Six Inches of Separation

Thousands of feet above ground and miles away from those that matter to us. In this high and long journey, we are only inches away from someone we have never met before and probably will never ever meet again. The 6 inches of separation between the 2 of us is more than just distance between adjacent seats. I cannot resist thinking the relevance of the fellow passenger in our life for those few hours.    

Air travel might be exciting for few. But after having traveled for a while, I am too tired to get into the plane and spend helpless hours staring at the seat in front or gazing at the sea of clouds. I do not mind traveling by road as I can have control over my actions and am free. However, on a flight, I would be clueless as I am stuck in mid air with no option but to make most of what I have. No Superman, Spiderman or miracle is going to come to my rescue. The only people who might help are the flight crew who has the responsibility of all passengers and probably my fellow passengers. But do I even know this passenger?   

All types of people have accompanied me on such journeys. Different age groups, different races, different sexes, different social statuses and even different personalities have shared those 6 inches of separation with me. I am always ready to understand this next seat neighbor. I have learnt that these people tell a lot about the world we live in. Lot of topics are discussed and talked with people around you. These talks become great discussions since there is nothing at stake and people express themselves freely. A fellow passenger is someone from whom you can learn a lot; about life experiences, different views and also about different cultures.   

In my few years of air travel, I have been engaged on several topics of discussion with these fellow passengers. I remember a middle aged woman who discussed religion with me for couple of hours. She and I discussed Christianity and Hinduism and their messages. I learned a lot about their religion in those couple of hours than ever before in my life. I am sure that I influenced her thinking about Hindu religion as we both shared our thoughts and experiences. On similar lines, a European guy who had been traveling was keen on knowing about India and the sub-continent in general. At the end of those brief 45 minutes discussion, he was all set to plan his next trip to India. He also educated me on his trip to Africa and South America. Once, I met an old man who knew more than 10 languages and was sharing his experiences about how he was motivated to learn so many languages. I became a zealous fan of that 60+ year old man. I did teach him few words of marathi (he already knew little bit of hindi).   

Along with these culturally diverse discussions, I had few global discussions with few enthusiasts as well. As I was browsing through the WSJ, my fellow passenger couldn’t help peeping in. This was a good enough ice breaker for us and for the next few hours, we were debating over economic policies of the US and UN. Several ideas were put forth and although we didn’t change the world in those hours, we certainly gained good knowledge about people’s perception towards current Global economy. Another hot topic around global awareness has been global warming. Few students in my flight were discussing the polar melting and Al Gore’s documentary. It is an interesting topic in which everyone agrees about global warming but noone is ready to change his/ her own life to help slow down the process.   

In the recent times, passengers are looked upon with suspicion as well. Even the sanest person in this high fly journey is wary about the co passengers. In the light of events like 911 and other crazy hostage situations, every person on the flight is on high alert about their fellow passenger. Recently, I heard a case where a passenger raised an alarm when she saw her fellow passenger reading a book that had the word “Crash”. The fellow passenger turned out to be some official who was reading some work related notes. My discussions about terrorism are the most passionate. Although this is a very sensitive topic on an aircraft, I have seen that everyone has a unanimous opinion and stand.

The journey in the pressure controlled capsule where passengers cannot do much, provide a conducive environment for sharing thoughts, experiences and more without getting distracted. Some passengers are more willing to talk than others. But you will find someone who is ready to share their story. Everyone has a story to tell and you can relate to or contribute your few cents to every story you hear. There is always a “you” hidden in all those stories or discussions and in a weird way, you can relate to this stranger on the flight. 

Are we truly related to this stranger? Does the 6 inches of separation symbolize the 6 degrees of separation?

I wonder!!