Amid the Sea of People

In December, 2014 I was a first timer at the Airports of the world and that too, a loner :)

My first ever flight that was a long haul from New Delhi(India) via Heathrow(UK) to San Francisco(US) ended up being a 22 hour journey!

The lesser amount of time and additional 5 hours of layover at Heathrow while returning (FYI).

Well, throughout my stay at the airports and observing eyes and Curious-George attitude I collected enough time to think and view that enormous sea of People which was present there ALWAYS waving, chattering, humming, raising eyebrows, mailing, yawning and smiling!

I could see every different yet similar face present on the Earth at that particular airport of Heathrow. The only thing I could feel was how God made everyone and then their DNA replicas and then theirs?

There was not a single moment when I never wondered why humans were so good at travelling? Was it because of our hunter-gatherer yet moving past as cavemen? Or its just another tendency of human nature, to never stop for a single day?

And I mostly liked that combined attitude of people esp. when they are at airports that they are so courteous and humble. Another point that amazed me! Was there love of belonging to each other, overwhelmed like me to see so many people at once or was it just plain fear to not be rude to our likes? Or was it because we were all lonely in the crowd?

The courteousness of fellow travellers from lifting/carrying my hand carrier through escalators (as I had a non-wheeled 8 Kg cabin bag moreover I looked exhausted) or just plain funny chit chats about flight delays as well as sharing seats and paces at airport kiosks.

Remembering the chats, I bartered a brownie for a plain bagel with an 11 year old Australian girl who sat with her mother, and we talked for about 2 hours. And she kept telling me about the last christmas's presents she gave and received from her family and one Dave?

Next, the airports are so full of Duty-free shops and mall-like buzz. That gives such "places of anxiety" a calm feeling where we can smile at the glitter and prices of stuff :) I liked the presence of Toy shops, PERFUMES and plain fragrance shops, and wondered why Liquor shops's salesmen were unhappy at every airport?

After viewing people cashing up, I reckon Airports are "currency magnets". So much currency travels through them, it's like a hub of every currency.

And Lastly the so-many eating joints at one place, each next to each, tasting better than the previous one. Though I am a scared eater, I got suggestions from fellow travellers about what I wanted to eat and which joint serves better taste.

I took chances to eat Lebanese veg-wraps at Comptoir Libanais, had my coffee & brownie (same I bartered) at Apostrophe, Pizza at Strada, Baked Potatoes at Giraffe all at Heathrow (in 5 hours) !

Chocolate Salad at Firewood Cafe (SF Airport) and plain Coffee flavoured Ice cream at Haagen-Dazs (IGI Airport). All of these were suggested and tasted good.

All in all, I am amazed at human tendencies! 

IGI Airport, New Delhi