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It was an early morning of October 2012 while I was at home. I was talking to somebody on phone in a little loud and harsh tone. Papa was passing by from there. He asked- Roohi, is it the customer service you are talking to?

I said- Yes Papa.

Papa prompted with the next obvious question, “Well, did they reschedule the flight once again? How many times did I advise you not to travel with Jet Airways!! First of all, they don’t have any direct flight from Patna to Bangalore and 2nd they always reschedule their flights. I have never seen you boarding the flight on the same day as mentioned in the original ticket. It either has to be the previous day or the next day but it never is the same day! I don’t get what’s with this Jet Airways obsession of yours. Sharma’s uncle daughter always prefers an Indigo flight and I have never heard of her facing such issues.

I replied in a dramatic melancholic tone-But Papa, Indigo’s air hostesses are so boring..neither are they beautiful nor are they attractive! And, Jet Airways has coolest flight stewards as well!!  Now don’t tell me that I should look for my comfort before I start looking at those air hostesses. After all, a flight journey becomes very uninteresting and tedious without those beautiful /attractive air hostesses and cool stewards.

Papa replied- You and your tantrums! Nobody can win any argument while he is having it with a lady. Just tell me your rescheduled flight timings.

I said- Papa, it’s not an argument. It’s a discussion, you see..:D You are very well allowed to put your points as well! However, the flight is for tomorrow and it’s via Mumbai. The flight from Patna to Mumbai is at 11 AM and then there is a stay of 2 hours in Mumbai and I think, the Bangalore flight from Mumbai is at 5 PM.   

Papa said- Okay, then let’s leave the house at 9 AM tomorrow.
I replied- Sure! Done..

The very next morning:

Papa-“Roohi, come on! It’s already 8:30 AM. Hurry up!”

Before I could answer anything, Mummy replied- There are still 2 and half hours left and you are asking her to hurry up! I am still not done with snacks packing. I need another 1 hour.

I replied in a pleading tone- Mom, please hurry up. If you delay that much, I won’t be able to get a window seat Mumma. 

The same day at around 10:30 AM:

Finally, myself  and Papa are at Patna airport with 1 trolley and 1 hand bag, the hand bag is filled with only SNACKS. I rush to the ticket counter with my voter ID card in one hand , the hand bag in the other and only God knows in which hand was I holding the trolley bag(can you imagine!) and ask the agent while getting the boarding passes “Can I get a window seat please!” She replies in a sarcastic yet trying to be firm voice- “Mam, you are one of the last passengers to board in. I am sorry but you will have to adjust with a middle seat but yup, I can give you window seat for the flight from Mumbai to Bangalore.” I thanked her for the kindness she was anyways supposed to show and proceeded towards the security checking.   Damn! Mom, I wish you could be here!

The same day at around 4:30 PM:

I am in the flight to Bangalore looking for my seat. Suddenly, I see, it has already been occupied by a man, aged around 40 to 44 years. I said “Excuse me! That’s my seat, I guess.”

He replied “oh..sure! I will shift” and he shifted to the middle seat. It was not more than 5 minutes since I had made myself comfortable enough that he prompted once again “You look tired. Have you been traveling all day?”  I thought-“What the hell!  You are supposed to espy those air hostesses not me.”

Well, You can say, I am kind of over protective when it comes to this part of life. Anyway here is what I replied to him “Yes, I was in another flight this morning.”  And then he came up with another question “ So, do you work in Bangalore?” I replied- Yes, I work in Oracle answering his third unasked question as well and expecting him to shut up. He once again asked-“Which building of Oracle?” I replied-“ Do you know Kalyani Magnum Infotech Park?” He replied “Oh..Yeah..the one just opposite to Mom and Me..right? In fact I live with my family in the adjacent apartment and I work with some blah..blah..blah..blah”  Now, let me tell you the fact that I always prefer traveling alone until and unless it’s a well planned trip to some place with friends. The travel time is ME time. I get time to spend with myself without any disturbance and incoherency while traveling. Finally, I reached Bangalore at around 8 PM.

And, you must be wondering..What’s with this “ME” time..right?

Well, it was not more than 10 minutes since that obnoxious man had stopped irritating me and started annoying the person sitting to his right and I was asleep!! Well, you see, be it a window  seat, middle seat or corner seat, all I do is sleep while traveling and I suppose that’s the ME time of mine..:D 

Also, I am still pondering, what’s the conclusion of this anecdote… that ME time is important? that everybody needs to travel alone at least once in a life time? that being overprotective about ourselves  is good and yeah,that definitely is..that we should always leave before time to acquire a window seat? that I should stop irritating you people with such stupid anecdotes?Well, conclude it yourself and do let me know as well...:P