The first dream and scream flight

Keshav, a young man was dreaming to enjoy his maiden flight journey but was deprived and eluded more than once before he could suffer and later enjoy his first flight with his beloved wife.

Keshav was elated with enthusiastic joy when he was short-listed for a training program in New Delhi. He worked as an executive in the Finance department of a Government company in Hyderabad. The reason for such an overwhelming joy for Keshav was due to the fact that the three participants from his organization (Including him) were permitted to go by air to Delhi, as a special case. Keshav never traveled by airplane before that. But his joy remained only for a few days when the training program scheduled in New Delhi was canceled due to unforeseen reasons. Keshav felt disappointed  After some time, he overcame the disappointment.

Keshav’s parents were searching for a suitable alliance for him as he was already 28+. Many alliances were received but due to one or the other reason no one alliance matched fully. After continuous efforts, a girl, Kalpana, from Bangalore was shortlisted after both Keshav and his parents saw the photos of the girl. The girl’s parents wanted Keshav and his parents to visit Bangalore so that the boy and girl could meet each other and have a dialogue between them if things go positively. Since Keshav’s father was having severe back pain, it was decided that they would travel by air to Bangalore. It was another opportunity for Keshav to fulfill his wish to travel by flight. All the arrangements were made for the air travel. The traveling day arrived. Keshav and his parents booked a cab to Hyderabad airport. Keshav started feeling excited. He thought about how the take-off would be, how he would feel inside the aircraft after it ascended higher and higher altitudes. With all such novel imaginations, Keshav reached the airport with his parents. They took the boarding pass and started to join the queue for the security check. Keshav’s father complained of uneasiness and felt difficulty walking further. Keshav asked his father “Can you walk or shall I get a wheelchair for you? His father said” I am having pain in my chest region and I feel very uncomfortable.  Why don’t you and your mother go? I will take a cab and go to my brother’s place which is very near to the airport. Keshav felt very sad for his father. His mother suggested he postpone the trip to Bangalore. The three surrendered their boarding passes and checked out of the airport. Keshav took his father to their family doctor who advised for a thorough health check-up of his father. By that time, his father became more normal. After further tests, it was diagnosed that his father had holes in his heart. Depending on the enormity of the hole, a call had to be taken by the specialist on whether to operate on him or cure him through medication.

 

Kalpana’s parents felt very bad about the dampness caused due to the inability of Keshav in seeing Kalpana. They spoke to his parents over the phone and enquired about his father’s health. When they learned that he was improving, they told his parents that they were prepared to bring Kalpana to Hyderabad. Raghu consented to the proposal, in view of the medical condition of his father. Kalpana and her parents came by flight to Hyderabad and visited Keshav’s house. It was a wonderful meeting for the two families. Both Keshav and Kalpana liked each other in all aspects. After some time, with the permission of their parents, they interacted one to one in a room. The conversation was pleasant, cool, mature, and joyful and ended on a satisfactory note.  

 

Shortly Keshav and Kalpana became spouses to each other. They had planned to have a novel honeymoon at Manali, Himachal Pradesh. All necessary travel arrangements were made. The two would fly to New Delhi and from there they would engage a cab to visit Manali and back to New Delhi reroute to Hyderabad.  The day of the joy of travel by air arrived. With all necessary minimum baggage, they reached the airport. The security check went through smoothly. The two boarded the plane in ecstasy. The two fastened their belts and waited eagerly for the grand take-off of the new couple. Just then the air hostess made an announcement “ Ladies and gentlemen, there is an emergency situation on the board. We are sorry to state that there is a bomb hoax on this plane. Without any panic and hassle, we request each one of you to come out of the plane. The make-shift ladder is being mantled outside. In a minute’s time, we shall be de-boarding the plane. Hope you understand the gravity of the situation in the wake of the possible threat to the lives of the passengers and crew. You will go to the lounge through the security gate, where you will be whisked for a security check. At the lounge you will be apprised of the situation. Thank you” 

 

Keshav and Kalpana, while quickly unfastened their belts and started to de-board the plane with the rest of the other passengers. They looked at each other in total disbelief and shock. “How could this happen to us and especially to me?” Keshav thought. The security check this time was very rigorous with the whisking of every passenger by two security personnel. Finally, they all reached the lounge where they were asked to stay calm. Refreshments were served to all the passengers. After an hour’s time, there was an announcement to the stranded passengers “We are glad to inform you that the flight is now safe for air travel and will take off in another hour’s time. Please remain calm. We thank you for the cooperation under such an uneasy situation”.

Kalpana said, “ It is OK, we shall be reaching well beyond midnight, so what, we can always inform the hotel about the delayed flight.” But Keshav felt otherwise “ Kalp, I am sorry dear. Can we cancel our trip to Manali? I don’t feel comfortable right now in the prevailing situation.”

Kalpana “Oh, what has happened Keshav? Such things do happen in airports. Only mad maniacs or lunatics indulge in such perverted acts of giving bomb-hoax calls. Now it has been thoroughly checked inside the flight that there is no threat of any bomb. So why feel uncomfortable?”

Keshav “You may be right Kalp but I will not feel comfortable inside the plane. You know that I have not traveled in a plane to date. “Kalpana said “Oh, now I can understand your mindset and anxiety. Cool, we will cancel this trip and chart out a better tour package” The two then informed the airlines about their decision, exited the airport, and returned to their home to the utter disbelief of Keshav’s parents.

