{"id":69309,"date":"2017-08-30T15:57:20","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T22:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=69309"},"modified":"2017-08-30T15:57:20","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T22:57:20","slug":"what-sudha-murthy-did-when-called-the-cattle-class-at-heathrow-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/08\/30\/what-sudha-murthy-did-when-called-the-cattle-class-at-heathrow-airport\/","title":{"rendered":"What Sudha Murthy did when called the \u201cCattle Class\u201d at Heathrow Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0untoldadmin\u00a0Courtesy Untoldstory<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

August 10, 2017<\/p>\n

<\/u>For those who are not aware, Sudha Murthy<\/a> is a Philanthropist, a founding member and Chairman of Infosys Foundation and also associated with Gates Foundation. The following is an excerpt from her book \u2018Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, I was at the Heathrow International Airport in London about to board a flight. Usually, I wear a sari even when I am abroad, but I prefer wearing a salwar kameez while travelling. So there I was \u2014 a senior citizen dressed in typical Indian apparel at the terminal gate. Since the boarding hadn\u2019t started, I sat down and began to observe my surroundings. The flight was bound for Bengaluru and so I could hear people around me chatting in Kannada. I saw many old married couples of my age \u2014 they were most likely coming back from the US or UK after helping their children either through childbirth or a new home. I saw some British business executives talking to each other about India\u2019s progress. Some teenagers were busy with the gadgets in their hands while the younger children were crying or running about the gate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After a few minutes, the boarding announcement was made and I joined the queue. The woman in front of me was a well-groomed lady in an Indo-Western silk outfit, a Gucci handbag and high heels. Every single strand of her hair was in place and a friend stood next to her in an expensive silk sari, pearl necklace, matching earrings and delicate diamond bangles. I looked at the vending machine nearby and wondered if I should leave the queue to get some water.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the woman in front of me turned sideways and looked at me with what seemed like pity in her eyes. Extending her hand, she asked, \u2018May I see your boarding pass, please?\u2019<\/p>\n

I was about to hand over my pass to her, but since she didn\u2019t seem like an airline employee, I asked, \u2018Why?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Well, this line is meant for business class travellers only,\u2019 she said confidently and pointed her finger towards the economy class queue. \u2018You should go and stand there,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

I was about to tell her that I had a business class ticket, but on second thoughts, held back. I wanted to know why she had thought that I wasn\u2019t worthy of being in the business class. So I repeated, \u2018Why should I stand there?\u2019<\/p>\n

She sighed. \u2018Let me explain. There is a big difference in the price of an economy and a business class ticket. The latter costs almost two and a half times more than . . .\u2019I think it is three times more,\u2019 her friend interrupted. \u2018Exactly,\u2019 said the woman. \u2018So there are certain privileges that are associated with a business class ticket.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Really?\u2019 I decided to be mischievous and pretended not to know.<\/p>\n

\u2018What kind of privileges are you talking about?\u2019<\/p>\n

She seemed annoyed. \u2018We are allowed to bring two bags but you can only take one. We can board the flight from another, less-crowded queue. We are given better meals and seats. We can extend the seats and lie down flat on them. We always have television screens and there are four washrooms for a small number of passengers.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her friend added, \u2018A priority check-in facility is available for our bags, which means they will come first upon arrival and we get more frequent flyer miles for the same flight.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Now that you know the difference, you can go to the economy line,\u2019 insisted the woman.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I don\u2019t want to go there.\u2019 I was firm.<\/p>\n

The lady turned to her friend. \u2018It is hard to argue with these cattle-class people. Let the staff come and instruct her where to go. She isn\u2019t going to listen to us.\u2019<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t get angry. The word \u2018cattle class\u2019 was like a blast from the past and reminded me of another incident. One day, I had gone to an upscale dinner party in my home city of Bengaluru. Plenty of local celebrities and socialites were in attendance. I was speaking to some guests in Kannada, when a man came to me and said very slowly and clearly in English, \u2018May I introduce myself ? I am . . .\u2019<\/p>\n

It was obvious that he thought that I might have a problem understanding the language.<\/p>\n

I smiled. \u2018You can speak to me in English.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh,\u2019 he said, slightly flabbergasted. \u2018I\u2019m sorry. I thought you weren\u2019t comfortable with English because I heard you speaking in Kannada.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s nothing shameful in knowing one\u2019s native language. It is, in fact, my right and my privilege. I only speak in English when somebody can\u2019t understand Kannada.\u2019<\/p>\n

The line in front of me at the airport began moving forward and I came out of my reverie. The two women ahead were whispering among themselves, \u2018Now she will be sent to the other line. It is so long now! We tried to tell her but she refused to listen to us.\u2019<\/p>\n

When it was my turn to show my boarding pass to the attendant, I saw them stop and wait a short distance away, waiting to see what would happen. The attendant took my boarding pass and said brightly, \u2018Welcome back! We met last week, didn\u2019t we?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes,\u2019 I replied. She smiled and moved on to the next traveller.<\/p>\n

I walked a few steps ahead of the women intending to let this go, but then I changed my mind and came back.<\/p>\n

\u2018Please tell me, what made you think that I couldn\u2019t afford a business class ticket? Even if I didn\u2019t have one, was it really your prerogative to tell me where I should stand? Did I ask you for help?\u2019<\/p>\n

The women stared at me in silence.<\/p>\n

\u2018You refer to the term cattle class\u201d. Class does not mean possession of a huge amount of money,\u2019 I continued, unable to stop myself from giving them a piece of my mind.<\/p>\n

\u2018There are plenty of wrong ways to earn money in this world. You may be rich enough to buy comfort and luxuries, but the same money doesn\u2019t define class or give you the ability to purchase it. Mother Teresa was a classy woman. So is Manjul Bhargava, a great mathematician of Indian origin. The concept that you automatically gain class by acquiring money is an outdated thought process.\u2019<\/p>\n

I left without waiting for a reply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0untoldadmin\u00a0Courtesy Untoldstory August 10, 2017 For those who are not aware, Sudha Murthy is a Philanthropist, a founding member and Chairman of Infosys Foundation and also associated with Gates Foundation. The following is an excerpt from her book \u2018Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives\u2019. Last year, I was at the Heathrow International Airport in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}