Monday, October 6, 2014

Travel tales: When I have new found respect for few politicians

When you think of travelling alone that too ferrying your one year old prankster, the only thing that comes to mind is worries and discomfort. Of course all these things are a part of any mommy's life in varying degrees, but you occasionally come across strangers who knowingly or unknowingly make your travel easier, rather fun filled at times. Same happed to me this time around.

I was scheduled for a 2hour long flight to Dharamshala with sonny dearest and knowing his tantrums, I was secretly praying for him to sleep through this haul. However as it happens always, he got in the hyperactive mode right from the moment he stepped in the airport. His routine of  running around, shrieking and befriending strangers started. We got in the line to board the flight and I spotted a familiar looking elderly gentleman standing quietly in the line. I looked closely and realized that he was Mr Shanta kumar, the senior BJP leader from the region. He was minister in central govt earlier and has held many helm positions throughout his glorious career as a politician.

He was standing there quietly waiting for his turn and this behaviour is a miracle of sorts among Indian politicos who are known to throw their weight around in public places. I stooped ahead to introduce myself and he polietly replied with many queries about my life, work, family etc. Suddenly Parth started giggling and Mr Kumar noticed the youngster, and very calmy he started talking to Parth. Now how many times have you seen a seasoned politician doing that? Parth too smiled at all his queries and for a moment these two seemed best friends around. Then i took leave of him and got in the sky bus. He got a seat while me and parth were standing. Mr Kumar immediately got up and offered his seat to us. Another glimpse of the man and his values.

Later we boarded the plane and headed to our seats. This incident left me shell shocked and i have new found respect for Indian politicians. Whatever stuff the others are made of, but Mr Kumar and his breed of politicians are keeping the mill going in India. http://t.co/oRiaEcg4lQ