Get your plane right on time

Yesterday I was planning on writing some last thoughts on my previous experiences of India, which were going to focus on the contrasts interwoven into the fabric of the country like gold thread on plain cloth. The picture above is one I took of the Taj Mahal, surely one of the world’s most photographed buildings, but set in the context of the city of Agra, with its crowded buildings in varying degrees of disrepair, each less photogenic than the tomb which dominates the skyline and attracts tourists in droves. Its familiar splendour seems somehow incongruous when placed amidst houses where, if you look closely, you’ll spot a goat tethered to somebody’s rooftop.

I was also going to talk about seeing women in rags stood in traffic at junctions, clutching swaddled babies in one arm and selling copies of high fashion magazines to wealthy commuters with the other, giving the name ‘Cosmopolitan’ new meaning. I was also going to mention the elderly man, presumably homeless, who I saw being ejected from a museum of natural history in Delhi. He had found his way into a life-size diorama entitled “Endangered Animals of India”, but he was not made welcome there.

Unavoidable distractions and last minute preparations meant I never posted what I wrote then, but today presented me with another moment of high contrast from the minute I boarded my flight. My excitement at getting the trip underway was prematurely curtailed by muffled screaming coming from the back of the plane. Over the tops of the seats I could see a large man with a bald head pinning someone to their chair. The stewardess came down the aisle to reassure those of us staring blankly in disbelief. “He has tried to come here illegally”, she said, “He is being sent home.” A home that one has to be dragged back to kicking and screaming is surely no home at all. The excitement of families and tourists on their way to Delhi and that lone man's terror provided the first dramatic juxtaposition of a journey I'm sure will be full of them, a timely reminder of the struggles people face here that leave them seeing no hope but escape.