Human behavior is interesting to watch and to sometimes analyse.. Only watching or only analyzing, takes the steam away from the very act of it. Often the places that gives a good view of human behavior are the ones that are not really crowded, but have enough people to give us a paisa for our thoughts ?

I was at the airport to undertake a trip (along with a friend of mine). One that is a monumental one for me. I had feelings of nervousness, apprehension, joy and excitement amongst many others. I was ready with a few books, some discourses I wanted to listen to and minutes of conversations to have with my friend, to occupy my time. Little did I realise that what was going to occupy my time was ‘people watching’. Some of the watching I could not help but analyze; while some it was just watching. Without much further ado, here begins my ‘people watching’ sharing (sounds like a speech doesn’t it? ?)). My Perspectives, as in most of my blogs, will be in a bold font.

All our nervousness and anxiety is only till we begin an activity. The moment we are a few minutes underway, we begin to relax. I began to relax too – when I went to for security check. As we were being checked in, in walks this tall lady, dressed in a resplendent blue saree, worn in the Maharashtrian style. Her hair was tied up in a knot, with flowers wound around the knot. From afar, she seemed to also have nose rings of the Maharashtrian style too. She though did not look Indian to me. She was graceful, there was an ease and comfort in her attire and she was carrying herself so beautifully. The only question that rang in my mind was – where did she have the time to dress up like this and come to the airport at 4 AM? I did not think beyond this not because I did not want to but because, my check in began..

With almost two and a half hours to board the flight, there was sufficient time to walk around, do some window shopping and watch more ?

The first place to window shop was an artifact shop. Innumerable artifacts were on display which looked attractive enough. Some of them triggered a desire to buy – especially the magnets that depict India. Well, I clutched the zip of my sling bag tightly, resisting any small trigger of a desire to buy anything, for a multitude of reasons that don’t get specified here ?. I just thought that it would be good to see these magnets being sold in shops outside of the airport, at a reasonable price also. This would make some memorable gifts to give to people from other countries.

A foreigner (not sure which country she was from) was going around the shop. A staff from the shop was accompanying her (also explaining a bit about the products), with a basket in his hand and whatever she chose to buy, he would put it into the basket. She looked hale and healthy and could certainly carry a basket carrying a few things, so why is he accompanying her carrying everything? We too were walking around the shop for a good fifteen minutes. No one approached us to explain anything. Is it because we are fellow Indians and we were expected to know about the many things that are displayed there; and so no explanations are needed for us? Hmmmn, as I am writing this, my eye goes back to the term ‘window shop’ that is in the previous paragraph – is it because many of us Indians walk around the shop, just to look around (due to a curiosity or to while away the time) and hence the people working in the shop feel that it is not worth expending their energy explaining all this? Well, for all that they know, we may recommend an object that was appealing in the shop, to someone who may buy it when they go to the airport (be it that the someone is an Indian or a non resident Indian or a foreigner). Those of us walking in to the shop (for whatever the reason maybe) are still therefore the influencers for future customers, aren’t we? ?

Parents traveling with their young children, were quite a few. Though most parents were traveling as a couple, some of them were just the mothers’ with their child. Most of the children (who I saw) could have been anywhere between a few months to seven  years. There was one of the kids was shouting out aloud frequently, to his ‘constantly on his feet’ father. The mother was on her mobile watching something. No hushing the child and no engaging the child by either of them, but just ‘free parenting’ (you do what you want and we do what we want)?. Looks like all other styles of parenting have stepped aside to make room for the ‘free parenting style’ for this couple ?. A point in time when I felt happy that I have gone past this stage of travelling with young children in tow; though I could not help but empathize with the parents, of the exhausting task of handling children and traveling.

Out of all that I watched, this one took the cake for me – This young couple walked out of the book store at the airport, and sat in a table close to where we were sitting. I am generally curious about anyone who walks with a book in their hand – more curious about the book than the person ?. And that’s the book lover speaking!!! The gentleman had opened to the acknowledgement page – a page that he was reading and reading and reading. I could not help but crane my neck to see what is it that he was reading for so long, in that page. I could see a diagram and a few lines of printed matter and that was all. This made me curiouser. So I kept glancing at the table, discretely (or so I thought). My eyes first went to the page he was reading and then to him. He would look at the page for a few seconds, then look out around him, for more seconds. At times, he would look down and his eyelids would droop. The page did not turn at all, for a good half hour. Ah!! The early hour travel effect!!

Time just flies when I am busy ‘people watching’. So much to watch and so much to learn ?