My recollection of Air India was that of the Maharajah Mascot with the fat belly & the warm smile! I boarded the flight and saw slim Indian guys with white shirts with bars on it & I had the impression that they might be the tech crew...They spoke to the passengers with that authority on their tone of voice. 'Sir, step aside and let the people on ur back pass thru'. No please no sorry. That was the beginning. When one got a vegan meal, he got angry and said 'I paid for this?' The steward replied with a 'Hey, Ur meal is complimentary, you paid for sitting here!' A resonating silence followed. I hate our Airline! All the squatting down & showers of sorrys.. A PPS came up with a blog that tells you all about how to scare a SQ robot with a hump to get what you want: First class amenities and all the crap u cud get from a plane. Its not much for us but then, hey if one gets a phenyl for free they d drink it.

I must say AI was generous in giving us a plastic meal..Haha! But I was the only girl wearing a heel & I look like a foreigner so I got the free blanket & a pillow (unsolicited of course, coz i wont dare ask them for anything after) & got served before a lot of confused passengers who were wondering when are they getting their meal. The flirting that followed was 'whao, too direct, too upfront & on your face!' Actually frightened me.

I wanted to finish a book but I had to pretend that I was sleeping. And it did get me sleeping. Like we used to do when we were kids...to avoid the 'have u washed ur face? the mud is all over ur hair & whats that u re holding? yikes, an earthworm!, dont kiss ur doll too much, u re making her bald!' went on & on. I feign asleep esp when dad comes to my bed with a cloth to wave off the mosquitoes from my net. And sometimes, i feel the pressure of holding my breath while he lingers a min or too to watch me sleep. I was his favorite child. My brothers hated me when I got away with anything i did. I love the Timex dad hid for me. I kept it until it cudnt fit on my wrist anymore. Parents must ve wished their kids never grew up.

I was talking to my frens the other day. We started from the Origins of the Aryans. How wikipedia created a different story..We argued how during that period there wasnt any changes either in the architecture, the weapons, the potteries etc etc. Invasions usually brings out a chain reaction. The mughals brought a lot to the then Bharat that spread way thru now indonesia, thailand & malaysia. They have temples of the Hindu deities more than in mainland indus. When I saw the huge serpent with the demons on one side & the demi gods on the other squeezing the Amrit, at the subrabraraaaaaaa airport(forgot the spelling) I was pretty surprised. Statues of Hanuman, Ram or Ravan were evrywhere.

Caste system which was one major deal in Hinduism started from a very simple ideal: Those who can read & write literature became the Brahmins, those who wont quiver while slashing am enemy during war became the Kshatriyas, the protector of the country, the third were the Vaishyas, the one who does the calculation, forcasts & does the math...Followed by the Sudra, the lowest in the caste. Pankaj really had excellent choice of words when he said 'The sudras did those work which the higher three caste didnt have time to do: clean, sweep, mob' The Sudras were the untouchables.

But it was a simple division of labour. The reason why inter caste mix of blood was a No No was because of the fear of losing the purity of their genes. Well, a warrior's son can only be bred in that environment of sword skills & various display of bravery and not in brahmin's family. That was their simple reasoning. It followed generations & generations of the Hooha on equality. The first women who became the first IPS officer in India actually became a celebrity...Indian guys are chauvinists, they think a woman whose main reason for living is to nurture will hesitate when she raise her sword against her enemy's throat. I see the point, women would think twice before drawing first blood. But I also think mothers when they ve kids to loose can become hell's fury...we have the best example of the one woman who stood with her feet on Lord Shiva...Goddess Kali. She is my fav goddess. Dark, angry, naked wearing just a garland of skulls on her neck and her feet on the God of destroyer!