A few weeks from when I was going to depart to the US for my Master's program, I had come to Bombay's Sahar airport (since renamed CST international airport) to drop someone . That's when I realized something.
This was the last time I was coming to the airport without much emotion. Growing up in India, flying was not as frequent and easy as it is today. Every time someone took a flight, the entire family came to drop. Everytime someone took an international flight, the entire town seemed to come to drop them. Earlier, sitting inside the airport was also available. Security was much less , people were few, systems were archaic, but still even the thought of someone else flying seemed to be a big deal for the entire family to make an airport run. Couple with the fact that India has adapted well to the "leave at night" international flights. The ordeal is simple. Most flights leave after midnight. It is said that this system originated because in the initial days of flying , when flights were mostly through frankfurt or london, it was difficult to get airport staff in those cities at odd hours, so all flights were timed in such a way that Bombay would take the hit. But what seemed to be an uncomfortable time to fly somehow became the highly preferred time to fly - for multiple reasons.
First among them - traffic , it is so much comfortable driving to the airport at midnight, enjoy the cool breeze on the empty highway, rather than trying to reach at 7 , for which even a lead time of 4 hours was no guarantee.
Second, for the person departing, it was perfect, spend time with family, have dinner, joke around a little over tea and recharge. Then spend the night at the airport , and start adapting to US time zones to get rid of the jet lag. Finally, board the flight, eat like you've been hungry for days, drink like a dog , and sleep off at 8 am India time. About 9:30 US Pacific time, and your body has already become 'angrez'
Lastly, the inconvenience caused to the people dropping at the airport. Somehow growing up, the excitement of going to the airport trumped all such things . Seeing people wear suits and ties on a 24 hour long flight seemed perfectly normal. After all , they were going to Amrika , where everyone expects them to show up in suits on day 1 (On a rather interesting note , when I first flew , I wore a suit and a leather jacket, since at the last minute that was the only way to fit all luggage)
But then on, I was the passenger and the emotion changed so much. I almost felt jealous of the people dropping me, since I knew they would go home whereas I was to take the rather cattle class flight and after spending 24 hours sitting in crammed seat and eating limited tasteless food , and watching movies over and over again, I would be greeted by the friendly immigration officer, who , if my luck was good scribble something on my passport and let me go, and if my luck was bad, I might be subject to the ultimate Software engineering torture
Over the years a number of things have changed. Flights have become smaller, food has become worse, premium economy is what used to be called economy, and economy is like travelling ticketless . Of course , I have seen an increase in various dimensions including age, weight, circumference etc. all making this flight even more interesting. Things have also moved on from the time when you would give up your mobile phone at the airport and then talk with parents over a glass wall , which almost seemed like being in prison , to having smarter mobile phones to still simulate the same stupid behavior . I have also become a dad, and the two times I flew, I have been sad that my daughter was so well behaved, and I could not take my revenge of the 10 odd years that I was constantly troubled by babies crying , and parents pushing them closer to my ear and looking at me as if I was obliged to care for them just because they had a baby. The presence of Ipads, offline videos and smart headsets has meant that I can now look forward to some more interesting movies.
However, at the core, some emotions remain the same. It's still the middle of the night, parents are still there. There's always a crowd, someone always breaks a queue, and an old uncle comes out of nowhere to curse you for not doing anything about it. But surprisingly, I have always and still long for the time when i sit on the flight and I am asked to switch off my phone. I think of this as the time, when I can't communicate with the world , and hence have zero control to do anything. It surprisingly puts me in a state of great bliss, where all I can do is eat, sleep or watch movies. In this modern , ever-connected world, that serenity has been always very precious, and while I know sooner or later technology will get there, for this one time, I am hoping it takes some more time.
Sometimes the helplessness of a 24 hour flight (Mumbai and San Francisco are really the most extreme when it comes to air travel) sounds very overwhelming, it sometimes dawns that life would be so simple if we just called one place an eternal home. The airport emotion is hard to fathom. It'll always be.
