My FLIGHT

This is a post on my first flight experience on 14/1/2011 which happened to be one of the best days in my life. I have never traveled  in a flight before or rather never felt the need to fly. For this, I have to thank my best friend who has made it a good experience.

How it all began...
At 2.30 a.m.on 14/11/2011, I got a call from this best friend of mine who was compelling me to take a flight from Bangalore (where I'm currently staying) to Hyderabad (my home). I denied. But, as he always manages to convince me, he did it this time too. He booked it and send me a copy of the ticket on my e-mail.

My journey to the airport:
Because I stay in one corner of Bangalore city (almost on the outskirts of the city), I had to start 4 hours before the flight's departure time. I took an auto from college around 11.45 a.m. to get ot the main road and then took a bus to Kengeri and reached the bus depot by 12.15 p.m.

I did not wait for long at the bus stop because of greater frequency of buses from Kengeri to Hebbal (where I was supposed to go). But, I didn't know that getting into this bus was like inviting trouble for myself. The idea behind taking that bus was to reach early, which couldn't have happened if I had listened to the bus conductor who was more obsessed with women around him than answering their questions.

I was traveling for the first time in that bus route and it wasn't problematic at all, until a point. I thought there wasn't much traffic in the city because it was already afternoon. But, I realized it was the biggest premonition I had about Bangalore, which has horrible traffic congestion at every corner of the city at any time of the day.

We reached a place and I thought we almost reached Hebbal, which was about 10 stops away from where the bus was. I was waiting desperately to get down and go to the airport. And, this was what created more tension and my anger levels on Bangalore traffic, the bus driver and conductor were escalating. I was frustrated, annoyed and was in a haste to reach the Bangalore airport. It seemed like I am never going to reach the airport. Atleast at that point I wish I became Superman (woman) and had the power to put all the traffic on the other side of the city. Alas! I was stuck!

Finally, I managed to reach the after I got a taxi to the airport. I reached 2 hours before my flight's departure. I was excited and at the same time very impulsive about how my first flight travel would be. I started contemplating. I had various thoughts running across my head. I boarded the plane. I was travelling alone and this gave me more reasons to be happy.

Fortunately, I had no one sitting beside me. I was alone. This made me happier. then came the drama. Kids crying, mom yelling at them, air hostesses trying to get everyone in their place and the Captain announcing that the flight was about to take off. I enjoyed every single bit of it. A beautiful air hostess dressed in red, came up to me and asked if I was comfortable, I felt good and smiled at her. After 2 minutes, she gave instructions on how to fasten the seat belt and not to use electronic gadgets during our journey. (I do not know the exact logic behind that, but I knew that the wavelength would interfere with that of the flight's and cause some problems).

So, I had to switch off my mobile (I was being a good passenger). I started reading "The age of Kali" by William Dalrymple. But in a few seconds, the flight took off with a loud sound. It was speeding through the runway. The pace increased and I realized I was up in the air, in no time. It was great. For a while, I did not feel like the flight was in motion, but it was. I heard people saying objects look smaller when you reach a certain altitude, but experienced it 20 years after I was born. I smiled and kept quiet with so many thoughts running through my mind. 

I stopped reading. Was looking through the clouds, admiring nature's beauty. Everything looked beautiful. I was sitting at the window seat  which was close to the right fan (whatever you call it) of the plane. The sound it made was louder than ten elephants shouting at a time. At that moment, I was thinking of how  humans invented the flight. I was thankful to Wright brothers. and, then slipped into those pages lettered with black ink. The journey time was about an hour and half.

Then came the landing. Most of my friends always told me that it is scary. But, I wasn't scared like they mentioned. It was pretty fine and I loved that too. In fact, I thought that's the most thrilling part in the entire journey. It was lovely. The journey, the experience and my first flight ticket. Feels good to travel alone......All the time :):)

And, my day ended with my bestie picking me up at the airport and it was a happy but, adventurous day, altogether :)

Thanks Precious Kalia :)