Flight of Thought

(Or Thought of Flight?). Today was a thought-full day.

Flight to Mumbai. Stray thoughts crowd the mind.

Thought #1:
Flying Economy is seriously cramped. Getting either an aisle or window seat is bad. That leaves you in the middle. Which is also bad. Ugh!

Thought #2:
Why does one never ever get a good looking travel companion (male please, am not queer yet, though am thinking of indulging in some same sex ha ha ha – it’s called female bonding) sitting beside you and that instant chemistry and sparks flying a la Mills & Boon? Damn!

Thought #3:
Looking down at the hills on the descent to Mumbai, awed by nature and its magnificence, and imbued with some sadness at the encroachment of its bastions by the human race. Will we ever leave anything or anyone alone?

Thought # 4:
“The temp. outside is –46 deg C (ooooooh! That must be br! Er. Couldn’t get the complete brrrrrrrr …..out – it froze in mid-air). We are flying at 35,000 ft. above mean sea level at 850 kph. That is 75% the speed of sound.” Sorry? Come again. 75% of the speed of sound? So obviously below the speed of sound? Speed of sound? Why this piece of info? Hmmmmm!

Thought # 5:
“Jet Airways is associated with ‘Save the Children’ so please feel free to donate by cash or credit card to a noble cause”. Sure lady. Just one thought? Save the children from what? For what? What do I give my child if and when I have my own? What are we giving the Subhan Alis of the world? It’s a question that troubles me.

Thought # 5:
“Waiting to read your blog. Please write something over the weekend. Write something happy.” “There’s so much pain in what you write.” (Two different people. Friends I have known for a very long time. One of who knows me ever since college. My bosom buddy. The other? A friend going back many many years.) So I am painful or pain-full. Maybe I should write something joy-full.

Thought # 6:
Heard the author of ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ – Robin Sharma. Saw him and heard him. Did a few things that he asked us to do in his ‘Leadership Excellence’ lecture at the event. Massaged the person in front of me, danced, waved, except hugged the person in front of me (I couldn’t bring myself to hug a middle-aged stranger who seemed he’d die of shock if I did do such a thing – though come to think of it, he was taken aback when I did put my hands on his shoulder to massage but didn't completely shy from it and he did the same to me and I to the person in front of me when we turned the other way…not bad actually…) and thought, ‘shucks this dude makes so much money out of saying what we already know, and he’s so good looking. Dammit!’

So what did Mr. Sharma espouse? Live with passion. (I do). Be curious (I am). Start small (I’ve started from wee sir!). Take time to think (Sorry, that’s a luxury that I’ve not been allowed. And when I do think, it’s been detrimental to my mental equilibrium. Bottom line? Think? Me? Er…sorry? Eggjactly!). Yaaaaawn! Anything new Mr.Sharma besides the fact that you blog, the name of your website, your frequent references to your book, to yourself, to the potential business with visiting cards waiting for your ‘enlightened’ vision, your incredible children, your incredible family and basically a lot of you, more you and some? You’re good looking, sensitive, narcisstic, commercial, shrewd, and ‘I’m no guru, but I strongly believe’ types. The world buys into you. So who gives a hoot right? If someone wants to sell his Ferrari, it's fine by anybody right? You have yours and that's cool right Robin?

Thought #7:
“You’re creative. Your cards say so.” Well, mmm…ah, er, ok. If the cards say so, who am I to argue? …Let me drink a toast to the cards…J

Thought # 8:
Mumbai is crazy, worse than ever. But I still call it my city. I still remember crazy times. Hazy times. Lazy times. Frenzy times. Lots of times. Oh yes. It will always be my city. For better or for worse.

8 thoughts is quite a thought-full ain’t it? A flight-full of thoughts. Thought of taking flight. To somewhere. To nowhere. But life beckons. Always.

PS – This ain’t a happy blog, but would it be categorized as pain-full? Let me know. Good night.