I awake grudgingly at 5 am from a dream I can barely remember. My alarm blares on, and my sister, sleeping next to me grumbles at me to turn it off. It's Monday morning and I have a flight to catch. In Bangalore, that means leaving the house at least 4 hours in advance; 3 and half, if you are lucky enough not to have to stand in line at the check-in counter. On this rare occasion, I am.
The one-off office sponsored ride to the airport is smooth, and for a change, I do not plug in my earphones to listen to a podcast or BTS as I usually do. Instead, I decide to enjoy the sounds of nature, with the windows rolled down. I soon come to regret this as the driver, probably a Formula1 aspirant, honks away at anyone and anything that stands in his way in what I can only assume is his winning lap.
Once at the airport, I am pleasantly surprised to find a smaller crowd than I expected. I quickly get through security, and then proceed with my airport ritual. I have been flying regularly since I started law school in 2012, taking at least 4 flights in a year consistently, if not more, and I have perfected my airport ritual, which almost never wavers. As soon as I get through security, I freshen up at the nearest restroom and then head to get myself a cup of coffee. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, that cup of coffee before boarding a flight is a must. When I started flying out of Kolkata in 2012, my go to used to be Café Coffee Day. In Bangalore, I cant have anything but the filter coffee at Tiffin Room; in Mumbai and in Delhi, it is always Starbucks. Once I have my cup of brew, depending on the time I have before the boarding for my flight is announced, I browse through the stores and almost always hit the bookstore, picking up some mints, and occasionally, a book that catches my eye for an inflight read. Once I have that, I head to my gate to wait for the boarding announcement.
I love travelling, and find airports fascinating. More often than not, I observe the comings and goings of people around me. Today is no different. I settle down with my coffee at the gate and take in the Monday morning crowd at the Bangalore Airport, largely comprised of business travelers. A ground staff comes up to a gentleman seated near me and asks him if he would like to check-in his bag. He agrees, and as she wheels it away, the person sitting next to him strikes up a conversation about check-ins. I go on to learn that Gentleman traveler A always checks in his bag because he does not like the hassle of having to go through what Gentleman traveler B just went through. I also learn that Gentleman traveler A lives abroad (he did not specify where) but travels to India very often for work. Gentleman traveler B on the other hand, used to live in Bangalore, but now lives in Mysore.
Their conversation fades away as I shift my attention to another conversation happening a few steps away between three gentlemen. From them I learn that one has been travelling non-stop and has not had enough time to spend with his family in three weeks, but is relieved that this would be his last leg of his tour before he finally heads back home. Another gentleman chimes in that he bumped into a former colleague the other day, who informed him that a Sumit Jain has resigned from 'Systema' and will be joining a new company soon… I do not catch the name of the new company.
This conversation too fades away as I turn my attention to looking at no one in particular and everyone around me. I see a family being approached by another flight attendant with the offer to check their baby's pram in and the father discussing this with her as the mother looks on, baby in hand. Another mother watches as her daughter who looks to be around 4 years old, excitedly unwraps her new toy from the airport toy store, a gift from her aunt who happens to be travelling with them.
These families are surrounded by an overwhelming number of gentlemen and women, dressed invariably in office wear and looking sharp in their suits, jackets, blazers… all lugging around small trolleys and laptop bags, looking very important and purposeful, all waiting for boarding of their respective flights to be announced so they can be on their way to that meeting or conference that is important enough to warrant physical presence as opposed to a virtual one. As I finish my coffee and look for a bin to throw the empty cup, I nearly run into a man running to get to his gate, while balancing a laptop bag and trolley in one had, a coffee and book in another and also talking on his Bluetooth earpiece. Another man is seated in one of the cafés nearby, angrily talking on the phone.. His day seems to have begun on a not-so pleasant note. I also see a young man, he could not have been older that 24 years old, on the phone with a young lady that I can only assume is his girlfriend. Whether he is heading to her, or away from her, or neither of the two, I cannot say.
As I head back to my seat, I get lost in my own reverie. I am hit with sudden sonder, that strange and sudden realization that each and every one of these travelers has a life as complex as mine, each one has their own doubts and fears, joys and sorrows, routines and daily lives as entwined and all consuming to them, as mine were to me and the epiphany that I will never know all of these walking, breathing stories.
With this thought, I line up at the gate as the boarding for my flight gets announced. I don’t want to be an invisible person, an anonymous page in the book of time. I want my page to be an anchor, one that people refer to when they want to know how to go about their life. I decide to make that happen, but enjoy my anonymity in the meantime.. After all, it is fleeting.
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