Thursday, September 16, 2004
Planely Speaking
Have been really traveling a lot lately. In the last 30 days I’ve been to Cochin and back, Calcutta and back, Bombay-Pune and back.. and will soon being doing an Etah-Agra-Delhi and back. This, by any definition, methinks, qualifies me as a frequent flier. And in this capacity, I’d like to blog my experiences.
Firstly, I like to be on time for the flight, coz I am paranoid about missing it. Which leaves me with some time on the airport to while away in different ways – reading a book, or shopping for books or having a snack or having beer in the airport restaurant if the flight is late. But one thing I do without fail (i.e. if the hour is not too odd, and I avoid odd hour flights as far as possible) is to call up my good friend Arun. I don’t know why I really do it… just decided one day that I’d call him everytime I was on the airport… one of the few traditions in my life. Its become very predictable and if he knows I’m going to travel he says ‘You r at the airport’ before I can get a word in edgewise.
Entering a plane is an unpleasant experience as your nose is punched with an unpleasant smell which is supposed to be pleasant. There is this typical airplane smell which I hate, and only once in a Sahara flight was this replaced by a more natural kind of fragrance, and I remember that flight was particularly pleasant, also for the reason that it had a very pretty airhostess.
What particularly fascinates me, not surprisingly is looking out of the window (for which reason I always ask for a window seat.) Day flights and night flights have their own charm. As the plane ascends into the night sky you get to see the city in a new perspective. Its like seeing an LCD display with bad resolution. If you notice closely, each city has its different pixel signature. If you are really a frequent flier, you can recognize a city by night just by the colour, closeness and juxtaposition of its lights. Bangalore for example, has more of yellow and pale green and Bombay has more of white. Bangalore, very interestingly, looks like a piece of computer hardware… an IC or maybe a hard disk.
But day flights are definitely more interesting. You can see all throughout the flight, not just take-offs and landings. Roads and rivers are particularly interesting, as you can see them for miles and miles, and watch as they meander along. So also, is watching hills and mountains from a never before perspective, being able to see all sides of the hill at the same time. It looks just as beautiful and just as mundane as seeing them on a model landscape. In case there is cloud cover, its even better. Clouds have a way of arranging themselves in breathtakingly beautiful forms… which I cant call by any name other than ART. If a God exists, the sky is his canvas, and the sunlight and the clouds his paint. And the painting is amazingly lifelike. There have been many a time where I have been tempted to jump out of the plane feeling supremely confident that I will land safely on the fluffy mattress below. One more observation – the clouds seem much more whiter and purer from above than they seem from the ground: one more fact not taught in high-school science.
Notice the plains from planes when the plane takes a turn. The earth as seen out from the window is like a plate balancing on a pin; it slants upwards when the turn is in the direction of the window, thereby filling up the entire window with earth, no sky. And when the turn is in the opposite direction, the plate slants downwards, so that the earth seems like a huge slide.
Man-made beauty is however, not inferior. Ever been flying during festival time. Christmas, for example. The city is all lit up, and theres a reddish tinge to the screen. Diwali is the best though. Its like many shooting starts each second. And you are looking down, not up.
Firstly, I like to be on time for the flight, coz I am paranoid about missing it. Which leaves me with some time on the airport to while away in different ways – reading a book, or shopping for books or having a snack or having beer in the airport restaurant if the flight is late. But one thing I do without fail (i.e. if the hour is not too odd, and I avoid odd hour flights as far as possible) is to call up my good friend Arun. I don’t know why I really do it… just decided one day that I’d call him everytime I was on the airport… one of the few traditions in my life. Its become very predictable and if he knows I’m going to travel he says ‘You r at the airport’ before I can get a word in edgewise.
Entering a plane is an unpleasant experience as your nose is punched with an unpleasant smell which is supposed to be pleasant. There is this typical airplane smell which I hate, and only once in a Sahara flight was this replaced by a more natural kind of fragrance, and I remember that flight was particularly pleasant, also for the reason that it had a very pretty airhostess.
What particularly fascinates me, not surprisingly is looking out of the window (for which reason I always ask for a window seat.) Day flights and night flights have their own charm. As the plane ascends into the night sky you get to see the city in a new perspective. Its like seeing an LCD display with bad resolution. If you notice closely, each city has its different pixel signature. If you are really a frequent flier, you can recognize a city by night just by the colour, closeness and juxtaposition of its lights. Bangalore for example, has more of yellow and pale green and Bombay has more of white. Bangalore, very interestingly, looks like a piece of computer hardware… an IC or maybe a hard disk.
But day flights are definitely more interesting. You can see all throughout the flight, not just take-offs and landings. Roads and rivers are particularly interesting, as you can see them for miles and miles, and watch as they meander along. So also, is watching hills and mountains from a never before perspective, being able to see all sides of the hill at the same time. It looks just as beautiful and just as mundane as seeing them on a model landscape. In case there is cloud cover, its even better. Clouds have a way of arranging themselves in breathtakingly beautiful forms… which I cant call by any name other than ART. If a God exists, the sky is his canvas, and the sunlight and the clouds his paint. And the painting is amazingly lifelike. There have been many a time where I have been tempted to jump out of the plane feeling supremely confident that I will land safely on the fluffy mattress below. One more observation – the clouds seem much more whiter and purer from above than they seem from the ground: one more fact not taught in high-school science.
Notice the plains from planes when the plane takes a turn. The earth as seen out from the window is like a plate balancing on a pin; it slants upwards when the turn is in the direction of the window, thereby filling up the entire window with earth, no sky. And when the turn is in the opposite direction, the plate slants downwards, so that the earth seems like a huge slide.
