Burning Questions

Dear God,

Am I closer to you when I am flying?

I remember my last trip to India when Kutie was still a baby – we opted to travel from Kerala to Bombay via the new economy airlines – I believe it was Air Deccan. The flight supposed to have started at 7PM did not take off until 9PM (which according to my parents was still much better than usual), and then there was a mad scrambling to get on the plane first – for there are not seat assignments. As we boarded the plane, we noticed that first row was already taken by none other than the CM of Kerala and some of his buddies and security guards. There were still some seats to his side, but most people looked for an empty row in the back to find the perfect aisle/window that they desired. We landed in Bombay and soon another mad dash occurred to get out of the plane began.

The thing that stuck in my head later was when I realized that while in air everyone was the treated equal, the CM did not get any extra privilege nor did we, the air hostess did not offer neither of us a free drink nor gave us a customary smile! While back on the ground the differences were huge. The CM was escorted out into his white ambassador car, already waiting at the runway, while we had to board the little bus and hang on the railings on one hand, while holding a six month old baby on the other.

Yes!

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Dear Indian DVD Maker,

Why do you believe that we like to watch the commercials about yourself before sitting down to watch the movie we actually bought/rented to watch?

Here’s my pet peeve.
Every time I watch an Indian movie, the DVD menu button fails miserably (unless I use the PC). It would give an error messaging saying “This feature does not function on this DVD” I am forced to watch the endless, rather boring song that details why the said DVD is of a higher quality than all its contemporaries. Then I need to watch through an array of collections that is owned by the company that I could essentially buy from India and ship at an exuberant price home.

Because customers focus business model seems to be non-existent (at least in the DVD market)!

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Dear Mr. Grey Hound,
Did you really need to explain to the 13 year old how to best play tennis at the front porch?

I was out on a stroll with my little guy in the stroller, looking at the cars and trucks that frequently passed by, stopping and enjoying the beautiful roses that have blossomed at every front porch. Up ahead was Mr. Grey Hound explaining in an Asian + English language how best to play tennis. I probably would have walked right past, but he was making all sorts of actions with his hands – a backhand, front hand with a jump, side shot with another jump, that I stared. (Impolite I know, but its just the desi DNA). I could not understand the words he said to his 10-13 year old boy sipping coke but could definitely gather the gist due to all his animated actions. The moment the poor kid realized that they are still on the street, with strangers (myself, and another couple coming in the opposite direction) walking by, he yelled “Yes, I will do it next time”, He might as well have muttered “Just shut up” under his breath, for all I know. I moved along realizing that the poor boy was probably more ashamed of the fact that yet another person knows the story how badly he 'might' have played the game.

Yes. Because as parents we are not thinking about YOUR embarrassment, until we read about it in your blog 20 years later!!