Eric, an Indian born to an English mother and an Indian father was intoxicated. As he made his way down the aisle of the plane, I could only hope he would not sit beside me. But the stars weren’t on my side, as my seat mate for the next four and a half hours struggled to put his bags in the overhead compartment above my head. It was going to be a long flight.
At this point, any remaining energy I had evaporated. I just wanted to get to Mumbai and go to sleep. I knew though it would be hours before I could rest. Sleeping was the only thing I wanted to do on my flight. Eric had other plans. He rambled on about his life as a teacher in China, his British girlfriend and other trivial matters. Of course all of this was in between harassing the flight attendant, calling for more alcoholic beverages and hitting on me. Much to my surprise the time went quickly and the next thing I knew I was looking for Sonalee amongst the faces at the waiting gate in Mumbai.