A Facebook post titled ‘Flying High with Newly Weds’, a cynical take by a sixty something flyer on a newlywed couple’s antics on a flight, lead me to write this post. Just to give you a little bearing of where I am coming from, this gentleman was sitting next to this couple and has poked fun at the goings-on during the flight, no there was nothing untoward or ‘mile high club like’ it was just stuff like mutual adoration, pulling out the longest noodle from their cup noodles competition etc. that he has commented upon and seriously doubted that these sentiments would last more than a couple of years.

This lead me to want to share my flying experiences as a couple. My partner and I have made dozens of flight trips together and to disappoint that cynical writer, the narrative has remained pretty much the same. Yes there is that wee bit of tension while locking the house and getting to the airport as I am happy go lucky to an extreme and he more circumspect about locking the house, needing to check things like the gas mains being switched off, the windows and doors being secured, not once but multiple times. He also likes to get to the airport three hours in advance, I resisted this for a few years fearing that the journeys were as it is so long and that this just added to them, therefore unnecessarily exhausting us further, but he has now won me over with the argument that the earlier we go to the airport , the earlier our holiday starts and I am now a convert to his way of thinking. What also helped is getting an Airport Lounge Membership, so its truly relax time, once we get through immigration and security.

The fun starts at the check-in counter itself, in more recent times, having web checked in and being at the airport three hours in advance we sail through check inn, this post is not about the minor skirmishes that we have faced at this stage thanks to incompetent staff so I need not elaborate on them. Then we head for immigration, we always go to the immigration guy together, yes they are mostly guys, the only time that I recollect the immigration officer being a lady was at Dubai Airport. We have a little chat with him, if he is so inclined, we have left most immigration officers, if not laughing, at the least smiling in our wake. Then it is off to security, we unfortunately have to separate ways for a bit, I always say a cheery Hello to the officer and stand like a scarecrow with my arms out at the sides for the body check and invariably get a compliment for being such a good subject. We then unite like long lost lovers and just as we reach the duty free shops, I let out a loud whoop, this whoop is unchanged over all the years, and even though I write of it here it is absolutely spontaneous. Then we head to eat/ lounge and get on the flight. When the configuration is such that there would be someone sitting alongside us, we get on the flight with some trepidation. Over the years I realized that rather than thinking of this person as the enemy, he or she should be befriended and since then, I have taught many a bucolic ‘Bebe’ (old lady) who would be petrified of the journey to relax, sit back, on occasion on her being willing to have a drink, Bailey’s is always a hit, and watch the TV. For us, her guffaws thereafter on the Hindi comedy she is watching simply add to our romance.

Now, about us love birds. On takeoff, we hitherto unreligious types, do say a prayer for a safe flight and another chanceless holiday.

The discussion about how many movies we are going to watch starts weeks before taking the flight, once we get on the first thing we do is check-out the movies, we then have a discussion over these and yes (fanfare) we must watch all movies in unison, so they are timed or when necessary paused while the other gets there as we want to have the identical flight experience. We hold hands, laugh and cry together. Then comes the discussion on the drinks and food, this is painstaking, yes we could well be in a Michelin star restaurant. The wine bottle is stared at to see if it is any good, the juice quality is considered and then the same drink is ordered, my partner will as at home land up feeding a part of his snack to me, cause I have gobbled mine up fast and he lovingly wants to feed me his. Drinks are matched, jokes are cracked with the air hostess, she is always ready to supply us whatever and whenever but other than getting even happier we have never drunk ourselves silly on a flight nor would we encourage anyone else to.

Now, starts the tango as two hours into the flight our hearty size and its infringing on the others space becomes more obvious, my partner sleeps more easily, so on occasion I will let him sprawl into my chair and go and stand in another quiet cabin so that he can spread out and have a good sleep, these days, as we invariably go on road trips and he has to start driving the moment he lands in a foreign country, letting him sleep is probably selfish rather than benevolent on my part. But, now I come to the most romantic part of my journey, it is when I need to use the loo, till date, not a flight has gone by, when he does not first clean the entire loo and only then let me enter, this act for me is the most romantic act of all, on these journeys and yes, it makes me feel like a queen and makes me think of him as an Olympic gold medalist.

Let’s hope love is in the air, again, soon.