The Vistara flight from Delhi to Bhubaneswar left on time and was full from front to the back. The local MP (Member of the Parliament) was travelling wearing his characteristic Saffron dress. I have seen him earlier on a Delhi bound flight. The man has gained age, but politicians are ageless.
Groggy with jet lag, I dozed off with my head drooping sideward, as the Airhostess politely woke me - "Veg or Nonveg Sir ?" (Non vegetarians is the term used for those who eat meat, fish or eggs, tantamount to meat eaters, fishitarians or eggtarians in US)." I am pure non Veg", I almost uttered.
Bumping into strangers and tete a tete with them can be interesting. Once travelling alone on a flight to Bhubaneswar, I intitiated a conversation with the a guy next to me conspicuously scanning "The Economics Times". I queried him what brought him to Bhubaneswar. He was on a short trip to reach out to organic farming which he envisions as a potential future money spinner. Odisha offered him some virgin avenues.
During the course of our conversation the amateur farmer in me asked him certain aspects of farming, which I expected from a person with prospective farming interest. But he turned out to be a novice, sounding more of an investor on a hunt for big bucks and ready for the kill, not to nurture the nature, akin to a soldier who had never set foot on the battle field.
Back to present, just 30 minutes away from landing, the roaring big bird lowered itself whizzing below the clouds, enabling me to take a peek outside to get a Bird's eye view of the rivulets meandering through the gray undulating land down below. The green waves of undulating Eastern Ghats was taking shower of morning sunlight. River Mahanadi bed was dry, its patches of water less flowing, more looking like giant poodles, a labyrinth of Oasis amist golden brown sand under a slightly hazy sky.
Just before the flight landed I had one of the rarest sights of my life, similar to the Johny Walker Blue Level Scotch made from the blend of the rarest of the rarest of the Whiskys. It's the unique bird's eye view of the areas of Bhubaneswar I am familiar and grew with. Every other year I fly over Bhubaneswar, sadly I see more concrete and asphalt, less green foliage on this urban jungle. Way too many skyrises are a growing environmental concerns - gonna to bite this city sooner or later.
How contrasting is the warms eye view of the sky from the ground to the bird's eye view from the top. It makes me understand the meaning of the phrase "Down To Earth". When it all seems you are on top of the world, in minutes you are back on the ground. So are the vagaries of life. How much and how high you fly you have to come down one day, similar to the fate of airplane at 39000 feet is destined to land.
I was welcomed by a hot and muggy Bhubaneswar weather, though it was not as bad as it had been during my recent summer visits. I rolled over the windows to take a view of the city where I spent my childhood and youth, savoring the sights of the millieu, as vehicles yonked their way through in a zizzag manner.
The breeeze breezing through the window caressed me, drying off the beads of sweat swelling on my chin and forehead. Apparently, the old law of Physics "Evaporation caused cooling" still holds good.
As I stepped out of the vehicle in from of our house, a burst of breeze from South-West made the strangs of hanging green mangoes swung like pendulum. A little birdie on the branch was on a Twitting spree which would have given Donald Trump run for money - " Tweetwoo... tweetwoo...tweetwoo..", without bothering about the 40 character limit.
Couple of mongrels seeing new faces in the block gaped at us for a while before melting away chasing each other's tail. A lunch of Mahaprasad (Great offering) and a jet lagged sleep was waiting on me. More later...
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