“Uncle, do you smoke?” asked my fellow passenger, occupying seat 4F, a window seat which I had pre-booked for my return flight last Friday from Delhi to Pune on Air India. We were 90-minutes into what normally is an un-eventful evening two hour flight. But for me, last Friday’s flight turned out to be different, something to remember.
“No son, I don’t,” I replied to Agastya, my neighbour seated in 4F, a 10-year old boy with a squarish face, fair complexion, having a faint patch of red on his forehead between the eyebrows probably from a kumkum (vermilion), and a smile that didn’t seem to vanish.
“Do you drink?”
“I used to, on certain occasions, but now it’s stopped and I have started liking it that way.”
“Good, you should not smoke and drink, it’s bad for health,” said Agastya, showing a genuine concern towards a complete stranger, while giving his certificate of appreciation.
“Uncle, do you like Maths? Let’s play some Maths game, you ask me few questions and I will ask you some, let’s see who wins,” he threw a challenge that I could not resist.
Our conversation however didn’t start this way. Before takeoff, Agastya was mostly looking outside the window, watching other aircrafts parked on Delhi airport’s tarmac. His gaze continued outside the window till the aircraft taxied, took off and levelled after sometime. It was only when the seatbelt signs went off that he looked at me and gave an inviting smile. Without giving much attention to Agastya’s inflight experience till now, like other passengers on the flight, I was busy checking unopened mails and text messages in my phone which by then was in airplane mode.
“Is that an iPhone X?” I heard a voice from my next seat. That’s how our conversation started.
“How do you know?”
“My Dad has one, he just bought it. There is lot of fun stuff you can do on this phone, if you want I can show you.”
“Are you travelling alone or are you with somebody?” I asked, hesitating to hand over my prized possession, which was a play thing for my young neighbour.
“No I am with my mum and my younger brother, but I didn’t get a seat next to them. Thank you for giving me your window seat. I hope you don’t mind sitting in the middle which is where I’m supposed to sit. My name is Agastya, what’s yours?” he replied with an air of confidence, waiting anxiously for my response.
Thus began our conversation that continued over the inflight meal which he ate without spilling, politely declining any offer from me to help. What followed was meandering of sorts between the two, over a conversation that had a wide canvas – his excitement of getting into 5th grade school, his friends and the games they played, nagging younger brother, summer holidays with his grandmother in Delhi, his recent vacation to Singapore with his parents and younger sibling, stories about my own family, my son who lives and studies in US, my work, what brought me to Delhi etc. etc.
What was transpiring between us was in complete contrast to my experience of the day and the prior evening of Thursday, where we (Softcell Technologies, my organisation) won the prestigious ‘Gold Award’ as the ‘Best B2B Major Accounts Partner’ of Apple India, at their largest partner event of the year, in front of a 300+ audience gathered in a very impressive banquets setting at Hotel Hyatt Andaaz, New Delhi. Throughout Friday, the B2B Enterprise partners of Apple in India, deliberated on ways to help India Inc. achieve their business transformation goals by leveraging Apple’s products and technologies, that has so successfully empowered the individual by unleashing personal creativity and productivity of an unbounded kind.
Friday……what day it was! Heady talks during the day with Apple folks and getting grounded the very same evening by Agastya, through his curiosity, wonder, simplicity, innocence and an infectious smile. Both world’s being so oblivious of each other, inhabited and experienced through a common thread, which was me, in this case. I am able to appreciate the former only because of the contrasting experience of the latter, and vice-versa. And, I need to thank my young friend, possibly a passing acquaintance, for this feeling.
So, here it goes …..
Thank you Agastya!
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