First Flight................
It was a Sunday Morning on the 2nd of March, 2003.My flight to Jakarta was scheduled at 5.25am in the morning frm the Chennai Airport. We were supposed to reach the airport before 2 hrs frm the scheduled departure. Since, it was my First departure frm Chennai airport, we were not single, not double, but infinite-cautious. We reached the airport around 1 am in the morning.
My Mom,my brother, my friends about 5 of them and some of my other relatives who had turned up there to send their ward off. They gave me some hugs & I got in some wishes frm my mom,brother,friends & relatives.I started towards the Entrance.
Interestingly, I was the First person to check-in for that morning flight. The person behind the check-in counter raised his eye-brows on seeing a passenger like me, having came there to check-in as early as 3 and a half hours before the scheduled departure. I gave no-reaction. I was nervous, first up.
His look became more puzzled, when he weighed my baggage.. It had some 22 kgs including my hand baggage. He made a giggling look at me and said "have a nice flight"... I thought he was very happy to see a passenger who had very less baggage in his first flight.
Then, the other immigration formalities went on very very smoothly & i was waiting in the Gate to board my flight.. It was 4.30am then. I still had an hour to spend there.I rubbed my eyes.. and felt like sleeping.But, my memories dint sleep. Was brushing thro' wat had been happening for the past 2 days.... Everything came flooding again............
March 01, 2003.
My Last day in India, before i had to depart for jakarta.It was fascinating in a sense that i was busy packing my bags & on the other hand, i was stopping my packings every now & then simply becos it was the famous INDIA Vs.PAKISTAN WORLD CUP match.............
Sachin was at his best hitting at will.Pakistan had lost that game in the first 15-odd overs itself.It seemed though the pakis were losing the game,they were really enjoying to see Sachin play.The best part about that match was,we were always winning in that game..We never had a losing-weaklink in that whole match.
My friends had promised me that they wud be sending me of with joy if India Beats pak.. otherwise, they wudl hav to send me off with tears in their eyes that we lost.
But, wat happened was jus wat i expected to happen.We won in all aspects of the Game, keeping up the record 4th time in the worldcup match against Pakistan. ( 1992-Sydney, 1996-Bangalore,1999-Old Trafford & 2003-Centurian )
That made me even more happier about remembering my first Flight.
Then, there was an announcement about my flight AI473 bound to Singapore-Jakarta.I started towards the gate............
The Flight was worth for the money i had paid as the ticket-charge.Asking for facilities like in Lufthansa, only having paid the amount for an Air India flight simply unfair.So, I was content about the facilities.. and the flight took-off smooth enuf.Since, it was my first flight, everything seemed to me new & gr8t.
I had a Transit in Singapore--The best airport.I wondered there were lotta differences between Singapore Airlines & Air India as regards Singapore & Chennai.The Airport was quite marvellous.that i kept my mouth open until somebody started looking at me strange & i closed it. I had some coffees in a coffee shop there.Even, the coffee tasted like heaven. Then, my flight was ready to go to my actual destination-Jakarta.
The flight was full now.Full mostly of indonesians who were coming from Singapore.The food which was given to me frm Singapore was not upto my taste.It was tastier to the other Indonesians, i was seeing them eating that with full interest.I kept it aside as it was given to me.I asked for a lemon juice & it was my lunch, then.
The journey frm Singapore to Jakarta was about 1 hr.It passed-by very quickly.We were landing in Jakarta exactly after one hour.The airport in jakarta too was better than the Chennai airport in all aspects. But, all the faces & places seemed to be new to me.I shown my passport and visa to the Immigration department and that office behind the desk was putting some stamp in it.And, i thought, my entry was being given a green-signal.. so, i started towards the green-channel and came outside the airport.. where two of my going-to-be-office-colleagues were waiting for me...
My Mom,my brother, my friends about 5 of them and some of my other relatives who had turned up there to send their ward off. They gave me some hugs & I got in some wishes frm my mom,brother,friends & relatives.I started towards the Entrance.
Interestingly, I was the First person to check-in for that morning flight. The person behind the check-in counter raised his eye-brows on seeing a passenger like me, having came there to check-in as early as 3 and a half hours before the scheduled departure. I gave no-reaction. I was nervous, first up.
His look became more puzzled, when he weighed my baggage.. It had some 22 kgs including my hand baggage. He made a giggling look at me and said "have a nice flight"... I thought he was very happy to see a passenger who had very less baggage in his first flight.
Then, the other immigration formalities went on very very smoothly & i was waiting in the Gate to board my flight.. It was 4.30am then. I still had an hour to spend there.I rubbed my eyes.. and felt like sleeping.But, my memories dint sleep. Was brushing thro' wat had been happening for the past 2 days.... Everything came flooding again............
March 01, 2003.
My Last day in India, before i had to depart for jakarta.It was fascinating in a sense that i was busy packing my bags & on the other hand, i was stopping my packings every now & then simply becos it was the famous INDIA Vs.PAKISTAN WORLD CUP match.............
Sachin was at his best hitting at will.Pakistan had lost that game in the first 15-odd overs itself.It seemed though the pakis were losing the game,they were really enjoying to see Sachin play.The best part about that match was,we were always winning in that game..We never had a losing-weaklink in that whole match.
My friends had promised me that they wud be sending me of with joy if India Beats pak.. otherwise, they wudl hav to send me off with tears in their eyes that we lost.
But, wat happened was jus wat i expected to happen.We won in all aspects of the Game, keeping up the record 4th time in the worldcup match against Pakistan. ( 1992-Sydney, 1996-Bangalore,1999-Old Trafford & 2003-Centurian )
That made me even more happier about remembering my first Flight.
Then, there was an announcement about my flight AI473 bound to Singapore-Jakarta.I started towards the gate............
The Flight was worth for the money i had paid as the ticket-charge.Asking for facilities like in Lufthansa, only having paid the amount for an Air India flight simply unfair.So, I was content about the facilities.. and the flight took-off smooth enuf.Since, it was my first flight, everything seemed to me new & gr8t.
I had a Transit in Singapore--The best airport.I wondered there were lotta differences between Singapore Airlines & Air India as regards Singapore & Chennai.The Airport was quite marvellous.that i kept my mouth open until somebody started looking at me strange & i closed it. I had some coffees in a coffee shop there.Even, the coffee tasted like heaven. Then, my flight was ready to go to my actual destination-Jakarta.
The flight was full now.Full mostly of indonesians who were coming from Singapore.The food which was given to me frm Singapore was not upto my taste.It was tastier to the other Indonesians, i was seeing them eating that with full interest.I kept it aside as it was given to me.I asked for a lemon juice & it was my lunch, then.
The journey frm Singapore to Jakarta was about 1 hr.It passed-by very quickly.We were landing in Jakarta exactly after one hour.The airport in jakarta too was better than the Chennai airport in all aspects. But, all the faces & places seemed to be new to me.I shown my passport and visa to the Immigration department and that office behind the desk was putting some stamp in it.And, i thought, my entry was being given a green-signal.. so, i started towards the green-channel and came outside the airport.. where two of my going-to-be-office-colleagues were waiting for me...
posted by Avinash at 11:01 AM
1 Comments:
nice description da. though mundane and can generate reactions like "Oh yeah you travelled by flight, so what?" and all that from some quarters, i personally feel the importance of such events to be journalled....
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