I peer bleary eyed through the window as the
Jet swoops down on earth, majestically like a giant metal bird and lands on the
tarmac with a muted screech of burning rubber and reverse thrust.
Walking through
another magnificent edifice of glass and steel, more glass than steel to be
precise, that passes of for airports these days, I look around me and wonder
how much things have changed. Airports these days are gleaming structures with
every facility you can dream of and some that you can’t. Most of the latest
structures have taken hygiene to an all new level and are virtually sterile.
While people travel together, they don’t even seem to realise that they are. Most
of them are bawling into are being bawled at through the ultimate wonder of
modern communication – the mobile phone
, depending on their position in the corporate pecking order. If not, they are
busy catching up on their mail vide the magic of the black berry, Women are
making a serious dent in the bank accounts by shopping like there is no
tomorrow
Yet, as I unpack
my lap top and other accessories in a valiant attempt to set up office
temporarily in the coffee shop of the transit lounge overlooking the tarmac, I
ponder over my thoughts and wonder have things really changed? Having travelled far and wide in the past and
having met people of all colours and races I have realised that despite the various hue of our skin or the slant of our eyes, White
,black or brown ,Occidental or Oriental, human beings are all very much the
same, have been, and will be in the distant future. Our basic needs are very
much the same, we are all chasing that distant dream – a wonderful job, a
perfect spouse, wonderful children, a comfortable living ….. So on and so forth
the list goes on and on ..
While the gadgets
or contraptions that we crave for may be new the urge to possess is
fundamentally very much the same. The instinct to protect our children, the
fundamental desire to give them the best of everything has not changed since time
immemorial. The Alpha Male syndrome still very much exists except that the unit
of measure has changed. Forcing my mind back to that unfinished report which
needs to be emailed urgently I break my thoughts and focus on that mail which
should have gone long ago.
A couple of hours
later, as I stretch out and glance down at my watch wishing it to move faster, I
watch as another of those giant metal birds glides down smoothly and
effortlessly. Weary passengers wait desperately to board their flights. Despite
the best luxuries that you experience elsewhere nothing can be more comfortable
than “home” A television screen continues to inform us of the horrifying
miseries of a civil war in North East Africa, a daring Bank heist, the valiant
efforts of Doctors braving the elements and saving lives elsewhere, the
horrifying deeds of a dictatorial regime ------It seems to drive home a point. Power, Greed, fear , hunger, sacrifice …
emotions which have been around since the Stone Age, So much History has taught
us, yet we refuse to change.
Hours later my
flight lands in Chennai and as I open the door of my apartment , I hear my
daughter scream in delight on seeing me and yell “Did you buy that chocolate
for me ?” As I am stunned into silence, she sees the shocked look on my face
and turns back in disgust muttering “Not again”
I realise then
that while Everything apparently seems to have changed in reality Nothing has
changed.
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