Airports are strange places..

Airports are strange places. So are railway station and bus stops. But for the sake of completion of this post, I will be limiting my observations to Airports.

Airports are like tossed salad. Of what you may ask, of EMOTIONS says Professor Iya.

Sitting in the lounge, and too tired to go shop in the duty free store, I had an amazingly interesting time noticing people

- A young girl and a young boy. The girl still has her Mehndi intact and so are her Churhas. She mustn’t have been married for more than a week. All excited. Boarding pass tightly clutched. The boy on the other hand looks so love struck. He is unable to take his hands and eyes off her. No points of guessing that this is one smitten newly married couple off to their honeymoon.

- Exactly next to them is this group of 3 men must be in their early 40’s, engaged in some very energetic discussion. They are dressed in formals. Each pause from the discussion is spent in stealing a glance to the blackberry’s.

- At a little distance is this old lady, sitting anxiously. From the look of it, I think she is traveling outside India for the first time. She has her hand bag clutched close to her chest. Has to be a mother who is going to meet her child settled far far away.

- Then there is this lady sitting right next to me, busy giving instructions on the phone. It’s to her husband is my guess. All mechanical, without a single iota of emotions. Mundane stuff. She is finishing her duty before she looses connectivity for some hours.

- There is this couple standing in one corner, in a heated argument. They are trying to keep their voices low but still it’s evident that they are fighting. To save them the embarrassment I quickly look away but not before seeing accusing look the lady is giving the man.

- There is this man, must be in his 30’s and an elderly couple with him. My guess, it’s his parents. He is going all out to make them comfortable. He gets them coffee. He is constantly talking to them, trying to explain stuff (so it feels from his gestures). On the other hand this couple looks cheerless. As if they are being forced to leave the place that they so love and go somewhere else.

Then there are some lone travelers like me. Either on the phone, or immersed in a book or tapping away on a laptop.

In a radius of a few meters I see love, romance, monotony, career aspirations, fear, regret, hatred and a lot more.
Each one is traveling for a different purpose. Some happy, some not so happy. That’s life. We start and end at the same point but go through something so unique in the midst. That’s what makes it special and that’s what makes it worth it.