Brunei to Chicago

Brunei to Chicago ...A Transatlantic journey

In december 2017.

My first visit to USA i chose airlines of my nation and never regretted that 

Brunei via kuala lumpur to Delhi was sort of routine to me having travelled to india like this often 

The KL lounge gave some respite for the  long wait but the food was hopeless .

My worry was in Delhi as transit time was just  around 4 hrs 

i had to clear immigration collect baggage go to departures check in and again go through immigration security to get to the gate in time .

 so i had put a word to my co brother Pramodh who was a senior VP of an airline and known for his contacts in the  field .

As i came down to immigration i was met with a suited young man with a placard for me .

I was whisked away like a senior RAW officer my bag towed by a man friday quickly through customs security departure check in and to gate phew great job !

 The Air India Boeing 777 was pretty long and langarous as it laid waiting for us to pile in .

The New Delhi Chicago non stop flight of more than 14 hours and a distance of more than 12500 km was a long tedious haul and a prestige flight for Air India .

But the plane  had definitely seen better days 

The exterior would do well with a good coat of paint .

The jaded Maharajah was still hospitable in appearance but seemed to have aged .

The interior was spacious seats not bad and leg space adeqaute but one needed not to look hard to see the seat covers had a sad  faded look and the carpets needed a change 

Even some edges were tattered 

The crew had walked a bit earlier in a sizeable number of stewards and stewardesses but most were more aged than in other flights but one had to accept they were efficient and able which was more important .

Think nowadays  people realise that we dont need models to entertain as airhostesses but efficient and hospitable people  no nonsense non glamarous to serve in flights .

Amongst the many black suited smart captains there were a couple of women too .

The entertainment was not bad and food was tasty and filling though not ostentatious .

The fare too was much reasonable compared to other airlines .

This is important too for the budget conscious and it was non stop with no transits specially comfortable for the hordes of senior couples travelling to the US to be with thier offsprings working there .

It was very obvious that the airlines had the jaded unkempt look only because it was a public sector concern with astronomical losses inefficient bureacracy and corrupt ministers managing it for years .

In spite of all this travel was better .

Imagine if Air India is given back to Tatas they would make it as worlds number one airline  like they had when they had owned it .

From the gate I noticed one thing

 the flight was literally  a senior citizens annual excursion .

Very few young people were there 

(naturally me 😆 )

Wheelchairs were aplenty 

Most of them were  dressed like Eskimos in anticipation of the harsh winter they would face .

As i sat in my seat the aircraft filled up slowly with passengers hesitatingly shuffling in , some with sticks one with a huge metal cover over his foot !

Many needed help from stewards to keep thier baggages and I gave away my window seat to a senior couple who were on thier fourth trip to thier children and grandchildren .

Naturally they were happy and looking forwards to see thier loved ones but they looked fatigued and tired to face the long haul so much that it looked they would be happier in thier homes in Ghaziabad or Thanjavoor but then its unfair to make such assumptions on first look .

Air Indias senior look complimented its passengers too .

It was a bygone royalty of a king who lost his power but managed to meet ends frugally .

Hats off to its staff for doing thier best much better than the mechanical insolence one associates airlines of these days .

They still had thier soul and werent the automatons polished and slim with burnished hairstyles set to glory .

My neighbour was an above 80 general surgeon from Patna who had more than seven grown up grandchildren in the US and  senior doctors for sons !

The surgeon himself had worked in US from more than 15 years but now commutes a couple of times an year with his wife .

All i can hear around me is my son is in IT my daughter in finance 

My other son cardiologist

Senioroblia Air India spl

The regular exodus of parents to children with families abroad is actually an excellent topic for a Phd thesis 

Their needs feelings and uses 

None can deny the joy of having grandparents and grandchildren but how do they like this recurrent transposition to be in the homes of thier sons or daughters or in laws the physical the mental part ?

Do they feel that thier responsibilities are persisting even beyond looking after thier children is long over or are they overjoyed at the oppurtunity it gives ?

 the security and comfort to thier wards are all questions to be asked and analysed .

But to the few I talked to  in the flight though bugged of thier physical strains seemed to be cheerful enough to thier situations .