A small tribute to Kajal...

Love at First Sight

My recent trip to the jungles of Bandhavgarh was fraught with mishaps - car breaking down amid the jungles at midnight, no electricity for one full day at our resort and a lot others. Add to that the growing frustration among the other members of our crew for not being able to see a tiger up-close. I, however, enjoy wilderness more than the animal sightings and hence was spared from the latter.

On the first day, we could only see a glimpse of two tiger cubs who were apparently very shy to come close to a million vehicles parked on their way to the pond. And their mother wasn't around, who could have taught them how to treat those vehicles and their inhabitants as lessers.

Our morning safari on the second day brought us close to a tigress lazying around near a water hole and we missed her by a paltry 5 minutes. We could see her going back to her den as the sun started to shine on her but she was as much farther as were the two cubs. The crew gave up hope, some even starting to believe that our trip on the whole was jinxed.

Our last safari, however, changed all that. For, we had the chance to watch the most beautiful tigress of the reserve up-close (according to our guide, Gupta). And this was the same tigress which we had missed by a whisker earlier that morning. And the moment I saw her, I fell in love with her. Her deep eyes, her splendid walk, her perfect proportions - everything about her was truly amazing. We watched her for a good 15-20 minitues, right from her descent from her den till she disappered in the grasses near the water hole.

She is 4 years old, and for some reason, is known by an insignificant name (chinchola-tigress or something like that, based on the area she inhabits). I feel she deserves a unique name and have named her Kajal, as a tribute to her ever inspiring eyes. If there is love at first sight, this was it. And that sight of hers will remain etched forever in my memories.

Air India

Kingfisher Red has stopped serving the Mumbai-Raipur route, which meant I had to fly Air India this time around. Not that I flew AI for the first time, but I was eager to fly it for a long time.

Whenever AI gets a mention in any discussion, one thing which never fails to pop up is how ‘ugly’ their air hostesses are. How those ‘fat’ ladies do not take care of the travelers and sometimes are even ‘rude’ to them. I, beg to differ.

First of all, the hostesses are not ugly. I agree that they are not sexy (and enticing!) as their Kingfisher and Jet counterparts, but beauty is beyond exhibiting skin in red or blue minis. Draped sarees, large red bindis smeared on foreheads and nicely braided hair – they all epitomize the Indian culture, and I believe that’s beautiful.

Secondly, many a times, the hostesses don’t behave in a way which most of the travelers think they ‘ought to be’. But have we ever tried to analyze what’s going on. Consider the situation from the hostess’ perspective. A traveler enters the aircraft and gives you a weird look (Oh my god, where have I come, those KF girls were so pretty) – his face says it all. Then onboard, he ‘orders’ you for the things he need, the way he is accustomed to doing it in other carriers. The difference here is that you are not like 20-22 year olds starting their careers; you are 42, serving for at least 15 years and expect some sensible behavior from the travelers.

I am no less ordinary. I am not against short clothes and I also like flying in KF, being served onboard by attractive women. However, I feel great about the fact that there is at least one airline which proudly upholds our culture. And it’s a thing which needs to be acknowledged by all.