Each time I board a plane, I realise how like dodos we are, simply not created for the open skies. The airport brings out our inner idiot, making us absurd, illogical and batty

Like the dodo, which tried to take off but only went extinct, we risk becoming a synonym for moron when we try flight. Illustration by C Y Gopinath using AI

The human species was not meant to fly. We are terrestrial, land-bound. Maybe we’re amphibious, because some of us swim, but fly we cannot. Like the dodo, which tried to take off but only went extinct, we risk becoming a synonym for moron when we attempt flight.

But we do fly, against all logic. Indian aviation reached a record in November last year, carrying 505,412 passengers across 3,173 domestic departures. It is safe, by and large, barring the occasional crash in which only one person survives. In recent years, it has started looking so posh that entering the airport itself is like going abroad.

But I take trains whenever that option is open. Each time I board a plane, I realise how very like dodos we are, absurd, illogical and batty in anything concerning flight. We make confounding rules and follow ridiculous protocols. Our gleaming airports make us jump through interminable hoops before letting us board. Aviation brings out our inner idiot, thoughtless and impossible to understand. 

Here are a few sharp notes about how aviation baffles me.

© Midday