The First Times (A Series) - 1. Flight

My dream was going to come true which was to push a cartful of luggage in an airport! Wow! However silly it might seem, but in those days I always thought that the nitty-gritty’s of the preparations to catching a flight is much fancier that the act of flying itself! The suitcases that are no smaller than a mini-bus, packing the liquids and gels in a ‘3oz see-through sealed pouch’, segregating stuff as check-in luggage, cabin baggage and carry-on, Security checks, Boarding passes and baggage tags, the board that flashes NOW BOARDING, and of course the carts! I mean it all has a sense of style attached, and that always amused me. But now the envy was over, and I was soon going to see it all for myself!

I was travelling with my friend and his mom (both of them have been all around the world and have been to more airports than I have been to rickshaw stands!). But somehow, my friend’s mom too recognized the style attached to pushing the cart and thankfully, she let me do it!

It all happened in a jiffy and before I could realize, we had checked-in and passed security! Now, very little was there between me and my first take-off! I bore a constant smile and was perhaps shaking my legs in anticipation as we waited for the flight! In a while they announced our flight and I was quite unpleasantly surprised to find out that I had to pack myself up an extremely crowded bus to reach the aircraft. For a change, the hostess did give a smiling welcome and we all settled down. I was frowning about the fact that I did not get the window seat. But nevertheless, my excitement was full-to-the-brim as was the plane.

The plane rolled slowly towards the runway and I was peeping left and right to catch a glimpse through the windows. Just after turning on the runway, it stopped. A sudden lull fell on us – lights dimmed and everyone just sank to their seats. Many passengers were casually reading news-papers or taking naps, but my eyes were wide open and were failing miserably to hide my excitement. What happened next was the take-off (the only thing I like about flying to this day). The jet engines roared and the jumbo craft shot to terrifying speed in a couple of seconds and whoosh! A huge piece of sheer metal with a hundreds of people and their bags and baggage simply took to air – nothing short of an engineering marvel, I must say.

Soon after, the neatly clad pretty lasses (who are more efficient than anyone else I had ever seen) started the refreshment service and handed me a non-veg tray. I was amazed to see like a zillion food items so well packed in such a small tray! Good for me, always!

Well, then came the beverages. “Tea or coffee, Sir?” I settled for a coffee and along with came another basket of stylish tit-bits. One packet read “Priya Biscuits”. Well, my middle-class common sense took no time to expect biscuits with coffee. Anyways, I opened it carefully and saw wafers, with the usual criss-cross design on it, but only very soggy. “Cheap bastards”, I thought about the airline. “Can’t even serve wafers that are fresh and crispy!”. Anyways, I somehow got over my complaints and reluctantly took a bite. My tongue revolted instantly and it took me no more than a fraction of a second to realize that what I had just bitten in public was nothing close to a wafer, but a wet-wipe with cologne freshener! "Oh God, no one must see this, no one!". But, I could hear the dirty smirk of my friend sitting across the aisle. He was waiting for me to fall into the trap. Even the gentleman next to me was smiling at my misery. I mean which air-headed person would have put such a bold ad of Priya Biscuits on a wet tissue that by chance looked exactly like wafers? No fault of mine, but red-faced with embarrassment, I landed in Bangalore, thanking God that I came out of the flight, away from that shameful situation. My friend kept on grinning at me in the car till we reached the home where we would put up.

Anyways, embarrassed, excited and thrilled, I had been through a lot on my first flight. I was more cautious while flying back home!