Apropos (as they say in letter to the editor) to the recent dancing around of the crew in an airline to celebrate Holi- I am not complaining. Being inside an aircraft when it is on air is still one of the less pleasant experiences of life. My terror mounts when there are air pockets. And as for flying times, I generally prefer the day to the night, at least I can see where the flight is headed. Given recent happenings in the airline industry, my discomfort only multiplies manifold. I have a fixed set of prayers I say every time I board a flight. And each time I land I feel like Pope John Paul II, wanting to kiss the ground of the country/city where I land.
That aside, I am all for in-house entertainment though not of the type that Ram Rao Adik once demanded. Remember him? After his behaviour on a flight he was branded Rum Row Addict.
Now that a Holi dance will become de rigueur on flights, here are some more festivals/events that may interest airlines.
January – Mattu Pongal with Jalli Kattu between the aisles
February – Valentines Day – recorded speeches of Bal Thackeray will be played.
March – Holi/Rama Navami Bhajanai with panakam, neer more.
April – Good Friday with a makeshift altar and prayers (for five years, after which Tamil New Years day will take over for the next five years)
May – Akshaya Trithiyai – giving away of hand fans, slippers and curd rice to the passengers
June – Rath Yatra – we can drag a chariot between the aisles with Hare Rama Hare Krishan group in front. Turnaround in cockpit and tail.
July – Adi Perukku – giving mixed rice in packets to all passengers. Koozhu padaithal by crew boiling the gruel in wood fired stoves and offering to Mariyamman. Dance with LR Easwari devotionals.
August – plenty of events – Uriyadi for Gokulashtami, followed by Ganpati Bappa Morya for Vinayaka Chaturthi. Special attraction – immersion of deities from the aircraft
September – Garba dance down the aisles, as also Kummi for Navaratri
October – Dipavali – free distribution of new clothes, oil and sheeka packets and then bursting of crackers on air. Lehyam for those who feel sick. Also Soorasamharam in Tamilnadu bound flights with KBS/Ramani Ammal/Soolamangalam Sisters music.
November – Lighting of lamps all along aircraft for Karthikai deepam. In house music only Om Namasivaya by SPB.
December – Margazhi Masa Bhajanai. Sabha on air can also be an option.
what about Holi ?
Holy Moses !! Just imagine the chaos with the colours floating everywhere…blinding the crew ..the coloured water drenching everyone…and a little overdose of Bhang…and the Flight would turn out to be literally tipsy!! And what if someone makes a bee line into the cockpit……. Imagination boggles !! Egad !!!
I was talking about things which could have taken place – other than the dance that took place on Spice Jet !! May be the name Spice Jet says it all!! Add some spice to life:)))))))))))))))))))))))
In my view, it was another occasion for the restless sort in India who are known to pick up any celebration (as they did with New year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day) to have a silly, willy nilly, wild, jolly old time.
Sriram,
You must have dreamed up all the above aerial celebrations to kill time during a recent flight, reluctant as you are to travel by air.
rathOtsavam has been a ritual since the inception of commercial flights: Food carts and Duty Free ones making trips from cockpit to tail several times during a flight, mini paper umbrellas included at times pre-meal hour.
uriyaDi without fail, passengers scrambling to reach the overhead cabins to retrieve their luggage.
SivarAtri and vaikuNTa EkAdaSi for the crew and many passengers in every flight!
And the line for morning ablutions on international flights reminiscent of TTD lines 😉
nityOtsavam in every flight!