Patricia on the Plane

An attempt to write about connections we make during our travels...

I boarded the plane without too much hassle, this time I had the aisle seat and just a laptop for the overhead bin. It was a day flight thankfully and I could watch two movies and read a bit and by evening I would be in Paris. I was contemplating how to spend the evening in Paris, maybe a walk down the banks of La Seine after the long flight would be nice and wrap things up with a ham, cheese and egg crepe from the roadside stall opposite the Eifel tower? Or maybe a hot dog from that sweet old man just beside?

My thoughts were interrupted by a lady who demanded to have a better seat than what she was assigned, the air hostess politely asked her to exchange with any other passenger if they agree. She sat down grumbling right next to me - we wear in the 4 seats in the middle. "I will complain about the service" she muttered, "This is very bad, it would not have happened in Air France!!". I offered some consolation by saying that she could have got a better seat if she did a web check in but I did not budge.

She was French, she was wearing a kurta and kolhapuris (I think) and settled down grumpily beside me. "Did you come for a holiday?" I asked. "My daughter stays in Mumbai so I have been coming here for the last two years" and that is how it started. We talked about her many travels to India, Rajasthan, South India, Kaziranga and she had just returned from the Andaman Islands. On hearing Andamans, I gushed how beautiful it was, what pristine beaches Havelock Islands had and she stopped me mid sentence. She ranted about the dirty beaches, the plastic bottles, the environment and how she cleaned up the beaches as she could not tolerate to see the litter. She went on about being more conscious about the environment, we talked about recycling, composting, old newspapers and what not. Somewhere I noticed that the plane had taken off.

The drinks trolley came along, she asked if they will serve food soon and took a white wine, I stuck with cola. The French drink their wine with the food and this little detail the airline had missed! I asked where she stayed, she stayed in Nice. "Oh Nice! That's where we are going for our vacation this summer!" I say, we talk about Matisse, Monte Carlo, the lemon festival in Menton and the onion pizza and socca (popular street food). She recommends some restaurants and I try to remember the names for later.

Okay enough talking, maybe I should shut up and let her do her own thing, so I watch a movie, pull out my book Jules et Jim by Henri Pierre Roche - it was an attempt to understand the French people and culture so I read English translations of French books and watched French films. She looked at the book and said "That's too hard, do you like it?" I hemmed and hawed without any direct answer (she was right!) She pulled out a much more interesting Mary Higgins Clarke novel and appeared to be completely sucked in for the next hour or so. Once she had finished the book, we talked about thrillers and she offered to give me the book. I was rather touched but said I had a copy on my Kindle. We talk some more about her daughters, how small the flats are in Paris and how steep the rents are.

The plane is about to land, she pulls out a scrap of paper and jots down her number, "You can call me if you need help in Nice", She also makes it very clear that I am not to call her just to say hello! I smile and thank her for her kind gesture and we get busy to disembark. The flight is late, she is worried that her other daughter will have to wait long receive her.

On land we disperse like ants, each in our own direction and destination but the connections we make during our journeys are always so special and memorable.

P.S.I did not call her when we were in NIce but sent her a note that how much we enjoyed our visit to Nice. She and her family are fine post the Nice attack.

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