Man shares joy of booking business class tickets for parents, desi folks understand the pride

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For Indian middle-class, traveling by first class or business class can be quite the luxury experience. Recently, one NRI man shared a sweet story about booking business class tickets for his parents as they traveled from India to the US, and the thread left many desi children emotional online.

Gaurav Sabnis, an Associate Professor living in the USA took to Twitter to share the joy of finally being able to do this for his hardworking parents. “Feeling extra grown up,” Sabnis wrote. “Finally able to afford a flight in which parents can stretch out and sleep,” he wrote, adding how his parents di lui still thought of it as being extravagant but he put his foot down.

“I’m especially excited for Mom to experience a long haul international business class 777 journey for the first time. She finds joy in the smallest things in life. Lei she’s gonna be like an excited kid when she lands, ”Sabnis gushed. Talking about his father di lui, he highlighted he would just be content after catching up a good sleep to New York.

Elaborating how his mother is a “hardened” traveler, Sabnis added that owing to his father’s job as a highway bridge engineer, they have had to endure many tough rides but she always did it with a “smile on her face”. The proud son explained that from her 20s, “she has done all kinds of rough, bumpy, even dangerous journeys, often with us 2 kids in tow,” without any complaints. “So lei she finds even economy class air travel full of things to be happy about,” he added.

Talking about long journeys in India, Sabnis also reflected back on how difficult it has been for women not being able to take toilet break for hours.

“I still remember when I was a kid, I used to be confused about why my mom barely drank any water during our 16-24 hour bumpy bus rides between Pune & Indore. While I guzzled water like anything, ”he wrote. He admitted to realize the common problem many women faced in India with lack of public toilets on highways in early 80s and 90s and sometimes even now.

“As a dude, whenever the bus stopped (just twice or 3 times), I could and can just run to the nearest secluded corner and pee. My mom, like any woman, doesn’t have that luxury in India, ”he added.

He added how relieved and happy his mother was when she had traveled to the US first time 15 years ago and found it was easy to take an exit on highways and use a loo at a gas station. “So lei she could drink water whenever she she liked. Small joys, ”he wrote highlighting she didn’t require much to be feeling content.

Continuing the thread, Sabnis said the plan was originally meant for her birthday in April 2020, when he could have accompanied them on the flight. However, when the pandemic things, he couldn’t make the plans work.

“Even if 2 years late, and without me next to her, I’m so happy she’ll get to enjoy a long flight sleeping horizontally,” he wrote feeling delighted. “And both her di lei & I recognize how incredibly fortunate and privileged we are to even be able to do this,” he concluded with pride.

The thread quickly resonated with many Indians online, who all agreed that coming from a humble background, slowly advancing in life when one can finally give back to their parents, is unfiltered joy. While many thanked Sabnis for doing this for his parents, many also argued that it’s not a “small joy” being able to commute freely without any worries.

Many others joined the conversation, hoping to do the same for their parents someday.

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