How far I have come.

In my childhood, travelling (air) was all about what all we can take from the aircraft. The stainless steel knives and forks were carefully wiped and wrapped in  tissue after each meal, those little sachets of salt and pepper, those tiny packets of jams were all squirrelled  away to be taken home. We even took the blankets from the aircraft. Amma loved serving visitors juice ( aka Rasna) in  Singapore airlines glasses. It showed the visitor that we are no dookily mallus. As I grew older, I collected wine bottles. ( wine was too expensive in Malaysia and I loved cooking pasta sauce in wine. I still do, but now a days I often end up with few opened bottles of  wine left over from each party I host and I don’t like to drink stale wine, so I use them for cooking ). I remember the time I was flying from Mumbai to London and the flight was delayed. We were given food vouchers and I was so excited to eat free food.

My flight to Antarctica was delayed for 4 hours due to engine troubles and the passengers had to disembark and wait. Qantas offered 15$ food voucher. I didn’t even collect mine. I preferred to sit in the Qantas lounge ( the benefits of being a frequent flier !) and read my book. Qantas lounge too served a decent breakfast, I looked at the array of cereals, fresh fruits and pancake and I didn’t feel the excitement I felt the time I was given a food voucher many many years ago. I took a cup of coffee.

They say age does that to you.

A man’s age is something impressive, it sums up his life:  maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves.  A man’s age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry