An Airport Conversation

Last week,on my way back to California from Calcutta, I had a most interesting and intriguing conversation with Edmund Smith, during our halt at the lovely Changi airport in Singapore-a conversation which left me thinking hours after he had departed, to board his flight back to Melbourne.
At 75, walking around slowly and cautiously with a stick, with his head bent-Edmund had caught my attention from Calcutta airport where he sternly refused being carried in a wheel chair, giving away the impression that his pride was hurt at the very suggestion of it. He sat one seat across from me in the plane from Cal to Singapore, dozing for most of the journey. The TV screen in front of him was causing sufficient disturbance and hence an air hostess was requested to turn it off, as he was hardly familiar with the modern entertainment system of planes. The sight of such an old man traveling all by himself made me feel really sorry for his condition-as it is the sight of old people always hits the soft spot in my heart more than anything else. In the course of my helping him out in small ways, we began a casual conversation which resumed with full vigor when we reached the Changi airport.
And in the 3 hours that followed, I received valuable insights about Australia and the world economy at large from this British man who had spent the formative years of his life in newly independent Calcutta and London, slogging at a bank struggling hard to make ends meet. Hearing him speak of the times then and the times now, about the American supremacy and the perils of capitalism, about his love for Calcutta and appreciation of the warmth of the people thereof, I realized, his generation had thrived in an age much more challenging than what we are in right now, in a world,totally different in so many ways and perhaps more difficult too, in circumstances much more trying that what we complain about now-yet they have lived with a sense of pride and contentment and dignity that is so missing in our generation. It was one of the most memorable conversations in recent times for me.
Having spent several years in Calcutta as a banker in Lloyd's Bank, he eventually shifted to Australia and settled there with his family. (He admitted that Australians are indeed a bit uptight, when I mentioned to him my experiences in Sydney!) He spoke at length about how much he loved the spirit of Calcutta, the friendliness of the lazy people, the richness of literature and culture, the plays and theaters, the conservatism and intellectualism and how all these keep bringing him back to the city over and over again, now that he is retired now. He spoke about how he thinks the whole concept of outsourcing jobs to cheap Asian labor is bringing the Western world down, how illegal immigrants keep flooding Australian cities in lure of a quick resident status as a result of which the cities getting more crowded, unsafe and corrupt. He also warned me the way a grandfather would advice his granddaughter, that earning a degree from a western University is one thing but settling in the West is a totally different ball game, especially now, when he thinks the Western developed world is nearing it's doomsday! He emphasized time and again, how I should earn my degree and return home to start my family and never make the mistake of staying back in the West coz the 'good quality of life' that had once upon a time given the West the status it enjoys today, is fast deteriorating. In his times, people were responsible and accountable for their jobs and duties, governments cared about their own people and not just about the rest of the world, people had jobs,toiled hard, earned enough to raise a family and yet were more happy and satisfied. A world fraught with terrorist threats, developed countries' intervening attitudes, endless mutual blame-game among nuclear empowered nations, an almost grotesque proportion of greed consuming every nation, widespread corruption and violence in the name of religion-it feels as if capitalism has been turned upside down. Ports, airports, railways in Australia, UK and US are all owned by foreigners, the control of the state has progressively gone down over the years, reckless risk taking has resulted in one of the worst crises in recent times affecting the entire world connected through the chains of globalization and governments in the lure of getting more votes pay more attention to the here and now rather than to the long run well being of future generations. What, he asks me, really lures me to leave everything behind in this world and run to the West-dreams of a better future?
For a few minutes, I honestly did not have an answer. Here was this man-old and barely able to see anything, with his walking stick as his best friend, yet a mind so clear, having seen the world in so many different times and having lived in so many different countries, telling me that while he himself is the citizen of the so-called first world, he would never advise someone like me to settle down there and here I was, wanting desperately to argue against everything he was saying and scrambling to find a valid point in my favor-in the end I left it as an unfinished conversation-realizing that no matter what I say from the perspective of a young Indian woman who has left her homeland in dreams of a better future in a far away land, just as her grandfathers had done years back, I would still not be able to convince this wise man who has seen it all. With age sure comes wisdom and seldom do we get the chance to slow down in our rat-race to hear what the old have to say-but if we do, I am sure it will be a memorable experience-as was mine and am glad to be able to share this with you all.
Leaving me, an Economics PhD student, still thinking and arguing in my own head about the pros and cons of outsourcing, immigration, globalization, privatization and so on..Edmund slowly walked away towards Gate no. A12 to board the Melbourne bound Singapore Airlines...nodding his head as if expressing his sheer disappointment at the utter irresponsibility and selfishness he sees all around him now ...he does not have an email id...and I have no other way of ever being in touch with him..(though he suggested that sometime I should visit Wellington, Dunedin and Halbot in Tasmania..3 beautiful places in that part of the world)..but I was indeed fortunate to have known such a knowledgeable and insightful old man even if it was for such a short span of time.
After a while I left too..to board my long flight to reach the other half of the world...and resume my quest..for a better life (?!?)