It was the most beautiful experience I ever had- a flight in the clouds. My flight from Delhi to Mumbai via Indigo Airlines was one full of adventure, awe and delight. I was flying for a business trip and that too all alone, without any colleagues. Last business trip I had made was when I was working with NDTV and was travelling to Simla for a weather report on unusually heavy snowfall. At that time I was with a cameraperson and the OB van. This time I was alone to be present at a conference by Economic Times.
I was getting butterflies as I had done my flight bookings, hotel bookings and airport parking booking for the first time on my own. So far my brother had been booking my travel tickets. It was a challenge for me to also reach everywhere on time so I may attend an ongoing webinar which I did not want to miss. As I drove down to the Indira Gandhi International Airport (domestic terminal) I was very nervous, frightful and excited at the same time.
I parked my car where the parking officer was very kind and guided me to the terminal departure gate. As I headed towards Indigo Airline kiosk, I was told that if there's no check-in baggage I could directly proceed to security and wait at the gate for departure. He gave me a slip which I kept very securely in my sling bag. I ensured that I carried light luggage and don't face problems carrying it around. While the security-check guards and ladies were very polite, I quickly found my departure gate and waited there with my webinar login. Today's class was with Mr. Sabu Cyril, the legendary art designer for films.
As the class went on lot of people went past and several flight announcements were made- to Ladakh, Srinagar, Patna and Lucknow. I asked a question at the webinar about the use of Artificial Intelligence in Indian films and soon the webinar ended. I walked uptil the gate and the flight to Ahmedabad was boarding. Soon our gate was opened and I took the bus to the aircraft. Our aircraft had been changed in the morning so my seat was changed from 27E to 28E.
The moment I entered the aircraft the aeroplane looked beautiful from inside as thin cloud-like smoke appeared on the ceiling of the aircraft as we all boarded. There was also some room freshener which had been sprayed. This gave it the feel that thin clouds were floating inside leaving behind a light, dewey smell. The aircraft was perfectly lit. As I walked uptil my seat I realised there was no luggage carrier above my seat as it was close to the emergency exit. So I put my cabin baggage in the overhead carrier behind my seat. I was also told by Fariji, the air-hostess, to put my sling bag in the overhead carrier for take-off and landing.
As the plane did push-back and took off, Fariji sat on the chair at the emergency exit so my fears were allayed and we had a smooth take-off into the sky. Once afloat in the clouds, Captain Amit Singh gave us a 'good feel' by rocking the plane from top to bottom and shaking it from side to side like a toy-plane.
Soon the serving trays were moving around and I requested the air-hostess to prepare my Poha. She immediately pulled out a box of Chiwda, put some hot water in it and asked me to open it for eating only after 5 minutes. The Meal of the Moment (MOM) Bhujia was delicious, too. As I finished my meal, it was time to land and Fariji again sat at the chair on the emergency exit. We had a smooth landing and I almost got late for my evening webinar. I hurriedly took a Meru cab and checked into Sahara Star close to the airport. This was the venue for the ET event as well.
As I headed to my room I realised it was the most beautiful room I had ever seen. The room number was my roll number in school- 4091. After entering there were steps which made the beds feel like they were on a landing. The twin beds faced the window which opened onto the buildings on the other side. There were lampshades on either side of each bed. At one corner of the room was a glass study-table with a table-lamp that lit up the entire place in a gorgeous yellow light. The study-table too faced the windows. They were actually window walls which I kept open throughout my stay for two days.
As soon as I checked in I felt famished and ordered some Vada-Pav, so quintessentially Maharashtrian. I gulped it down with a cup of coffee as I attended the ongoing webinar. Since I was tired with the day's travel I immediately went to bed to be ready for the conference the next day.
On June 30 I attended the conference, about which I have written later, and went back to my room for an eventful day the next morning. On July 1 I checked out and reached the airport well in advance so I could attend my webinar from there.
As I attended the webinar I comfortably took down notes that Mr. Indrajit Neogi gave on sound design in films. As the webinar ended it was time to board the flight. I took some pictures of Chhatrapati Shivaji Mumbai Airport (Terminal 2) since it left me mesmerized with its architectural pieces sculpted on walls. Even the entry was more organized with every airline having a separate entry. Like last time I smoothly sailed past security and waited at the gate. On board the aircraft, I had pre-booked some Veg Biryani which I relished. Upon landing I looked for a place to sit at the arrival as I had a webinar to attend.
I found a corner and requested airport security to allow me to wait there for some time. As the webinar began I relaxed a little before hitting the road for terminal 2 parking and picking up my car from the parking lot. I had already paid online for it so there was no problem in taking my car away. As I drove I listened in to the webinar and stopped by on the way when I pulled over to ask a question.
As I saw 'Gaur Atulyam' written from far at the top of my building I heaved a sigh of relief and picked up some milk and bread for the next day. I felt indebted to God for giving me the BEST PHYGITAL experience on this tour for work.
It seems I want to repeat this experience again to be able to better understand my country, its culture, its achievements and delicacies. It was the most enriching Maharashtrian experience I ever had.
#ETBWS #AmchiMumbai #Indigo #AirTravel #Clouds #Sun
