Last evening while I was performing the ritual of “Cleaning the apartment”, the CSI Vegas guys went on to investigate a murder in air. Interesting and thought provoking episode it was.
Situation – Few people were travelling in flight, first class allocation. Suddenly, a guy behind another traveller, starts kicking the back of his seat hard, really hard. Loosing patience, the traveller in receiving end, gets up and starts raising his voice against the kicking passenger. The kicker, not explaining reasons for his action, yells, screams, pushes anyone and everyone blocking his way, refuses to listen to airhostess and others, bangs the door of cockpit and finally, tries to open the exit of the flight which still flies high at 30,000 feet. And what happens next - the in-evitable. Nearly 4-5 passengers, pulls him away from the exit door, brings him down and as a reflex, all of them starts stamping him at the back. Unfortunately, the guy who should have been just tamed and hurt ends up dying, because of the stamping and his fragile medical condition.
CSI comes in and cracks the case, adjudging that all 5 passengers travelling along with the victim as guilty. (It is revealed later that the victim was suffering from severe medical condition making him go frenetic). However the passengers eventually left free on the grounds of self-defence. Our CSI team end up divided in their opinion on the verdict. Couple of investigators vouched that they might have done the same as the other passengers did, while the others insisted “A murder is a murder; be it self-defence or not, accused should be punished”
Well, I am asking self; was the verdict justified? What will I do, if I were in that flight? What will I do when my scared child is nearby me while a fanatic tries to open the door of a vessel, flying 30,000 feet high?
Here comes a very grey area – a thin line – a line between right and wrong – a line between should and should not - a line between survival and humanity. May be all 5 of those passengers and airhostess left free of charge against murder, but they know they had other options than stamping him down; they know that they could have tied him to a seat and given him some water and made him speak; they know that they could have been more humans than hooligans. And that’s what I would have loved to do if I was in their shoes; but what actually would have happened – I have no clue. So will many.
But this is a thoughtful story – a lesson in crisis management – do not loose your nerves; try to think and act even during extreme circumstances.
Good Episode from CSI crew.
Signing off
Sivi
Choices we make @ every crucial point in life, pretty much screws our future in instalments. To weigh one of the few damages I induced in my journey, I looked back into the “not so” interesting/intelligent past – a serious attempt to measure the dent. A vague picture of me walking to school in double plaits (with red ribbons), holding my mom’s hand came before my eyes, by-passing few concentric circles. Carefree with no responsibilities and clueless of what to achieve in future, I somehow pushed to finish second top in high school.
Too much cook spoils the broth and too many ideas kill the mission. In my case it was lack of (or NO) ideas that messed my future. Coming out in not so flying colours from Junior college, I caused the first disarray of my life - “Rejected an Engineering berth” as I did not get it through merit with the super mediocre marks I scored. I also named it as PRINCIPLE. I neither realised then, how over-rated that word was, nor yielded to the pressure from my cousin and mom to take up the course – Though I cannot say that my mom gave enough push; in a way she did not want to see me leave her wing and settle in a hostel for four years – her hidden agenda. I still remember how I autopsied and cursed the verdict I pronounced; say for the next 10 years of my being, after every rejection I faced for not holding a professional degree to qualify for something or the other (mainly for a decent job).
Some strategies people define in their lives end up like their project plans – Precisely nothing goes their way. In early 2000s’, happily settled in a better job, never worrying about raise in my fellow colleagues’ pay while mine staying stagnant, I giggled through to witness some of the hilarious moments. One of those - An ex-colleagues’ (miss) adventure in deciding his life partner. When most of us then were eligible to fly to U.S of A for an IT job with authorized H1B visas, cleared interviews and packed suitcases, this guys’ dad offered him an alliance of a Singapore based girl. Our boy, the H1B holder, who may leave anytime to America, refused to wed a mere Singapore (dollar) based girl and gave a good lecture to his dad on impeding elevation in his lifestyle and earnings. And then, the inevitable happened. Two flights swiftly cruised through his WTC life, creating boulders in his path towards American dreams, on 9/11. Coming from a Muslim family, made his dream literally crumble down like actual WTC. 1 year, 2 years – we all waited to see our H1Bs’ expire. Some of our friends started unpacking their suitcases and some even sold out for a good profit! Our friend, who by now given up on American dollars, slowly instigated his father to question the current status of the girl based in Singapore, only to realise that his dad would rather wait another 20 years to see his son go to settle abroad than asking a girls’ hand from Singapore. Well, his lecture on American dollars did work on his dad – at the least!
We all make decisions – the more input from experienced, the better. Still the outcome never resides in our hands. May be, that’s what the French call it “Force Majeure”. 10 years before, I never thought that I would be in a place where I am now currently. Does that surpass or in least ways, near to what I dreamt 10 years ago in terms of achievement and lifestyle? Well, I can assure that I am not unhappy and feel blessed to be what I am now. This is what age and experience does to one as days go by :)
SIVI signing off, for now.
Life is simple, it’s just not easy.