 

In the next three days, the young couple traveled to Bangalore by an AC coach train. From there they visited Coorg and enjoyed it there for three days. Then they went jog falls and from there to Mysore where they stayed for two nights. They returned by train in AC coach to Hyderabad. It was a wonderful honeymoon a newly married couple could experience.

 

After one year, another tour plan was charted out by the couple to visit Kashmir valley via New Delhi. They booked the morning flight to New Delhi. Keshav was quite confident that this time he would be able to watch the beauty of Hyderabad from the sky from a very high altitude from the plane. Kalpana felt very energetic and enthusiastic about the thought of going to Kashmir, her dream place.

On the day of travel, the couple reached the airport well in advance. Everything went smoothly. They boarded the plane and the plane started to taxi on the ground in preparation to take off. Keshav said triumphantly to Kalpana with a victory sign “Wow, we have made it, the flight is about to soar high into the sky”. Kalpana said with excitement “Indeed Keshav, it will be lovely times from now”. They fastened the seat belts for the second time in less than two years. They heard the voice authorizing the pilot to take off. Once the plane started picking up more speed on the runway, Keshav started feeling tensed along with excitement. He got frightened at the moment when the flight took off from the ground. He almost shouted both in excitement and fear when he saw the sprawling Hyderabad from thousands of meters above the ground. He felt suddenly the flight descending fast and then again and ascending into the sky; he felt the sound of the engine erratic, noisy, and threatening; he heard some sounds in the plane that seemed unwanted to him, causing a panic sensation. He took out the newspaper kept in his seat bag and started to stare at it and insisted Kalpana too read the newspaper. Kalpana knew it was fear and panic that gripped Keshav on his first ever flight journey. Being familiar with flight travel, she took Keshav’s hands “Dear, everything is fine now, don’t worry. Now enjoy the flight.” In the next 10 minutes, the noise level reduced, and the plane gained more height and set for a smooth flight.

 

The air hostess announced that in a short while refreshments would be served. When the air hostesses began their serving, an announcement from the pilot created panic in every single passenger “Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to inform you that we are encountering a certain technical snag in the plane. Keeping in view the safety of all the passengers, we are about to return to Hyderabad airport. Please bear with us and cooperate.”   

 

Now imagine what would have been the reaction on the faces of Keshav and Kalpana. Keshav, in particular, looked terrified with fear and panic. He held the hands of Kalpana and spoke in indelible words “hope nothing happens, I pray nothing should happen, Kapana, we should reach the airport soon, it should not take time. “

Kalpana, though frightened too, looked more composed and said “In a few minutes we will reach Hyderabad airport. Nothing untoward will happen. The flight is returning keeping in view the safety of us and is not confronting any danger now.”

Another announcement from the pilot “Ladies and gentlemen, feel relieved, in another couple of minutes we shall be descending on Hyderabad airport. We regret deeply for not taking you to New Delhi right now. An alternative arrangement will be made for your travel to New Delhi. Thank you”

 

At that point in time, Keshav felt so much relieved. Kalpana could see Keshav visibly joyful and cheerful when the airport was sighted from the plane. When the plane stopped after taxing, Keshav literally shouted “Yey, we have made it. Congrats pilots and air hostesses” to the amusement of everyone on the plane. But Keshav was determined this time. If the airlines are making alternative arrangements for flying to New Delhi today, he and Kalpana would make it, come, what may.  After waiting in the lounge for two hours with all patience and hope, the airlines announced an alternative flight for the stranded passengers in the afternoon. Expressing deep regret over the unexpected technical snag, the airlines informed that all the stranded passengers would be served a hot lunch pack and a cool drink. Once again it was a moment of surprise and shock for his parents at home.

 

Keshav and Kalpana had so much time that they chatted with their friends and relatives, and flashed their adventurous experiences on and outside the plane. After sometime, the air travel starved Keshav, air-travel starved, and Kalpana, air-travel liking, boarded the alternate flight in confidence. The flight took off. Keshav stooped from the plane and saw Hyderabad under him for the second time in less than 8 hours. There were jolts and bumps in between due to the inclement weather outside that caused air turbulence here and there. But Keshav took everything in his stride. When their plane landed at New Delhi airport, it was about 6 PM in the evening. The weather outside was very pleasant as the lovely couple Keshav and Kalpana. Keshav looked from the flight before de-boarding whether someone was waiting with a garland to receive them but then realized that his safe and enjoyable maiden successful air travel with his charming Kalpana was itself like garlanding them for their victorious adventure. 

 

The couple had a great and memorable tour of the Kashmir valley without any threat or insecurity from the militants and terrorists. Keshav composed a small poem while camping in Kashmir. He wanted the poem to be included in his flight story. It reads as follows:

 

Kudos to the Kashmir valley for its stunning beauty

A dream-come-true to be in a place of natural booty

Suffering from the troubles of uncertainties everyday

Hearty Kashmiris welcome their tourist with sweet Hi

My best wishes for them, to make India really ‘proud’

I relished every bit of charm here and its warm crowd

Rally with loyalty abd make India the best in the world

  

The loving couple became proud parents in the next year, thanks to  Coorg, Mysore and Kashmir and Keshav's memorable maiden flight travel.