My flight to home was delayed, as usual, due to delay in its arrival from another city. But the swanky new airport had enough avenues to spend time at( and money automatically slips out of the purse too!). Lunch at the mini-restaurant inside was just about average. The gelato was not exactly cold and it melted on to my hands, which left me asking for more paper napkins. Not wanting to spend more money at the lavish-looking snacks counter, I settled down to browse books at CrossWords. Picking up books is not easy for me. I tend to read the prologue and start deducing the story. And if I am taking up an Author for the first time, it becomes all the more difficult to do guess-work on the contents. But somehow, I picked up Kite Runner and another novel by Amitabh Ghosh, with the hope of starting either of the one during the flight. But little did I know that somebody else was eagerly waiting to have a chit-chat with me......
The inside was more like a town bus, thanks to a group of summer-vaccation-tourists travelling in air for the first time in their life. I felt great after the crowd had settled down and the bird started moving out of the tarmac onto the runway. At the sametime I had my sympathy...no pity actually, for the hostess' who somehow managed to get the unruly gang strapped onto their seats!
I opened Kite Runner, hooked onto my iPod and stared at the first page. Reason for the iPod - the gang behind me was making hell lot of noises which was becoming unbearable by the minute. Suddenly I sensed something and looked out of the window.There were puffy clouds playing with the rays of the Sun, and another guy enjoying all this while sitting on the edge of the wing. It didn't take me long to recognise who it was.....the La-Z-Boy recliner said it all. And which mortal can sit on the edge of a wing while at 35 thousand feet above the sea at a freezing -40 degrees ?
"Enjoying a free ride ?" I blurted. "What do you think you moron ? Anybody has the audacity to ask Me to pay for this ?" pat came the reply. "I am not a moron", I was a bit embarassed."Tell me dude, why are always so sarcastic about things ?", He stretched his arms. I was really not in a mood to argue, and an arguement with God had no ends. But I couldn't avoid it. It was all coming like a big thunder cloud. "What makes you say so ?" I asked. "Never mind, but let me tell you one thing, this wind blowing on my face is awesome! Do you want to enjoy it ?", He said as he took a long breath, still stretching his arms. "You know, I really would love to enjoy it, but I wouldn't want to have a premature death, hanging out of a jet at 35,000 feet. So I will settle with my iPod and the new book by Khalid Hosseini to brood at, if you please excuse me."
It was clear that I had spoilt his mood, after all it really was a nice evening. Not to be let down, He started off with his gyaan on human nature, which I would never forget.....
"Dude! tell me one thing..." "stop calling me dude! name is Harish" - I snapped. "Whoa! you sure look angry today! what happened ?" I couldn't control myself now. I was feeling like a chemical reaction waiting to blast off and He was getting in like a catalyst. "My dear God, tell me one thing, Why do people always put up an act to conceal their own self ? Why do they maintain relationships just get something out of it and not for the sake of the relationship itself ?" He remained silent. Minutes passed and He looked here and there, His face turning very grave. Finally, words poured out of His mouth,"Harish, you have touched a chord which I would dare not disturb. This is Human Psychology which is constantly changing, everytime human being adapts to a new system."
"People meet,try to strike a coherence, tend to start off relationships. But all this is for nothing. All the relationships I see today are parasitic. Nobody does anything for anybody for nothing !! People expect a lot from each other, but in return they are not willing to stand up to the other's expectation. How can you expect these relationships to stand for long ? Look Harish, you may be genuinely not expecting anything from anybody, but the fact is people will still tend to expect a lot from you."
All these words were weighing heavy on me. May be I had asked the wrong question. Never had I realized that a casual afternoon flight will have such profound implications. "Harish, no matter how tempting they may be, stay out of all the superficial relationships. They bring nothing with them but unwanted responsiblity and pain. Whether its a 15 year old one or even one in its nascent stages. You are your own judge and only you can make a judgement about which is right and which is wrong for you. People out there are always behind a mask. Try to size up the true person behind the mask. I know its difficult, but it still makes sense. Doesn't it ?"
"Yeah", I mumbled, already deep in thoughts and trying to figure out how to digest all these. Suddenly there was a loud beep and I wondered whether there was any problem with the jet. But I was quite surprised when I saw God fish out a SmartPhone out of his robe and check a msg. "I never knew that you were fond of gadgets made by mortals". He smiled, "Yes man! can't help it! These gadgets are funky and really cool! Just the type which I can do with when I am taking a tour of Earth, though they flop the moment I take them into heaven."
" Its time to go, somebody else is waiting for some free tips. But before I go I would like to tell you a thing. Take life as it comes, don't be in a hurry to jump on to things. And take people seriously when they mean a lot to you."
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