Flying into India for the first time, I expected to encounter a range of new things. As the plane approached Mumbai, I was struck by the thousands of shades of green and the lush, rolling hills. There is nothing resembling it in the US, where I am from. But as picturesque as my first glimpse of India was from 10,000 feet, I admit to being a little distracted.

My flight from San Francisco lasted a gruelling 20 hours, and in that not short amount of time, I noticed that all of the air hostesses on my flight had something in common, besides the high-collared uniform and a desire to overwhelm the passengers with "comfort kits" and tea they were all drop dead gorgeous. 

In fact, I don't think I've seen as many beautiful women in one place in my life.  And unless I start spending significant amounts of time hanging around fashion models and movie stars an unlikely possibility, but I guess you never know I don't think I will again. Comparing the women's impeccable make-up and salon sleek coifs (could there have been a beauty parlour hidden somewhere aboard our flight?) to my own dirty clothes and frazzled hair, made me feel like a scrubby American backpacker, which is what I suppose I am.

Standard requirement?

I remarked on this to an Indian colleague, she laughed and told me that it was a requirement. It used to be required in America, as well. Older men will often wax fondly about the good old days in the 1960s, when flying in the US meant having your every whim catered to by a stewardess with a pretty face and a short skirt, and a tight slap on one of these pretty ladies' backsides was included in the airfare.  

 Thankfully, similar displays of chauvinism were absent from my flight. Still, my inner feminist was annoyed.  The image an airline wants to project is certainly important for business, but what about the ordinary-looking girls? Is it right to deny a job to a woman just because she is not pretty enough?

How well a woman can apply her lipstick will have very little to do with the realities of an in-flight emergency, or even with handing out hot towels. The desire to look attractive and professional for work is natural, but to make fairness a prerequisite for a position seems unfair.

I was a bit disturbed, though, to think that perhaps the look of the air stewardess' did contribute to the pleasantness of my flight.  Maybe it did lend a polished veneer to an experience that is inherently uncomfortable and disorienting. In the US, the beauty requirement has been eliminated for flight attendants; even their title has morphed into a politically correct version of what it once was (hostess or stewardess). 

I can't say whether or not their less than attractive appearances influence the flying experience at home; I had never thought about it before coming to India. 

My family and friends keep asking me what I think of being here and my reply is always the same – India, is very beautiful.