first flight!!

i boarded an aeroplane for the first time in my life with a bandaged left hand, an upset tummy and a badly bruised body....that was a semi sponsored ticket on airsahara from delhi to bombay for my summer project in 2005 summer.... was quite an experience.....

could not figure out how to belt myself to the chair....hmmm...afterall im not an engineer but an IITian.... had to seek help from the old lady who was sitting next to me....

when the air stewardess offered me grub....i politely refused and had asked for some fruits and some more juice....the look on the stewardess's face can be roughly translated as " probably this is the first time this dud is travelling on a plane...and thinks that he will have to pay for the food".....

well that was my first flight....

the second time when i flew was...when i came back to delhi from bombay....i managed to get a ticket in spicejet for 720 bucks....this was even better....as an veteran of one flight I thought it is prudent enough to start to the airport atleast 3 hrs before the schedule... reached the airport in 20 minutes....the airline staff was astonished to see me more than punctual.... i spent the 2 and a half hours making my project report.... on board...it was morelike a route bus ride from salem to erode... with kids jumping around all around me and hawkers selling peanuts (read steward distributing haldiram mini packets...hey! it was supposed to be a no frills flight)...with me changing seats to oblige to the elderly lady or the lady who wanted to sit next to her sister in law so that they can discuss aloo matter recipe.... the taxi ride from the airport to my friend's place in Gurgaon is a story in itself....lesson learnt that day was never land in Delhi airport if you dont have minimum 500 bucks in your wallet or if you dont have anyone waiting in the airport to pick u up.... and also never have pangga with delhi airport's taxi drivers even if u had learnt karate for 9 years and u are a black belt holder or even if you are a singa tamizhan!!

Almost a year later....i got my chance to fly again....this time to singapore...to join my first job....this time on a singapore airlines flight....fully equipped with inflight entertainment system... two course meal...and unlimited supply of booze.... was a totally differeent experience... flying across seas....nothing much happened... no lessons learnt...

my fourth flight was to Jakarta for my origin posting and my home away from home for years to come...singapore airlines again....this time an empty flight..... lesson learnt.....singapore airlines is good!!!

then started my innumerous flight within indonesia......jakarta to Lampung....Lampung to jakarta.....jakarta to Medan...medan to jakarta....jakarta to Makassar....makassar to jakarta....makassar to kendari....kendari to makassar... its a pleasure travelling in indonesia....what with you flying above a volcano or all the green coral island one can see from the plane...or what with the flight stopping midway on the runway to make up for the delay..... or what with the one missing the flight because the flight left earlier than the schedule....

Whenever i travel by air.....i remember what my grandma said once.... sit in the middle of the plane, wear the thickest belt and hold the bar very tight... ya grandma! will do that!!