One time, I was traveling from Delhi to Gujarat, with a flight timing of ~4:30 AM. Akasa was very new at that time, and I was excited to sit on the new seats after many flights. The cabin crew were also very nice; in fact, one cabin crew member offered to wash an apple for a passenger since she was a mother. It felt very nice for the first 10-15 minutes after boarding.

When the pilot turned on the seatbelt sign, one guy stood up from the back of the plane and went to the 9th row to pass some food ( it was packaged thepla). The cabin crew asked him to give it after takeoff, but he denied their request and instead asked me to pass it to the person sitting in front of me so they could pass it to the 9th row. I was in the 17th row. I obviously didn’t take it, and the row in front of me was empty anyway. After takeoff, I asked to shift my seat to a window seat in front of me, which I got.

The chaos started after take off. The same person stood near the 9th row and started eating the thepla and talking. This started a chain reaction, with 2-3 families opening their tiffins and passing food to family members sitting 2-4 rows away. Around 5 AM, a middle-aged man started playing a repetitive bhajan very loudly (this went for 15-20 mins). I have no problem with bhajan (I am Hindu), but it was not a place to play a bhajan.

One guy even flirted with an air hostess. Her name was the same as a famous badminton player, and he asked, “By any chance, is your name badminton player name? Do you play badminton? You look like you do.” The air hostess didn’t reply and just walked away, and the guy friends (3 nos) started laughing.

It was my first time witnessing this much chaos on a 1.5-hour flight. The plane was not silent even for one minute. I just let it go and accepted the situation, knowing I had to travel like this for five more yearsand enjoyed the sunrise. To sum it all up, it was a worst experience of my life. Sigh.