My First Flight

Is that an incident to write a blog on?
I donno. But I am still writing it, as I have written events like my first ride on a car, my first bike ride etc.
It all started with an offer to go to Bangalore for attending a 3 day training at MAGMA Design Automation. It was from 15th to 17th of Feb 2006. Anoop and myself were going to attend it. As we had classes, we decided to go by air. And we also managed to get a permission for a reimbursement of the ticket. I had thought of catching a flight to Kerala on various occasions. But I never booked one, as there never was any emergency, or say any particular reason. And I didnt want to waste a few bucks just for experiencing a journey in an aeroplane. So my first flight was this one, DN-602 Delhi-Bangalore, leaving Delhi at 20.10. We were there at the airport a little late (though Anoop kept saying that we were on time). Well, being in the airport terminus was like being in a huge shopping mall like WAVE, Noida, and that too on a weekend. It was crowded and there were queues at each counter. I suppose there were many air deccan flights leaving at that time. We made our way through the line and got our tickets. Luckily we didnt have enough luggage, so we could carry all the luggage as hand baggage. This being my maiden flight, Anoop requested for a window seat and we got one.
Then we moved in for the security checkin. I got through, but my suitcase didnt. I had kept a pack of shaving blades in it and they got detected by the officials. I had heard of stories, of items being caught at security checkin, from my friends and relatives. But I was careless to notice it during packing my luggage. Anyway, all I had to do was open the suitcase, and hand them over the pack of blades. Thats it and we were moving towards GATE #1. I was feeling slightly amused. I donno why. May be the sight of aeroplanes so close to me. We boarded a bus which took us to the plane. I noticed that it was going along a specific path outlined on the runway. I first thought the driver was searching for our plane, as I couldnt find it too, but then realised that these buses are supposed to go only on these tracks to avoid collision with the planes.
We got down from the bus and boarded the plane. I remembered to put my right foot in first! I got a little disappointed by the sight inside the plane. It was conjested and looked like an ordinary luxury bus 3+2 seaters. Only that the planes are longer than luxury buses. We got a seat at the rear end of the plane. We kept the baggages on the rack on the top and I took the window seat. In between, I had a call from Su and W wishing me bon voyage. Su had reminded me that there was a full moon and it would provide a wonderful sight once we are above the clouds.
Then the wait began for the plane to be air borne. At last at 20.10, the plane started to move slowly on the runway. Two air hostesses did some demonstrations of fastening the seat belt. And a few announcements about the exit from the plane and some emergency features. The plane moved into the queue in the runway and waited for its turn. After a plane landed and moved out of the runway, our plane occupied the runway and started gaining speed. The acceleration of the plane is really very high. Within a few minutes, it had gained speed and there we were in the air above the city. We could see rows of lights below, from the roads, little vehicles moving along it, and the lights from the rows of houses down below. After some time, it was like seeing the whole of Delhi. I tried in vain to recognise the various areas below. It was a wonderful sight looking at the lights, diminishing in size.
After some time, we were moving through the clouds and the plane started jerking. It was like moving on a road with lot of bumps. Finally, I could see what I was longing for. The moon. From above the clouds. It looks so wonderful, shining brightly on the clouds. All you can see below are white clouds, glistening in the moon light. I could see that clouds were made up of tiny water droplets as they shone in the moon light. It was like snow all around. I remembered my trip to manali when I first experienced snow.
For the whole of the 2 and half hour journey from Delhi to Bangalore, I was watching out of the window. Sometimes there were only clouds. Sometimes the clouds were so thin that I could see the city beneath. Most of the time it was clear and I could see small towns as small patches of light. We moved over a large city which seemed like Hyderabad (as that is on the way). At 22.40, we landed at Bangalore with a small thud when the wheels of the plane touched the ground. We waited for a long time for the doors to open at the rear. But it didnt and we had to come out of the front doors after almost all the others. Thus I set foot on the ground after my successful maiden flight.
Acknowledgements to A for guiding me and to IIT for funding the trip (if we get the reimbursement) ... :-)


Comments

Anonymous said…
hey VG, once again a nice blog....cool man....keep sending me ur blogs...i m very fond of ur blogs...
Anonymous said…
Good to know that you enjoyed the trip and the tip so much :-)
Rat said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Rat said…
haha.. nice one..
Good narration

(mixed up comments for this one n the next. in the end deleted n posted again)
:-)

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