Conversations at Heathrow...

Last Monday I went to one of the most fascinating places on Earth (in my humble opinion): Heathrow Airport.

I was at Terminal 3 to see off my housemate and friend. He was going back to India forever.

It is always an emotional moment when people are leaving UK forever. People with whom you have shared the best and worst of times. In my 4-5 years here in UK I have gone to Heathrow to see off people only 5 times.

This is the first time I have seen someone off on my own. All other times there were people with me. So this time I was all alone after leaving my friend. All alone on the bus ride back to Bristol.

To be honest, this time I enjoyed the most. This time the emptyness was complete. The pain was minimum. This time there was no hope. No expectations.

I was sleeping most of the way back. Got down at Bristol and like a robot made my way back home in the rain.


The reason I find Heathrow fascinating is because you see all kinds of people there doing all kinds of stuff! Well dressed people rushing to catch shuttle flights to continental European, parents dragging their kids behind them attempting to catch their budget flights to Dubai and Egypt. The sexy looking cabin crew girls all decked out whatever time of the day or night, reporting for their flights. It is all there... the drama of human life. Peoplewatching at Heathrow is always a fascinating experience.

A visit to Heathrow is also like looking through the windows of a prison cell into the world outside. You know that your loved ones are just an 8 hour flight away. You see people clutching their tickets, queing in front of the check in desk. Their minds are already at their destinations. You see a quick smile, a twinkle in the eye and an air of expectation. If a person is looking dull and sleepy you can be sure they are travelling on business!

As all this was happening around me and my friend we started talking about the past. Mostly about the people we met and my friend was talking about his experiences in UK. What we realised was that you never can really understand a person because circumstances determine how people react. It is only will power and morals which prevent a person from bending to the circumstances. Unfortunately only a few people in our combined experience, seemed to have the required willpower and morals to stand up to circumstances. Rest all changed like anything depending on circumstances.

In the end maybe it is all about life. The way Heathrow airport is a place where you can see life flowing like water around you, maybe the same way circumstances are flowing around us in our respective lives. Some people get swept away in the flow and some people manage to fight it.
The same way some people get swept up into the crowd at Heathrow and vanish through the departure gates into their waiting flights.. perhaps never to return.. and others surface through this flow of life and head back towards the coast, all alone.

:)