I have traversed several destinations and concluded that each of them has something unique about its culture, identity and people. Having said that, not a single one of them has evoked an intensity of emotion primarily because it never felt like home.
When do we really emote?
When an instance or situation has touched a part of ourselves that is our home, metaphorically of course.
But yesterday was different. It was the 25th of September, 2022. It was the day I discovered the most emotional place on earth, The Airport.
A dull, sulky Saturday night led me to one of the greatest revelations of all time.
My friend was leaving for the United Kingdom and a few of us met her at the airport to bid her goodbye.
I was unusually early and while I was looking around terminal 2 of the international airport, I noticed a mother weeping and hugging a tall shadow against her chest. Obviously, this shadow was someone she loved dearly.
As I moved towards gate 3, I noticed another man trying not to cry as his daughter touched his feet. She had a little bag pack on her shoulders, 2 black bags standing behind her and a tiny photo frame in her arms. It was the picture of this man and her laughing at the camera.
However hard this man tried to control his tears, the girl with the backpack could not. Her cheeks had turned red and puffy, her eyes were replenished with tears, and her hands clung to his arms as if they were inviting him to accompany her along her journey.
He gently patted her head and kissed her cheek, it seemed that it was all the security he could provide.
My friend arrived with her family at the airport, along with her were two of our other friends. The environment was filled with a ‘sorrowful glee.’
It seemed sorrowful as it felt like we were losing one of our own, it was full of glee since we were losing one of our own for her own good.
I am not a person who emotes through tears, strangely enough, I emote through silence. While her friends and family cried, the silence within me kept growing.
I am proud of the individual to embark on a journey that is unrevealed to even herself, yet a part of me wished there existed more security in this world.
This friend teared up which caused a domino effect around it, everyone around me had now teared up. All except one, me.
The more rational I think I am, the more of a fool I become. It felt terrible.
It seems to me that it is not easy to hold someone in your heart as easily as the authors of pulp fiction tell you to do. It takes a plethora of loss, love and attachment to hold someone dear while they might be seven seas away.
After a long night of turmoil, I realised that the Airport is the most emotional place on earth. Not necessarily because people ‘leave’ from this particular geography, but because the goodbye that we bid to the ones who are leaving, leaves the hearts of those who remain, empty.
0 Comments