"When was this food prepared?" I asked the smart 6 foot flight attendant, with a name tag Abhay, who was happily serving hot breakfast to starved souls on an early morning flight from Chennai to Delhi at the beginning of autumn season and my entrepreneurial life. When an equally smart flight attendant pushing the food trolley from the other side stopped by my seat with a tray in her hand and asked in a sweet but stern voice, "Mr Palanidurai, did you request for a vegetarian meal?", I decided, unconsciously, to have a second breakfast and said, "Yes, I did". Her name tag read Swati and she meant business and moved on swiftly to serve the next passenger.
When I received that tray from her, a deep feeling of guilt killed the joy I had experienced 2 hours earlier when I heard my name called on the announcement system at Chennai domestic airport. I was relishing the, visa credit card sponsored, ₹2 buffet breakfast in the travel lounge when that announcement instilled a sense of urgency in me to rush to the boarding gate. But, when I realized there was still 30 minutes left for departure, the frequent traveler in me relaxed my mind and cajoled it to send an instruction to finish that bowl of hot and freshly prepared porridge to wash down that small portion of pongal, 2 mini vadas and a Gujarati thepla that entered my digestive system a few minutes back!
Yes, I was a tad bit hungry that morning; to explore the breakfast spread and life beyond 22 years in the IT industry that gave me an opportunity to learn, earn and the wisdom to get off the bus before I get churned.
Abhay, quickly realized that I was still waiting for his response and in a mild but confident tone said, "I am not entirely sure sir, but most likely food on this morning flight would have been prepared around midnight and kept blast frozen till delivery to this flight". I acknowledged him with a smile but could not digest the answer I received. The food was prepared roughly 12 hours before, kept frozen and reheated a hour back, probably twice!
At that point I had a choice,
A) To return the tray and let go of my want (to have a second breakfast) even though it had Aloo Parantha that I was longing to eat the previous night at home, presented and offered to me nicely with a customer friendly smile
B) To go ahead and have it to fulfill my desire to write a short story about my experience in the remaining 90 mins of the flight time.
Now that you are reading it, I obviously chose option B. This experience did feed my desire and energized me to type away 1500 words of wisdom before I landed in Delhi. It also gave me an opportunity to introspect and increased my appetite to research a particular trait of human behavior.
"Why do people mostly succumb to desires of a want even when their need is already met?"
I am a mature foodie who has been trained well by my health conscious wife over the last 15 years to not be greedy and jump at free food. So, why did I not say, "No, thank you" to Swati? What influenced me to react immediately and receive that tray?
- Was it the way the food was packaged and presented nicely with lot of goodies?
- Was it that beautiful smile both flight attendants beamed in-spite of not having received last month salary as the airline was going through tough times?
- Could it be my urge to, once again, taste that tamarind toffee unique to that airline and feel that tangy burst in my mouth and mind?
- Was it my hangover behavior from the extensive travel from the corporate life that I left behind a month back?
- Could it be the peer pressure of co-passengers next to me choosing to take that breakfast?
- I remembered reading an article that people digest food quickly when they think a lot, could it be that? It was less than 2 hours since I had my first breakfast, though!
As, i was searching for a convincing answer I heard a mature voice that came from behind the row I was seated. "I had my breakfast at home, so, I will not need the full tray. Instead, can I just have that bar of KitKat chocolate, if that is possible?" I recognized the voice that responded; it was Swati who served me my breakfast but did not offer an opportunity for me to strike a conversation. This time she paused for a bit and in a friendly tone replied to him, "Ofcourse, sir. You can actually have 2 of those. Is there anything else, I can offer you?"
Within a few seconds we all felt a slight bump as the aircraft shivered a bit, swayed for 10 seconds before stabilizing and cruising again. I suddenly heard a voice above my head, it was the captain speaking. "Sorry about that mild discomfort you may have felt. We just flew into heavy clouds and experienced air turbulence. The sky is all clear now and we are cruising above Mathura town and should be reaching our destination in about 30 minutes. Sit back and relax and enjoy your breakfast and our award winning in-flight service".
I looked down at the tray in front of me that was well laid out with a piece of bread, butter, a rectangular bowl wrapped in a green silver foil that was releasing mild steam from a small opening in its corner, a KitKat chocolate, disposable water bottle and hiding behind those plastic cutlery that tangy tamarind toffee. I recognized the trademark wrap in the shape of 2 small beads. I first reached for the water to wet my mouth and mind both of which had become dry processing all those thoughts running in my thirsty brain!
I could hear a rumbling in my stomach. Was it hunger or anxiety? I could not differentiate but my hands were already opening the green wrapper on which I had kept the butter to melt. The flavor of Indian spices filled the air and before my mind could send any more signals I started spreading that butter on the parantha and took a bite! Just when I was about to send that mouthful down to my mid chamber I saw Abhay approaching me. I quickly swallowed to free up the voice chamber and ducts incase I had to interact with him. But, he stopped by the row in front of me and with a sorry face and an apologetic tone said to the gentlemen in front of me. "I am really sorry sir, we do not have any more vegetarian meal left. We had to cater to all passengers who had pre-booked it. I can offer you omelette and baked beans. Would you like me to bring it?". After few minutes of contemplation that gentleman declined that offer and asked for another bottle of water. He realized Abhay tried but was not in a position to help as he should have pre-booked his vegetarian meal, which he knew was his staple need.
The rumbling in my stomach was even louder now and this time I knew it was not hunger. I could have helped fulfill the need of that gentleman if I knew how to blast freeze my wants, in this case my urge to have a second breakfast. The next 15 mins was filled with deep introspection and flashback of events from my life when I was faced with such dilemma and what I eventually did in those circumstances. I came back to reality in mid air when I heard Abhay again, "Sir, can I take the tray? We will be landing shortly". I noticed my co-passengers had already finished their breakfast and were reading something. Abhay had given me some grace time to finish my breakfast and came back to collect my food tray. I took my favorite tamarid toffee and KitKat and returned my empty food tray.
I popped those tamarind beads in my mouth while watching Abhay walk back to the cabin crew area and settling down in his seat and buckling up for landing. The tangy juice sent a burst of tangy flavors down my throat and I could feel a state of joy and contentment. The voice above my head returned and filled the air with more joy. "We have reached our destination and 10 mins ahead of schedule..."
My happy state of mind did not let the body feel the usual thud of aircraft landing. Instead it filled me with a sense of satisfaction for not only reaching my destination safely but also for having learnt a new life lesson to blast freeze my wants and re-heat them when they actually become a need. An ability when mastered could help sustain the joyful state of mind and fulfill my quest for happiness!
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©Balaji Palanidurai
I wrote this shorty story based on my own experience onboard Jet Airways flight 9W 736 on 25th Oct 2018 from Chennai to Delhi. This flight was a personal milestone for me as it was the first business trip I took for my own venture and I was glad it was on Jet Airways, on which I had taken my first domestic flight way back in 2001!
After many international travels and lot of flight time utilized to network/read/learn and introspect I was looking forward to the experience that morning. I boarded with an open mind, which widened further when I landed. The experience helped me write about something that I talk about a lot with my friends and family and especially kids. I used to take many life examples as an analogy and that morning I became my own student and learnt a lesson; to take a pause and consciously differentiate between my "Needs" and "Wants" and how to control the urge to go after the Wants!
#jetairways #joyofflying
