Flying alone

It was 25 minutes past 9 o'clock. The Dubai-bound Emirates Flight 584 should have left Dhaka 30 minutes ago, but the flight was being delayed. Saima, who was on board Flight 584, checked her watch at least 30 times in the last half-hour. Anyone could say by looking at her that she was nervous. Saima was fidgety -- it was the first time the 20-year-old was flying alone -- she was going to the US to attend college.

Saima looked to her front, sides and back. She was in discomfort even though the plane seat was roomy enough for someone with a small frame like hers. In her aisle seat, she was having a difficult time keeping her left arm safely away from the young man sitting next to her.

The young man, who was in his mid-20s, was also flying alone -- it was his first time too. It was quite clear from his Bengali dialect that he hailed from one of the northern districts of Bangladesh.
"Perhaps Dinajpur," Saima thought.

Saima's guess was not wrong, for Kamal did live in Dinajpur all his life. She also learned from his conversation with another man that he was going to Dubai as a construction site worker. Saima eyed the young man as he took his shoes and socks off after taking his seat on the plane. He too was uncomfortable like her, but in a completely different way.

Kamal was not used to seeing city girls. Saima, who was in a pair of jeans and a white shirt, soon became the nucleus of his attention. His gazes made Saima even more jittery. She brought her hands close to her torso so they would not come in contact with her fellow passenger.

After half an hour on the ground when the plane finally began to taxi to the runway for takeoff, Saima forgot everything that was spinning inside her head: the annoying man sitting next to her, the 30-minute delay… everything. She began to experience a pang of separation, she felt as if the invisible thread that tied her heart to the land she was born in was severing.

The plane began a run on the runway, going faster and faster for a smooth takeoff. When the Boeing 777 finally lifted off, Saima closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her left cheek. The young man sitting next to her was still staring at her, but this time his eyes were moist and he too could feel the turbulence of emotions that tore at Saima's heart.

Photo: Collected