This was my first flight in 2 years – from 2020 February to Delhi and this was the first on this very auspicious looking day – 2/2/2022, that I boarded a flight. From 30 degree Celsius to 18 degree, and as I am winding up the day, it is just 13 degree Celsius. I have put on a jacket, and am still feeling cold, not feeling okay to sit straight, rather gather myself closer together to feel warm.
From Kochi
to Guwahati – Kochi presented a rather vacant, disciplined place, with very
less crowd, and physical distance being observed to some extent. But the Indigo
flight was almost full, and all the 3 seats in the row were occupied. The only
way to feel a little safe was to have your mask on.
As I had
more than 2 full hours, explored the possibility of free lounge access, which
the Kochi lounge conveniently denied, whereas, in Kolkata, with the same list
of companies, my card was welcome – for Rs. 2/- you had access to the basic
facilities of the lounge – meals, cold drinks, coffee, tea… (I take it for
another example of the Malayalee mind, rather than that of company
stipulation). The Kolkata lounge was
fairly crowded. I had four hours to
spare – a few pages from Krishnamoorthy’s biography by Pupul Jaykar, 2 SIA (in
the present format serving no intended purpose of SIA) meetings on-line and
some lunch of dhaniya pulao & some form of ‘murg’ and delicious cold
payasam…
The 55 mts
flight over Brahmaputra to Guwahati was again crowded, and people were milling
around the belt to retrieve their baggage.
Almost all were having theirs masks on. From the day of booking, the
forbidding tone was evident – the exorbitant price of the ticket, with
uncertainty looming large the extra amount involved in insurance, then the kind
of coercion on the customer by leaving him no great choice but to reserve a
seat with additional payment before you could proceed with the mandatory
web-check-in, the formalities related to boarding pass and baggage tag, and the
menacing messages regarding RTPCR and/or COVID vaccine certificate etc. finally, when it came to the real show, it
all turned out to be a damp squib. At
the counter was Maria, wife of Bony, whose nuptial mass I had celebrated – she
put me on the best seat possible, and without any hassle send the luggage
in. No one was asking or saying anything
about COVID or vaccine or RTPCR (except the perfunctory announcements by the
airhostess, regarding social distancing while alighting), till I went out of
Guwahati airport – there at the exit, there was someone asking for the proof of
vaccine, and just presenting a digital copy of the same did the job, not even a
scrutiny…
Guwahati
was bustling with life – crowds all around, traffic jam.
I am at NE
Social Work Forum, for a short stint of familiarizing with social work scenario
here, a learning opportunity – being out here as a learner, learning from the
field, with veteran health professional and educationalist, Rev. Sebastian
Ousepparampil, my good senior friend in the lead.
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