat lekin”
“Wow..All the best” he managed to stutter, inwardly feeling very happy about himself as they both rose to board the flight.
Sherlock Holmes would have been proud of him, he kept thinking all the way from the seat to the gate!!
