The land of Spitfire

I studied aeronautical engineering at college. The aircraft that fascinated me the most was a Second World War plane: spitfire. The land of spitfire is England. It was one among the many reasons for me to travel to the country, not to mention that my husband lives there. I went to the high commission's office to apply for a VISA. There he was, he whom I fear the most. Those sorts of men are my worst fear when I thought of living in England. Yes. You guessed right. The husband of the nurse. This sort of people lives the life of a slave who pretend to be the husband in front of others. Anyway, the man wanted a VISA to be with his wife in England. He annoyed everyone by showcasing his pure, relentless retardedness. I just hate men who do nothing and talk much as if they rule the world. The man in the counter was kind and helpful. I got the VISA after 2 weeks time.

I flew Air India. My husband is a big fan of that airline. I don't understand him in these matters. Since I didn't prefer any particular airliner, I favoured my husband's choice. Air India was amazing. Especially their flight from Delhi to London Heathrow. They offered great food, drinks and hospitality. The entertainment system in the flight had all I wanted. Movies, music, video games, magazines and phone. I had been playing games when he approached me. The steward. He sat with me. We talked. I love talking to well behaved people. His age was in the range of my father's. He was from Changanacherry. Then he offered me extra pillows, blankets, chocolates and cakes. I was pampered. The flight landed before time. Now I know why do people blame Air India. They just transmit stories they hear. They never tried Air India. I was one among them but all changed. I love it. After the checks and medical examination at the airport, I went to the arrival launch. There he is. My husband. He bought a beautiful flower basket to greet me. Apparently he lost it at the coffee shop. I came to know about it when he realised it latter in the car and had an unearthly expression on his face.

The journey home was good. The sunset, my man next to me and a summer evening. Perfect. We went home. Home sweet home. It had everything I wanted. The chocolate collection, the all absorbing couch and the cool temperature. We started our new life. The only embarrassing thing is the carpet in the bath room. I still don’t know how to bath and wash without splashing water all around. I planted mint, coriander, pineapple, curry leaves, alovera, green chilli and ginger in the kitchen garden. All grew well. Green chilly is particularly good. It gives a handful of chillies every day. The neighboring places and people are all good. A small village with a marvelous looking church, library, park and village hall. Very welcoming. The trees all around with apples, blackberrys and pears are so convenient that snacking while walking around is so easy. Pluck them and have them fresh. Life is good. I also saw a little rock near the church which commemorates the second world war martyrs from the village. The men of spitfire.

Why the hell on earth am I alone?

I have to be in Chennai to work for Air India. Because that is their only base in south India. I have a great friend in Chennai. We are room mates. But I hardly meet her. She works for a company which operates on some western time zones. When I wake up in the morning I see her sleeping and when I come back from work in the evening, she is gone. I am engaged, but my fiancé lives some 6000 miles away. My family is in Thrissur because its my home town. I am alone, even though I have many people in life who love me. Why am I alone?

Well, lets think about all those factors which made me declare, I am officially alone. Air India. Why should I even work for them? The fact of the matter is, I am an aeronautical engineer. Even though my mind and body dont still know I am one, my degree certificate says so. Conventionally, I am supposed to work for an airline. I got an offer to work for Jet Airways, but didn't fancy staying in Mumbai. I studies in Chennai and had great friends in here. So, I thought I should stay back in Chennai and should get a job in here. I got one and joined Air India in Chennai. But one after other friends flew away. Some got married. Some got jobs in distant places. Some just faded away. Everybody has got a reason to move. I was stuck with the job in AirIndia.

I had some friends left, even though most of them went away. Interestingly, some of them were more interested in making my life a little bit harder. I had to cut them out. And I did. Then I was left with only one true friend in Chennai. My room mate. Why does she work in the US time zone and me in the good old Indian one? Well, the simple answer is, that is what we were told to do by our employers. People in the US, Canada or Europe demand more money to work. They have to pay 80 rupees for 5 oranges, while we in Chennai pay just a tenner. They pay 800 rupees to watch a movie while we still have Ragam in thrissur. I can write down a long list to point out that we need much lesser money to live when compared to some one in the west. Thus we are ready to work for cheaper salary. Hence the companies in the "rich" west out sourse work to some one called Mr.Raja Rathinam or so in India and they employ people like my friend. She has no choice. She has to sleep all day and work all night. Poor soul. I miss her.

My fiancé is a mad man. He thought he could resign a decent job and start a business in an unfamiliar place which was 6000 miles away just for the fun of it. So he did. He is away. He will be, till we marry each other and live together. My family. My grandma, mother, dad and sister, all have been living in Thrissur for a very long time. They are used to the luxury of having a huge home, back yard, kitchen garden, great neighbours and fresh water and air. They are used to the big bang of Pooram, elegance of temples, activities of that useless man PC, malayala manorama, native speakers, that tamil boy who irons all the cloths, all those marriages on almost every sundays, all the jewellers and clothing shops, fish and vegetable markets, the ever green - under construction over bridge, the chaos or the traffic, as they call it in the round, relatives who live nearby, those narrow roads, bhujagalathadi hair oil, nice view of the large, disciplined queue in front of the Kerala state beverages corporation outlet when ever they go out, the nice and helpful auto driver, friends coming home and rain. They love it. I cant even think of asking them to come down to Chennai to stay for a day. I just cant.

So, why am I alone? It is because of the bloody airline which doesnt have a base in all the little towns including Thrissur, those imbaziles who were my friends and moved away just because they had a nicer place to live in or got a great job, those stupid westerners who pay ridiculous amount of money for every thing and need more money as salary than we do, Mr. Raja Rathinam or any of those funny named out sourcing boss, the madness of my fiancé, the so called advantages of thrissur and of course the teachers who thought me aeronautical engineering at the college. Or it could be because of Sonia Gandhi. She takes the credit for the stable Indian economy and India's current shining position among the countries of the world, which she has nothing to do with. Then, why cant she be blamed for my big issue? Any way, It is not my fault. It is nice to know that it is not my fault.