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The Flight of the Hajis
19 January 2007
Palolem, Goa, India
There are two ways a country can be classified, at least in terms of budget backpacker accommodation: countries with hostels that provide toilet paper, and countries that don't. India is, definitely, a BYOTP kind of place! Even paying over US$20 per night in the beach-front cabana we've taken here in Goa, we're sent to the shop for personal conveniences of the sort.
Today is the sixth day we've spent in India so far, and there is actually quite a lot to relate. Fortunately, we're doing very little these days, so we have time to catch up on the old journal!
Our first experience with India, it could be said, took place on Gulf Air Flight 56, from the Kingdom of Bahrain to the city of Mumbai. Nearly half the passengers were Indian Hajis – Muslims who have completed the pilgrimage to Mecca. Most of them seemed to have never seen an airplane before, and there is no question that very few of them had actually flown in one! This caused their behavior to be rather strange. For example, whenever there was an announcement on the PA system to remain seated, fasted your seatbelt, etc., they would simultaneously rise and search for something in the overhead bin. Another example of their curious behavior was that, for some reason, about 10 people all wanted the same seat, which happened to be next to a young mother and directly in front of our seats. It took an extended and animated discussion to convince them that assigned seating was a reality, and still, occasionally a small group would attempt to take the seat from the young mother's companion.
The most troubling part of this flight, though, was neither turbulence nor threat of terrorism. No, what unsettled us most was that most of the Hajis carried with them a cough that seemed certain to cut their lives short, if not end it outright! An old woman who sat near us arrived in Mumbai alive, which in our opinion is no small miracle! Whether or not the cough was a symptom of some communicable disease, we still don't know. All our hope rested with the Gulf Air staff – they wouldn't let a group of people who were carrying a contagious disease fly, would they?
At one point in the flight, a woman seated behind Liza – the same one who survived the flight by the grace of Allah – began to stroke Liza's hair. When we both turned around and looked at her, trying to convey something like, “What are you doing?”, she simply continued, offering a weak smile!
At any rate, we arrived safely, and neither of us seem to have any signs of illness! What we do have is the story of The Flight of the Hajis, which, like a virus, will be with us for the rest of our lives!