Airports – The best places for people watching when you travel

For someone who writes stories, watching people is a very interesting hobby. I find it fun to observe people, the way they dress, the way they behave and generally wonder what their back stories are. I think airports are one of the best places to do this. Clichéd as it may sound, airports truly act as a melting pot. People from different countries, cultures, colours just come together. The sights and smells at the airport may be a reflection of the location but the sounds are entirely made up of the people. I remember how happy I was after 2 weeks of travelling around Europe, I finally heard Gujrati, Punjabi and Marathi during my stopover. Another memory I have is of Chennai airport where an Italian couple were fighting and quite a crowd had gathered to watch. I think the Indians were just fascinated and it broke the perception that the western world inhabitants were always very posh.

Airports are busy and people are always walking about purposefully. Well, of course, they would be. They all have flights to catch. It makes things awkward for those who are new to the place and a massive confusion when changes are made to the infrastructure. I remember when Vistara airlines began operations from T2 in Mumbai, I was travelling somewhere and a family was asking around where Vistara folks should be going. They were told to look out for a very prominent sign. Someone had parked a maintenance buggy in front of it and the sign was hidden. It was only when the staff moved the buggy, those guys knew where to go.

It is funny that I remember these incidents and have actually noticed them. If I were like some of the other travellers in a rush to leave, I would have missed out on the funny, interesting moments.