MIDDLE
Eyes and Ears

sometimes in our travels we come across strange companions. here was this american, a burly figure occupying the seat next to mine in the flight from washington to frankfurt. his demeanour made me suspect a stiff upper lip, but i was proved wrong. he opened the conversation inquiring where i came from. from india, said i, but he did not seem to grasp.i repeated my answer several times wondering whether my pronunciation was at fault. i then realised that he was hard of hearing. i took out a piece of paper and wrote, i am from india. are you a muslim? came the next question. i could not understand the relevance of the question. certainly i did not look like one. and when i conveyed that i was not one, he seemed to be at ease. what is more, he opened up. he is 91. he has flown supplies to casablanca, calcutta and other regions during world war ii. he had been to the taj along with his wife who was a top model of that era. she is around 85 with a perfect figure and still looked beautiful. looking at her eyes, i could not fathom that she was nearly blind. the eyes looked perfect. but when her husband, with shaky hands tried to feed his beloved with a trembling spoon, it was a sermon to me on the impermanence of beauty, health and even fame. the plane had started two hours late because of a thunderstorm. consequently there seemed to be delays and the meals were served late. my american friend was getting restless. and he gesticulated angrily to the air hostesses who did not or could not pay proper attention. the elderly lady was getting fidgety too. the lousiest flight we were ever in, she commented. conversation became difficult. however, i managed to smile a lot and wrote out words of encouragement on bits of paper. i succeeded to such an extent that the old lady remarked, you are a lovely person. our children don't care for us, she lamented when the talk turned to children. she has a son who is worth $81 million, added the husband. the son, it turned out, has married a lady who could not stand her mother-in-law. she is a devil and does not like to see us around. the former model, now the mother-in-law, threw more light on the cause of their misfortune. don't you believe in a god who cares for you even though your children won't? with that question i tried to fathom their faith life. it was partly an attempt on my part to deflect their attention to the brighter side of things. after all, grumbling would not help. the husband was quick with his answer: i am a heathen. but she goes to church every sunday. meanwhile, the hearing aid had dropped from his ear, and i bent down the aisle to retrieve the same. i am her eyes and she is my ears, commented the former pilot in a country known for divorces.