"Middle class" Joys

Children born in the eighties, in middle class households,living in small towns rarely complained to their parents about not taking an aeroplane ride. It, rather being a complaint, was a wish because back then "leaving on a jet plane" only meant going abroad. Every family had  that one cousin in the US coming back once in 5 years to tell us the stories of the latest gadgets , fast cars, bullet trains, though my sister and I only had interests in the gift bags that they would bring ( read just the bag not the gifts because the bag would say "Chicago/ New York  Duty Free" ) which we used to neatly fold and keep for the examination days to carry our writing boards.

So like most of the girls of my age, one of the items on the post marriage checklist was " air travel".

 More than 6 months into marriage and there was no sign of "air + travel"  and I couldn't have even created a fuss because neither Dehradun ( my hometown ) nor Kanpur ( the town where I found another home ) had an airport.My married cousins had already warned me of not sharing the "wishlist" with the husband immediately after the" carnival", as per them: you never know he might think of me as a greedy, demanding wife from day one( which eventually he would but till the time one could defer it), so the trick was "one by one".

One "blessed" morning my husband told me that we would be travelling to Bombay to attend a friend's wedding and then the surprise : " we were taking a flight! " . Oh my God ! He had no idea what it meant to me obviously because he had "flown" a number of times and more so because he had no knowledge of  the secret checklist.

First, a brand new dress, then a pair of matching sandals , and with the day fast approaching, I got myself a new hair cut . The best thing was everybody thought it to be a part of the wedding preparation.

We were in Delhi and the following day was our flight,MY FIRST FLIGHT! I barely slept that night kept thinking , what if I felt nausea the way I felt on a Ferris wheel , what if I didn't get the window seat, what if i felt suffocated ?

 That Morning was one of the most eagerly awaited mornings of my life.Excitement written all over me , which he figured out soon when he saw me in a new dress ( and yes he always gets to know whenever I have something new on me even after a decade plus years of being together). As I hurried to reach for the bags he said, he wanted my two minutes . I sat next to him and that's when he told me that another friend of his would also be travelling with us , also, that he completely understood as to why  I was in that spirit but I needed to contain it because it might look a little embarrassing and childish . I responded with a "hmm".

His friend joined us exactly where our taxi dropped us . I kept reminding myself, " Be careful , he shouldn't get to know that its my first", as per the instruction that I had got. After the initial exchange of pleasantries my husband headed towards the check in counters, to find out about the departure and to collect the boarding passes ( that's what he told me ). His friend chose to stay back with me.

Here's the conversation that followed:

" Have you been to Bombay ,Vartika ?"

"Yes, and you?" ( I wanted to tell him more but ...."calm down" was all I could tell myself)

" Yes, but guess what? "

"What?"

"Can't hold back, can I tell you something, Vartika?"

"Yes,go ahead."

" I am travelling by air for the very first time."

"Really? " ( as in the longest really).....

" Yes, I am too excited , see I got a brand new shirt just for the flight."

"Oh! You know what, its my first ever too and I got this new dress ,even sandals! "

We were the happiest,luckiest beings that day on the face of the earth and then we saw my husband coming towards us .....pin drop silence ......while a rock band performing in our heads.....smiling ear to ear.

And then I told my husband " bekaar mein hi bol rahe the ki excitement matt dikhana." ( you were unnecessarily telling me to hold onto my horses , even he has never been on a plane)

We took the window seats, carefully listened to the security instructions specially, how to tighten the seat belts , took pictures, called the flight attendant at least four times, read all the magazines provided ( and then I carefully packed that plastic cutlery and kept it in my bag as a memento when my husband was napping.)


Needless to mention, it was the most memorable flight had to be, "firsts" always are .Perks of being born in a middle class family, there is so much always on that "wishlist" ! And every time a wish comes true it's a day to remember, a day to celebrate, a day that always goes down in my memoirs!