AIRTIME
2009—

“Would you like window or aisle, Sir?”

“Is Four-Alpha available? Perfect! I'll take that.”

They know you're a seasoned traveller when you ask for a seat by name. On a late afternoon Flt. SG-529 from GAU to BLR, the East-facing bay view, suitably distant from the wing, is particularly calming.

What is it about airports that we arrive with the sole purpose of departing anyway? I'm always gaming the system to make it personal. Remember George Clooney's line from Up in the Air? “All the things you probably hate about flying--recycled air, artificial lighting, digital juice dispensers, cheap sushi--are warm reminders that I am home.” Something like that.

Being first in line at check-in or the last to get off the plane opens up possibilities. Sometimes that means earning an extra few seconds by faking a struggle with my shoelaces just so that I can appreciate the light bouncing off an empty conveyor belt in IXJ. Or stake claim to an entire departure lounge in CCU to myself, if only for a sixtieth of a second.

This series is an air traveller's equivalent of stopping to smell the roses, as it were. It's a diary of all the experience one can buy for the price of an air ticket.

Mahesh Shantaram
July 2010