POSTCARD #196: DELHI: Skating along with our trolleys on the smooth floors of airport halls and passageways, all these people coming and going. That feeling of familiarity, that déjà vu… I become you, he, she or it, we, you, they. We’ve been away and on our way back, or we’ve gone away and gone is gone… surrender your documents to the immigration officer, passport examined for as long as it takes the facial recognition system to get a hit. Passport stamped thump and through to the other side. Take out computer, remove your watch, phone, belt, and shoes and stand up on the box for a full body search. Wow! By the time we’re done and getting dressed again I feel like I’m a member of the family.
The relief from officialdom, we’re through at last, and welcome to the duty-free shopping mall extravaganza. Gold, diamonds and good-looking people; Hollywood celebrities posing as themselves wearing a watch or a necklace that costs a small fortune. There’s that familiarity, I look closely, but can’t remember the name, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio? Trying to remember who is who, like this, and thus the idea is beginning to rise to the surface that I could get that watch and be like them, posing as myself. The three-quarter turn, they smile at me, comfortable with themselves, don’t seem to suffer from that great yawning chasm of emptiness situated in the center of everything – they become all I want to see, in my seeing of them: confident, secure happy and yes, this is how it should be….
With just the right amount of energy required to wrench myself free, the polished steel of the purchasing trap snaps shut on itself, and the ricocheted impact propels the escapee forwards in the direction we all seem to be heading anyway. You can’t miss it, the massive head sculpture in the departures hall – dramatic indeed (see photo above). I’ve walked around it a few times looking for an information plate explaining what it’s a sculpture of – the Buddha or a monument to the exaltation of self? It looks feminine, maybe somebody reading this can tell me. No time, no time. Into the queue, on to the aircraft, fasten your seatbelts, and we’re catapulted up in the air for a 3-hour flight. The hydraulics of retracting landing gear is such a reassuring sound, and audible click as it locks into place. We’re part of the sky and clouds, just this is enough.
Incalculable is the beginning of this faring on. The earliest point is not revealed of the running on, faring on, of beings cloaked in ignorance, tied to craving [Saɱyutta-Nikāya, Nidāna-vaggo]
dhamma footsteps 
To be honest, I am yet to travel through Aeroplane.
Hey Praveen, you should try it! You can fly for nearly three hours and still be in India…
I am a student and donot earn that much.
Jet Air and other airlines offer budget fares under special conditions, you should keep an eye on that.
Ok. I’ll have an eye on them.
You can follow my blog to support me in my new journey of Blogging…..
Okay let me take a look…
This image of the Buddha immediately put me in mind of time I spent in the airport in Delhi… I remember also being impressed by the series of giant sculptures of hands in various mudras hanging above the Arrivals area. Have you any photos of those? I didn’t have a camera with me when I arrived; I purchased one ASAP when I reached Varanasi…
Hey JW, I’ll look out for the hand mudras next time I’m going through. They create sense of scale, India is a huge land mass.
the wise face ponders
how new you
would look
with that
gold watch,
for eternity 🙂
This is how it is, a heavy weight to carry…
Snake scales… another Lizard Man… or Lizard God…
Why can’t people see what’s really going on?!
The cracking of the illusion is too much for most…
Ignorance arises from consciously ignoring…
Beautifully put… I have an idea that consciously ignoring stems from the ego’s fear of death…
It’s a good thing to contemplate this, focus on it and stay there…
Indeed!… the Australian Aborigines have a similar notion…
Do we? It’s news to me.
Are you sure you don’t mean Marlo Morgan has a similar notion?
Point taken… profuse apologies…
Reblogged this on Stuart France.
Wow! It’s nice to be here again…
Always a pleasure to have you over…
That’s because they’re packed with confetti and tinsel. It comes with the watch.
The skill of the actor eventually leads to a multitude of selves and nothing in particular
Is there even an actor there? I don’t know who Leonardo DiCaprio is. I don’t even know if there’s a person named Leonardo DiCaprio. I just know about a deity of movies and marketing they call Leonardo DiCaprio. A powerful god indeed.
Where do I buy my ticket for the Titanic, BTW? It sounds good.
Yep, you could call it a natural disaster…
Wrist watches.
A throwback to the last century.
Check the time on your wrist while sitting on hold with your corded phone, listening to cassette tapes.
Funny how things hang on.
I like to check out at retailers and ask them “Do you still accept cash?”
Seek peace,
Paz
Thanks Paz for that glimpse into recent history. I didn’t notice how everything had fallen into the past. Time is just slippin’ away…
Oh, to be part of the sky and the clouds… Are you coming or going to Delhi? Hope you are okay.
P.S. The critters will be safe. I can’t bring myself to use anything other than vinegar and salt.
Sky and clouds extend to where we are in Thailand, at the beach with M. A nice quiet resort at Hua Hin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Hin_District
Will be here until mid April. Good to hear the critters are safe…
Have a great time!! Sounds heavenly. And how nice to be with M!