THE GLINT OF HOPE

I am walking the last mile in my beloved Uniform. It has been a wonderful journey of 26 years since I joined the National Defence Academy in 1988. These days I drive to MDI, Gurgaon for my Management Course. As I get into the maze of traffic, I cross the New Delhi's Airport's 03 busy runways. Yesterday, on my return leg, I parked my car on one side and just watched plane after plane landing into New Delhi. On my side was a family of four who had also stopped their 2-wheeler to admire the flying machines. The glint in the eyes of the young children and their excitement with each landing reminded me of my tryst with air planes.

 My first journey in a plane took place in 1989 when I had to rush to New Delhi from NDA on receiving the news of my father's sudden death. The memories are hazy as my mind was racing between rigors of 2nd Term and the future that lay in front of me post this news. So much so that I did not even acknowledge the passenger sitting next to me. He was also aloof  but somewhere in the flight he asked me whether I was from NDA? I said yes to Shashi Kapoor and he told me a few details about his association with NDA during the shooting of his movie "Vijeta". I was engrossed in my tiredness and did not connect much with the aging movie star. Post my stay at my hometown, I returned on a connecting Delhi-Mumbai-Pune Indian Airlines Flight. The flight was late and the airline put me into a hotel at Mumbai for the night halt. The next day I was delivered at Pune and was back to NDA.

              

Thus began my account with the air planes. The fascination to fly is universal amongst human beings. This invention of Wright Brothers is infectious. After all-it has the components of speed, design and shapes and they are all encompassed together in a composite frame. However, all fascinations do not turn into reality. Soon, my career also took its own shape and I contended myself with diving and surfacing Submarines into the depths of the mighty oceans. A badge remained the common identity with the Fly-boys. The Services gave me ample opportunity to fly to various destinations. I flew with Pilots from the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and Commercial Pilots from India, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and America. The thrills of flying were at their extreme during mid-flight emergencies and air-turbulences. I calmly sat through a couple of engine failures on twin-engined commercial air planes and also through an emergency landing . I witnessed the dare devilry of a Russian Tupolev Pilot when he took off with us in a blinding weather and also clapped with fellow Russia bound passengers as another Russian Pilot landed his plane safely amidst a frozen Moscow. A Naval Chetak pilot almost got my guts out with his antics over the picturesque backwaters of Kerela. A smooth take off and landing is all that a passenger needs.

             

The excited family standing next to me were counting the landings and excitedly reading the Airliner's company name. The father and mother were holding the hands of their chirping children. They all were dreaming- a new future was all that ran into their minds. The mother told her children to study hard and become big people to sit in the air plane. The son exclaimed that he would also become a pilot. The time stood still for me and turned around the images of the past. The country has hopes,wishes,dreams and desires. The young generation of India still has to travel and travel far and wide. The popular verdict proclaims that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We need to traverse the tunnel-each one of us in his/her unique way. Our future has a young dream.

             

I took out a few candies from my bag (you need a few shots of glucose in 6 hour long classes at MDI) , introduced myself and handed them over to the young children. I wished them good luck for their dreams and started my car. As I pressed on the gas to merge with the speeding traffic, I was clear- there is a glint of hope and I must continue on my tryst with the destiny.