Window seats have always held a great fascination for me whether in a car, a bus, a train or a plane.
As a child I would watch the city whiz past me in the car. As a teenager the grilled window of the train was not just for viewing the passing scenery but also for buying the ‘kuladh-waali chai’, tasty pakoras and fruits from stations on the way. On the bus to college, the window seat was a key prize. If you kept your bag smartly just by your side on your right, then you could be safe from those ‘falling’ men- Ugh. On the plane, it’s the shapes of the clouds from the little airplane window that first caught my imagination. When older I was mesmerised by the birds’ eye view of cities during landing and take-off. But that was my phase of near-innocent bliss.
Windows now bring to me a mix of joy and anxiety. No longer do I want to be looking out of the car window straight into the eyes of the young 8-year old trying valiantly to sell fashion magazines or books, or dusting cloths or other sundry household items. Still it is better that him or her not selling anything. No longer do I want to leave the grilled train-window open for fear of someone snatching a bag. But mainly its the fact that on a train journey now I would find myself travelling the ‘AC Class’ where the window-glass cannot be lifted. I often wonder can a train journey be the same when you can not smell the earth after a rain shower or feel the wind blowing gently across your face. But then do I miss it enough to put myself in a cramped and bound-to-be-sweaty non-AC compartment? I’m still trying to decide…
No longer do I aim for the window seat by default on a plane. On some long-haul flights, the prospect of being blocked in a corner with a random person next to you is not that pleasant. Another big advantage of the aisle seat is that if your neighbour is sneezing or sniffling, you can turn sideways and breathe! I can see the check-in crew sometimes eyeing me strangely when I ask for an aisle seat. They are probably thinking- she doesn't really need a lot of leg space does she?! I have even been asked by tall-ish fellow passengers sometimes if I would swap seats with them. Cheeky I think! But I do oblige sometimes when people ask me nicely enough, and they don’t look like they have the flu!
But one thing that I never valued highly enough was being able to get a window seat in the hot and humid environment of Mumbai city. And this I witnessed recently in the rush for one on the ‘Office Shuttle Buses’. I was amazed, to see the extent people were willing to go, to grab their ‘special’ window seat. I’ve now seen folk clock out a few minutes early and walk briskly for 10 minutes up a (very!) busy road to hop onto the bus before it enters the little street with the designated pick-up point. I wonder if they realise that the bus being quite big and non-crowded is actually pretty airy wherever you sit, especially at this time of the year.
I must add to this the ‘window-seat’ of an autorickshaw. In theory there is no ‘window’ as most autos are open both sides. But it is possibly one of the worst ‘window-like openings’ to be subjected to in a chaotic Indian city. Depending on which city you are in, you may or may not face hawkers or beggars but you will certainly face those awful fumes from tempos, trucks, buses, cars and most of all other autos! You will also hear the screeching brakes and swearing drivers without the cushioned dampening of sound that an air-conditioned car brings.
Having said all that, I think I’m still partial to window seats but I won’t be hasty about jumping into one without some quick mental calculations involving these all-important parameters- mode, surroundings, journey, company, time of day, weather and most of all nostalgia!
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