Page 168 - Musings 2021

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A Scrooge in a Summer Flight
Karthik B Nair
2017A4PS0229P

CHARACTERS

Saji

Air Hostess

Jose

SETTING

Passengers are crowding the long aisleway of the plane, struggling to find their seats and
putting their hand baggage in the overhead bins. One by one, they settle down, and the only
sound is of a baby crying somewhere in the front. Saji, a tall man in his early forties comes in
with a black briefcase and settles down in the only empty seat left to be occupied. He is well
dressed, with a blazer in his arms and giant round spectacles which are on the brink of falling
off his nose. He puts on his seatbelt and rests his suitcase on his lap.

BEGIN.

Air Hostess: (halts near Saji’s seat) "Sir, shall I keep your suitcase in the overhead bin?”

Saji: "No, I would prefer to keep it with me.”

Air Hostess: (looking puzzled) "Sure sir, no problem.”

(The air hostess proceeds to move towards the front of the plane ensuring everyone has their
seat belts on and starts to present the safety guidelines as mandated.)

Saji: (turns to the man sitting to his left) “Hi, I’m Saji. Do you mind if I turn on all three
overhead air vents? It’s hot in here!”

Jose: “No issues, go ahead. And my name is Jose.”

(Jose takes out a sudoku and gets engrossed in it while Saji stretches and turns on the air
vents. The parents in the front somehow manage to put their baby to sleep after all the crying.
There is silence in the plane as it takes off except for a crumpling noise to the right of Jose.
He turns to see Saji to see him pocketing the packet of earphones the airplane provides.)

Saji: “These are the standard airplane ones; I was hoping for the ones with earbuds!”

Jose: (taken aback but politely) “Are we supposed to take those with us? I’m sorry, but isn’t
that stealing?”

Saji: “No, as a matter of fact, it’s okay to take them. The airplane never asks you to keep it
back, do they? They don’t clean and reuse the earphones. They just throw these away and

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