Alisha Coelho: An air of uncertainty!

The first flight I took was from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai. There's precious little I can tell you about that experience ufffd I was less than a year old, but my mother says I was an angel. She means I slept right through. Since then I've looked forward to air travel with some anticipation. That might have changed a bit after last week.

I've been on several flights between UAE and India since then. And Shashi Tharoor was right about economy.

The flights from the Gulf were always packed. There were families of five with screaming children and oversized luggage. There were blue-collared workers clutching onto their passports tightly and waiting to ask the passenger with a pen if they could help them fill out their immigration forms in English. Passengers jumped out of their seats the moment the plane landed and it was customary for my mother to shout at the over eager man in the aisle seat to watch his suitcase before it hit her head.

They might have unbuckled their seat belts and jumped up as soon as the craft touched the runwayu00a0
Everyone on that plane was excited to get out of the craft. For families it was time for a holiday, a break from the nine-to-five drudgery that ensured that they could eat and the children remained in school. The blue-collared worker was perhaps looking forward to three meals a day and a chance to get away from the tiny bunker he called home and shared with 10, maybe 20 other men.

I'm not taking those flights as often nowadays, but any one of those passengers from years ago could have been on the Mangalore flight last week. They had weddings to attend, families to meet and holidays to enjoy.

They made several requests for blankets, booze and vegetarian meals. They lined up 1in the aisle for the toilet. They might have even unbuckled their seat belts and jumped up as soon as the craft touched the runway. Only that the aircraft ladder never came.

It's a reporter's job to read and sometimes, to deal with tragedy every day. So that 159 people were dead didn't bother me as much as thinking about how eager those passengers might have been when the plane finally began its descent. It also fills me with trepidation about my next plane trip, which will be soon enough.u00a0 Maybe I'll take the train. But oh, wait.