No substitute for this
Late monsoon. The tea bushes in the lowland plantation form a verdant edge to Bagdogra airport on the Indo-Bhutan border. I am on a flight to New Delhi. A young man, his hair gelled and spiked, sits next to me. He asks to look at my cell phone.
‘You have Vodafone,’ he remarks scrolling the screen.
‘The connection is good,’ I reply.
‘My cell phone has no signal,’ he says tapping the breast pocket of his black shirt. I feel obliged to ask, ‘what network do you use?’
‘Airtel,’ he says. On the road to the airport, I noticed several Airtel billboards offering low tariff and ‘superfast connection’.
‘Are you local from this area?’ he asks pointing to the heat haze of the North Bengal plains outside the plane window.
‘No, I am from Bhutan.’
‘Related to the Royal Family?’
‘No.’
‘I am in the construction business. I have offices all over India. If you want anything, here’s my number.’ He hands me a business card crammed with names of branch offices, cell phone numbers and email contacts.
‘Can I make a local call?’ He asks taking my phone with alacrity.
The pilot announces that the plane is ready for takeoff and requests all electronic devices to be switched off. The young man continues to talk animatedly. I remind him of the announcement. He shrugs it off, ‘they say that all the time but nothing will happen.’
An air-steward approaches him and says, ‘Sir, you must switch off your cell phone now.’
‘It’s not mine,’ he says handing it back to me.
baggage claim –
my suitcase ‘to arrive’
on the next flight
Born and raised in the kingdom of Bhutan Sonam Chhoki is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan’s non-monastic modern education. Her Japanese short form poetry has been published in journals in several countries. She is current haibun and senryu editor of the UHTS journal, cattails.
This haibun was first published in A Hundred Gourds 5:1, December 2015