Two weeks ago, I was at 35,000 feet some where in between Mumbai and Chennai in a temperature, pressure, and volume controlled cabin that seemed like a perfect lab to test both Charles and Boyle's Law. But for some reason the ambience inside the flight wasn't ideal.
Defying Etiquettes
I wasn't grumpy, but was in no mood to test either laws or even strike a conversation with co-passengers on the seemingly bus ride. To my right on the other aisle sat an elderly gentle man, who was busy chewing pan and spitting into the air sickness bag, and when not busy he was trying to read a book on British Invasion in Asia on his kindle. And in the seat ahead of him, I found a young guy reading a paperback edition of Chetan Bhagat's Two States, a romantic novel, but every now and then I heard him snore. I was reminded of a sleepless night journey on Indian Railways when a co-passenger decided to turn his snore louder than a horn.
I ignored these distractions and focused on solving the riddle: why did the airline send me a mobile boarding pass, if I am supposed to carry a printed version of it?
A day prior to the journey, I did an online check-in and received a copy of my mobile boarding pass, but when I reached the airport the airline staff asked me to use the kiosk and take a printed version of the boarding pass with me. Why is a mobile boarding pass not accepted? The wallet feature on the iPhone in India seemed useless, and answered my unasked question: are smart phones a luxury gadget or utilitarian product in India?
My First iWallet experience in India
Earlier this week, I discovered that Satyam Cinemas had an user friendly App that lets you book tickets with ease from your mobile. I got curious and downloaded the application on my iPhone to both test and experience the features and comfort of the app. In less than a min, time it takes corn bag to pop in a microwave, I was able to book the tickets. And within seconds I got an SMS each from my bank and from Satyam with copies of transaction alerts delivered to my mailbox. I proudly showed the iWallet feature to a friend who was besides me using his Blackberry and also took screen shots of it shared over Whatsapp it with a friend overseas.
Three years ago if you had booked tickets over the desktop site, Satyam cinemas had a kiosk outside their movie hall to help you print tickets by showing them a confirmation message on your mobile. And a year ago they had removed the kiosk and started accepting confirmation SMS as a proof like our Indian Railways. But will the new option iWallet still be valid or will I have to show the confirmation SMS? Is there a hidden surprise somewhere?
Though there was no need for us to be at the gate 25 minutes before departure, but that doesn't prevent people from walking into the hall 30 minutes late. Fifteen minutes before the start time we were let in and I held my mobile to the movie hall staff, who read aloud my seat number and gave me two small stubs before entering. God alone knows what those stubs are and I didn't even bother looking at them. I was thrilled on being able to use technology to navigate my way through the Indian system that loves to see paper and put stamps on them.
Boil's Law
As the lights were dimmed and commercials began to appear on the screen, my neighbors failed to realize the need to remain silent or speak softly. One of the two youngsters, raised his voice above the voice over of the commercial, and when this continued for a few minutes, I felt the need to behave like a school teacher and treat them like kids. I turned around and requested them to remain silent to make the movie watching experience mutually pleasurable.
20 mins into the movie, just as they were showing the growing up years of Bobby, many in the movie hall exhibited their boorish behavior. The mobile phones were ringing loudly, WhatsApp messages were being delivered at an annoying rate, and some even attended a few phones calls. I was ready to write my version of Boyle's law and term it Boil's law: at constant temperature and pressure, noise is directly proportional punch on their face.
That night while returning home by OLX Auto Service, I realized how technology is helping uneducated auto drivers to mend their errant behavior (not complying by meter), while it seemed like the turn of educated ones to behave in an errant manner.
Be it on a flight or in a movie hall, there is no guarantee that our neighbors will display etiquettes that is far more important than carrying around smart gadgets. Sadly, having the purchasing power to buy gadgets and/or exhibiting the power of technology doesn't mean that we know how to behave in a cultured way and follow etiquettes.
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