Air-bound Conversation

Almost everyone in red shirts filed into the plane carrying gifts and cartons (all redly wrapped) besides mandatory dangling of oranges in plastic nets by their arms. Since I was already seated (aisle seat), I had to get up each time someone went in or out of their seats. Everyone said ‘Gong Xi something’ – as they walked past me. I nodded and grinned.

Pig was in the air!

Ting Tong! Sang the overhead loudspeakers, but nothing happened. I fumbled through the inflight magazine. ‘Tebu chi…’ or something of this sort, said a man. I looked up. Ah! At last a man without one of those red shirts! He loaded his huge hand luggage into the overhead compartment. I got up (again) as he sank into the seat next to me.

‘Ni hao…’ said he.
‘Ni hao…’ I said.
‘Fhhd dhshgdg hhsjd…’ said he.
‘??? ???’ said I
??? He looked at me.
??? I looked at him.
?smile?
?smile?

The plane was filled with loud clamour of ceaseless conversation and laughter. The smell of oranges (being peeled?) dampened my nostils until everything began to smell like oranges. Oh! I was wearing white T-shirt and the gentleman next to me was in light blue shirt with blue ties.

Ting Tong! Fasten Seatbelt signs lighted up. Click…click…and the plane jerked, moving slowly towards the runway.

After the air hostess’ delicate and synchronised display of Flight Safety Instructions (?), which nobody bothered to look, the flight took off. Someone somewhere from the back screamed. Somebody laughed. I smiled. The gentleman beside me popped earphones into his ears and snoozed.

Once the fasten seatbelts signs were off, air hostesses came with trolleys full of inflight goodies. I ordered orange juice. The gentleman next to me was up. He went for a beer.

‘So, you from Thailand?’ he asked, his tongue lubricated with beer.
‘No, from Bhutan’
‘Oh!’ his eyes sparkled. Maybe because of beer? ‘I want to visit Bhutan…before everything changes…’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You have perfection just now. A country not ruined by materialism and greed. But things will change.’
‘Yes, things will change.’ I observed sheepishly.
‘A country without KFCs, McDonalds, Starbucks…imagine that…isn’t that just great? A land filled with mountains, rivers, temples, prayers flags, peace, fresh air…’

He knew more than me.

‘By the way, I’m W…from England and you are?’
‘I’m Lens…from Bhutan…’
Haha…
Haha…

The in-flight goodies was on its return trip and we had the opportunity to order some more drinks. This time, we went for whiskey on the rocks. Conversation came smoothly and became louder too. My tongue began to slip off emitting something that resembled English accents. His English face was turning red. My Bhutanese face felt warm and would have turned either black or brown.

I snoozed after sometime. The thud of tyres on the runway jolted me to senses. I was still tipsy when I disembarked at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and felt strange for some reason.

And why do they give us peanuts as soon as we board the plane?

Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized