I wish airplanes in the night sky were shooting stars

Another excerpt from my diary:


I have a thing for airplanes. Like how I have a thing for the rains. And for the beach. And for songs that make me sad. And for guys with dimples. And various other aspects of life.

I’ve travelled by air a number of times now, but the entire process never fails to amaze me. Could people have imagined such a thing to even exist some 500 years ago? It is so fascinating to sit inside the aircraft comfortably (I always try to get the window seat), to feel the huge machine running smoothly on the runway, the power and the sound of the engine just before it takes off, the giddiness in the stomach as it rises in the air, the thrill as you watch the city look like a toy set in a matter of seconds, and feeling of flying majestically in the air at a dizzying height, cutting through the gigantic, puffy, dreamy clouds. It is breathtaking!

I’m sitting by the window in my Jet Airways flight from Andaman Islands to Chennai. I’m up in the sky!! At a height of 36000 ft!! All I can see beneath me is rippling blue water and huge white clouds!! I’m SITTING in the sky!! People around me are SLEEPING in the sky!! Travelling at a speed of 861km/hour!! And I can watch movies like Midnight in Paris and watch TV shows and interviews! How do these things happen?! Okay, I sound like an idiot :| We’re living in 2011!

But technology always leaves me astounded. What all have we achieved today! Anything is possible today! ANYTHING! Like the ‘Siri’ personal assistant feature in the new iPhone 4S. You can tell her things like “Remind me to pick laundry after work” or “Fix a meeting at 5”! It can read text messages and emails out to you! It can give you its own amusing versions of answers when you ask her questions like “What is the meaning of life?”!

But, nyem, I’ve mixed feelings about being so awfully dependent on technology. It gives people the freedom to be careless, forgetful, lazy. It makes them value the little things in life less. Makes me feel that at this rate we’re going to end up like the people in Wall e.  I’ve always had this conflict about the Kindle. It is an awesome invention, and I would love to have it so that I’d get to read so much more, so conveniently, but I love the actual books too much to give up on reading them and reading everything out of a screen. I like the feel of paper between my fingers and the smell of print. I even love hunting for a particular book in bookstores and shedding my own money. It is so valuable and close to your heart then :)

My phone was off through most of my trip and the fact that no one could call me or text me was kind of.. uplifting. But then very soon, I felt so cut off from the rest of the world. I had no idea about Steve Jobs’ death for two whole days. I was ..shocked. The world had lost one of its most iconic men and I was unaware.
Anyway, coming back to the trip, Andaman Islands were exhilaratingly beautiful. Port Blair is a quaint little town. It’s cool, green, filled with white, clean, sandy beaches, water sports, hammocks, shells and corals and boats. We went to Corbyn’s Cove beach in the rain and I kind of lost it. We visited the historical Cellular Jail and it gave me goosebumps and shivers as we saw the light and sound show and listened to the stories about the prisoners and their struggles. You HAVE to visit it if you ever visit Port Blair.

It has been an incredible trip. Feels like a lifetime :)
And now, it’s back to my ol’ li’l Agra again. Hello, dusty roads and crowded places, I’m coming back!! :)


P.S. Yes, I know, the title of the post is based on a song. I don't like the song but I like the line. And I could REALLY use a wish right now..