She arrived at the airport with all her baggage, and her son came to see her off. When she entered the plane, suddenly she was frightened to death to see so many seats and so many people. Immediately she grabbed a blanket and covered her head and started crying. A stewardess came up to her and said, “Excuse me, is everything all right? You shouldn’t have your head covered like that.”
The lady said, “I can sit anywhere I like; I have paid for this plane ride. I can sit anywhere and I can keep my eyes covered.”
The stewardess continued, “You can’t keep your head and face covered.”
The lady replied, “If you allow people to sleep on the plane, I can easily keep a blanket over my head.”
“No,” insisted the stewardess. “Still the plane has not taken off, and God knows when the plane will start. You will die of suffocation in two hours.”
The lady said, “I am going to my sister’s house, so I really don’t want to die. I want to see what is in the plane, because I have never been on a plane before. At the same time, I want to be able to brag to my sister that I am very rich. That’s why I am going by plane. But the problem is that I am frightened to death.”
The stewardess went to get the pilot. The pilot came and very politely said, “What are you doing? Here I have been flying for forty years. I assure you, nothing will happen. I have never had any accident.”
The lady said, “I don’t trust my husband, son or anybody. Why should I trust a stranger like you?”
The pilot said, “It is a hopeless case,” and he started going back to his seat.
The lady said to him, “Sir, I have something to tell you.”
He said, “What?”
She said, “I want to tell you that I must appreciate your wife.”
“My wife?” said the pilot.
“Yes, your wife,” said the lady. “The blanket that I am using is very nice, and it is quite clean. Like me, she believes in cleanliness. Therefore, I am appreciating her. I never thought that there would be someone as clean as I am. I always keep everything clean and tidy in my house. And the blanket that I am using to cover my face is very, very clean. Therefore, I am thanking your wife.
“Don’t worry about me. I do this kind of thing quite often at home. When my husband and son are not at home, I am frightened to death. I am always afraid that some burglars will come. So I always cover my face. The following day I am all right. In this case, it is a matter of two hours. So I will be able to fly safely with my head covered. I will tell my sister how beautiful things are, so she sees that I have been in a plane. This is a new world-inside a plane.”From:Sri Chinmoy,The mushroom and the umbrella, Agni Press, 1981
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mu