Last night I was tossing and turning and trying in vain for a nap. The wee hours of the morning play many tricks on the human mind.
Airports. The friendliest place on earth.
But as the air conditioner whirred on my left, I suddenly smelled more than just the airport grub. The CCDs, Subways and McDonald’s are in an ilk of their own. We aren’t talking fresh pages of new books either. This one comes wafting through the air on trolleys and smells of germs, sweat, detergent, guitars, creams and conditioners. Sometimes dog-eared novels. And sometimes home cooked food. You always hope it’s safe as you take flight. And that no one sat on it – and nothing broke. Zip it. Lock it. Forget the combination. But always, always keep it safe.
Airports. The friendliest place on earth.
But as the air conditioner whirred on my left, I suddenly smelled more than just the airport grub. The CCDs, Subways and McDonald’s are in an ilk of their own. We aren’t talking fresh pages of new books either. This one comes wafting through the air on trolleys and smells of germs, sweat, detergent, guitars, creams and conditioners. Sometimes dog-eared novels. And sometimes home cooked food. You always hope it’s safe as you take flight. And that no one sat on it – and nothing broke. Zip it. Lock it. Forget the combination. But always, always keep it safe.
Seriously, why do people wait at the Baggage claim? I can’t believe people actually wait to collect their crap. Yawning. Sweaters rolled up in their hands. Frequent glances at their watches. Calling up relatives and drivers asking for five more minutes. Wait. The conveyor belt screeches into action. The mad scramble begins. You pick some. You keep some. And sometimes you realise it’s missing. Sometimes it’s too late to put it back (or is it?)... and sometimes it’s too late to pick it up. But you wait there with your trolley and struggle to heist your suitcases onto it as the trolley protests and recedes in uncertainty. You see, like true baggage, the red suitcase, the brown briefcase and that yellow “handle with care – fragile” thingy will keep coming back.. and back.. and back. You gotta deal with it. Claim it. Push it. Report it. Or even walk away. But do something.
Don’t you see it? Don’t you see what the sign says? It’s “Baggage Claim” for God’s sake.
The other thing is laptops. The HP service centre on 100 feet road in Indiranagar. I mean people actually get token numbers and you’ve GOT to check out their expressions as they traipse into the service room carrying their babies. To borrow (and paraphrase) from Priyanka Chopra’s Nokia ad, it’s not just a laptop, it’s who we are. We save ourselves in drives, folders and subfolders. Baggage, again. Secured with passwords.
Don’t you see it? Don’t you see what the sign says? It’s “Baggage Claim” for God’s sake.
The other thing is laptops. The HP service centre on 100 feet road in Indiranagar. I mean people actually get token numbers and you’ve GOT to check out their expressions as they traipse into the service room carrying their babies. To borrow (and paraphrase) from Priyanka Chopra’s Nokia ad, it’s not just a laptop, it’s who we are. We save ourselves in drives, folders and subfolders. Baggage, again. Secured with passwords.
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nice post! and we are slowly moving towards saving ourselves on the hard drives of servers sitting half the way around the earth. Imagine what happens if the guy who owns that hard drive suddenly decides to go offline! Seriously, scary! That is the reason I hate social networking websites! It just adds to the problem, as if emails were not enough. We already have more than half of us zipped and attached through mails!
ReplyDeleteWhat would happen if you walked out of the airport one day without collecting your luggage? Ever though of airport stores who have accumulated all the lost left behind luggage? They manage to rip them open and take out the good things like cosmetics, gadgets, expensive clothes. What is left is unwanted baggage even by the thieves. Are you ready to shed or keep " THAT" unwanted baggage..
ReplyDelete