Honey 'N' Oats

Life trains us in methods best known to destiny

I was the last one to board the flight. Lucknow airport was hopeless in all aspects .First the flight gets delayed and they reschedule it . Then without notice, they not only transfer me onto another flight , they don't even bother to let me know. The only consolation was that they upgraded me to business class. Like it matters on this supposedly "low cost airline".

Everything has been happening too quickly and unexpectedly throughout my life. I have just not been able to keep track of most the changes in my life. . Just 5 years back , I was still doing my Master of Law at one of the oldest institutions of the country- The Banaras Hindu University. At that time It was 5 full years away from my hometown - Trivandrum. My parents were afraid where i would settle down with a North Indian girl, who would substitute Punjabi kadi for Avial(Local Indian delicacies made of yoghurt) and insist on speaking only in Hindi. Half way through my course, things were settled and in my fourth year of my course , I lost my bachelorhood to a beautiful maiden who changed my life right from the day one. She became my lady luck with all due respect.

Today is a day to remember. It will be etched in my memory for all the good reasons. I became a father a couple of hours back. Am I ready for this role? I am not sure.I have never ever had the opportunity to spend quality time with kids. It is bound to be a good experiment and I am pretty sure that at least the way things are he will end up being a mummy's boy.Praathika, my better half in all aspects, is more apt as a manager than me. It is also my first flight today and I narrowly missed it. She would have surely mocked me for the rest of my life had I succeeded in missing this flight.They both presently at my in-laws place in Hyderabad. Luckily for me, the court's off for the long weekend and I am flying down to complete my small family.Frankly,I am actually not sure which of the two firsts is making me more anxious.

A steward guided me to my seat. The flight was running pretty empty and I was seated in the third row aisle seat from the cockpit. The cabin crew started the safety drill as the flight was getting ready to take-off. My co- passenger was a small kid. He must be about 5-6years old. For a second i wondered if i sat in the wrong seat. He wore a red Flintstones tee shirt and a pair of jeans. He had his blue jeans cap tilted to a side. He looked smart in his outfit and was staring out of the window, not bothered to listen what the captain had to say in his welcome address to the passengers. It is almost 4 hour long flight , which includes a stop at New Delhi for almost an hour. As the aircraft taxied onto the runway, I realised that my seat belt was undone. As the flight was taxiing on the runway, the crew were also seated in their seats. I started fidgeting with the seat belt. not knowing how to lock it. This kiddo next to me, tapped my arm , unlocked his seat belt and silently showed me how to put it back to its place. It was a strange but nice feeling, to learn such a simple thing from a kid who is much younger to you. What caught my attention was the way in which he chose to help me, guiding me through, rather than verbally telling me how to. Being an advocate, this was something different. I started looking around to see who was his guardian on the flight.

The take-off was smoother than I expected it to be, just a few butterflies in my stomach. The rays of the morning sun flooded the cabin. As the seat belt light went off, I felt another tap on my arm. This time he showed me how to unlock it. I smiled back and said" Thank you my dear young man."

"Welcome. This is your first flight is it?"

"Yes. What about yours?"

"Oh this is my 3rd flight. So don't worry. Sometime the plane will go a little up and down and shake a little too. Don't worry, Pilot Sir will take care of it." I couldn't control my laughter. It was nice to see a small kid trying to make feel comfortable and assured. " What's your name?" I asked him as the steward was serving us fruit punch." Aaditya.Is it fine if i ask you your name?" he replied, sipping his drink."Ya sure. My name is Aniruddha Menon." He then reached to a button on the top panel. As soon as the steward arrived, he spoke " I want to have some jam if you are serving bread .Thank you." The steward nodded with a smile on her face and returned to the pantry.What impressed me was the manner in which he spoke. he was a kid but he spoke like a mature adult. " Aaditya, so whom are you travelling with?". He replied back instantly " Alone,as usual. Actually I am returning home. I had come to my grandparents place at Lucknow for my holidays. Dad and mom don't get holidays na. So I travelled alone this time." " Aren't you afraid of travelling alone? How do you manage?" I asked him. " See,the pilot uncle and aeroplane aunties take good care of me. I get in with pilot uncle and get down with him at Hyderabad. There Dad and mom will pick me up. No problem.They are all my dad's friends."

For the next 3 hours, we spoke of everything possible - his school, his friends, cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, movies and even Ice Age. I didn't realise how time flew. He had my full attention all throughout the journey. I even forgot that I was flying down to meet my wife and new born baby. I was totally mesmerised by him and his talk.This became another first time thing for that day - my first full time interaction with a kid.When we got down at Hyderabad, I found myself searching for Aaditya. As my eyes searched for him, I saw a placard with my name on it . As we drove out of the airport, I saw him leave with his parents and our pilot. He saw me and waved a goodbye. On my way home, I realised yet again that life has its own way's to prepare us for changes. If not so, why would I have to travel in that flight, on an upgraded ticket and sit next to him and get a chance to interact with him.The last 4 hours have had such a deep impact on me that now I am yearning to travel someday with my son and spend such quality time with him.I still wonder how a kid, could have such an impact on a stranger. I guess that's the power of innocence and beauty of life.