When I was leaving for India, my husband suggested that I should carry his travel pillow. I wanted to give it a try, so I did. Later I realized that it was too thick and high for my neck, but I still remembered to carry it with me on the way back.
My journey home was long—Bangalore to Delhi, Delhi to London, and London to Boston. I didn’t have much to carry back, so I kept the pillow in my carry-on bag for the Banglore Delhi flight.
At Delhi airport, I knew I had a long flight ahead. I remember going to the lounge, then stopping by the bathroom right before boarding. I opened my carry-on to take out the things I wanted for the flight and pulled out the pillow. Somewhere between the bathroom and the boarding gate, I lost it.
As soon as I entered the plane, I remembered. I immediately asked the staff if I could go back and look for it, but they kindly said they would check for me. The hostess smiled and said, “Looks like you’ll have a long flight without that neck pillow.”
Nobody could find it.
Instead, they noticed there were a couple of empty rows and suggested they could let me sit there so I could stretch out and sleep. It was such a thoughtful gesture.
She quietly settled me into one of those rows. Apparently, someone else had the same idea. A woman came and occupied the other seat in the row of three. For a moment, I wasn’t happy. I thought, “There goes my plan to stretch out and sleep.” But something about her made me feel like I should start a conversation.
We started simply.
“Where are you headed?”
That one question turned into hours of talking.
She was a yoga teacher and Ayurveda practitioner in her mid-50s with three children—two sons and a daughter, ranging in age from 17 to 23. Her husband is a white American whom she met while working in Europe in her early twenties. Life had taken her through Europe, Massachusetts, Bangalore, and eventually back to California.
I told her about my own journey, my philosophy of paying it forward, how much I value spending one-on-one time with people because every individual has a story worth hearing, and the philosophy behind Desi Moms Network and how it is different from any support group.
We talked about life in California and Massachusetts, the differences in people and culture, our experiences in India, and how dangerous it can be for any country or society when politics and religion become too intertwined. She was going on an Alaska cruise in July, so naturally, I showed her my Alaska pictures. We connected on so many levels.
It was funny because both of us had boarded the flight with exactly the same plan—to catch up on sleep and simply rest.
Instead, we ended up spending hours talking about life, work, children, women, careers, choices, travel, and everything in between.
Somewhere during that conversation, I completely forgot about the missing neck pillow.
In fact, I became grateful for losing it.
Had I not misplaced that pillow, I might have settled into a corner, fallen asleep, and missed meeting someone whose life intersected with mine in such an unexpected and meaningful way.
I texted my husband to tell him I had lost his pillow. I felt a little guilty.
His reply made me laugh.
“I’ll buy a few more in Bangalore next time.”
That simple response somehow captured the whole experience.
Sometimes what we lose makes room for what we are meant to find.
I boarded that flight thinking I had lost a neck pillow. Instead, somewhere between the Delhi airport bathroom and the London, I gained an unforgettable conversation, a new perspective, and a reminder that the best travel stories are rarely about the destination.
The story of a missing neck pillow turned into the story of meeting another fascinating human being somewhere between Delhi and London. And in the end, the conversation was worth far more than the pillow ever was.
Travel keeps reminding me that destinations are wonderful, but often it is the strangers we meet along the way who become the most memorable part of the journey. Sometimes, all it takes is losing a pillow to find a story worth telling.
A kid enjoying his neck pillow in London lounge
Delhi Airport someone is enjoying that neck pillow :)
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