I was returning back home to Bombay after a business trip to Hyderabad. Window seats on night flights fascinate me. Hence, I’d asked for one on this particular flight as well.
Once on the flight, I settled down in my seat and got back to the book I was reading – Breathless in Bombay. It was then, a few minutes later that I saw him. He was, in my opinion, the cutest guy on that flight. I looked up at him and blushed as he was trying to locate his seat. And that was precisely the moment when he noticed me looking at him. He smiled back at me. I could hear background music playing… Halleluia..! (in chorus) …wow! Did I feel like a thousand flowers had blossomed in springtime-o-what! I wanted to sing and dance (typical Bollywood style… I even had a song playing in my head – Keh do na, keh do na, you are my soniya). But given the circumstances, I had to keep an airtight control over my emotions. I think that I was being blessed by all the gods that day as The Cute Guy had his seat next to mine. So far all good… But… wait… he wasn’t traveling alone. There was an elderly man with him by the name Mr. Subramaniam or “Superman” – as his boarding pass suggested. Call it mistake of the ground staff personnel or his sense of humour!
Was that his father, I wondered. Apparently, ‘Superman’ had the seat next to mine and the cute guy had the aisle seat. However, The Cute Guy swapped seats with ‘Superman’ and ended up sitting right next to me. Yay! Okay… so now what do I do?! I was getting incredibly stressed thinking about an ice-breaker. I pretended to be reading the book as he provided entertainment on the flight cracking jokes on anything and everything from the flight infrastructure to Indian politics. The Cute Guy had a witty sense of humour and was having an absolutely hilarious conversation with ‘Superman’. I shared a laugh or two with them and that eventually served as an ice-breaker. That was all I’d managed halfway on the flight. Sad, I know!
After a while, I guess he was bored. He peeped into the book that I was reading and then smiled at me. I got way too conscious and shut the book. That was when he read the cover page – Breathless in Bombay and asked me… “You originally from Bombay?” and I froze. So just smiled and nodded. He must have probably assumed I was not interested in talking to a stranger. So he just shut up and fell asleep. Another hour passed by. An announcement was made. The landing had been delayed by 45 minutes. I sighed and looked out the window. With a cute guy asleep beside me, combined with very little scope for what I could possibly do and 45 minutes to kill, I watched the view from the window. It was spectacular! I smiled. The plane was circling around Marine Drive. And having a bird’s eye view of Bombay at night felt awesome! The lights in the aircraft had been dimmed. That was precisely when The Cute Guy woke up from his little nap and looked at me. I was too dazzled by the scene outside to notice he was actually staring at me and not only was he staring, but by this time, had extended his hand over my seat and was partially leaning over me to look outside. I think my heart skipped a beat or two in that moment! What followed was a period of brief silence between us with both of us gazing at the mind-blowing view. I couldn’t help but look him straight in the eye and say, “Truly beautiful, isn’t it?!” He paused for a moment, looked right into my eyes (it felt as if he was gazing into my soul) and replied, “Most certainly is!” I blushed and looked away. The Cute Guy pulled back into his seat.
A few minutes later we had a brief conversation about where we lived, after which he introduced me to ‘Superman’ and told me the joke about his name on the boarding pass yet once again. We laughed. It was time for landing. The Cute Guy actually carried my backpack for me from the aircraft to the airport. I found it incredibly sweet! With final goodbyes, we walked our separate paths out the airport.
The End.
Something missing? I’ll tell you what it is… (incase you haven’t yet figured it out)! I forgot to get his name and number! 😛 Call it the height of being mesmerized by someone or the height of nervous-“ness”! How can one have an entire conversation with someone sitting right next to them for over 2 hours on a flight, laugh, crack jokes, have some really beautiful moments… and not know the other person’s name?! 😛
I considered options like asking the airlines for the name of the passenger sitting next to me under the pretext that some of their luggage had accidentally been left out with me. Like that was ever gonna be possible!
If I had only asked him his name, I would have added him on Facebook and today… you never know… It would have culminated into something much more interesting. 🙂 For all that it remains now… is a beautiful memory and thoughts about what could have possibly been! <sigh> At this point I can’t even recollect exactly what he looks like. All I know of him is that he was cute, really cute! Perhaps if it’s destined, we shall meet again. And even if I don’t recognize him, I’m certain he will – at least that’s what I’d like to believe! (After my recent hair-do, the chances are remote, but hope is what we all live on)! 😛
The Actual End. (Or maybe not?)
Happy Valentine’s Day!!! 🙂
Blogs By Nerissa 