The First Time.

For years, I kept wondering about how it would feel like the first time I would be on air. It’s been amazing ever since I cleared security. I think I never wept a tear as my entire family stood waving at me because everything was so new. I couldn’t wait to board the plane. However, it was past 3 am and there was nothing much to see in the dark. So as I sat by the window seat, I was prepared to “feel” things rather than “see” them. It was just a short trip to Mumbai anyway, and I could always see things during the other leg of the journey.

So for what seemed like a lifetime, I kept waiting. I had got my first mild shock when after being escorted down a closed, narrow tunnel, I found myself directly entering the belly of the plane. I mean I saw no plane, but kept walking down the passage like it happens in underworld movies. Like an excited child, I kept my nose glued to the double window panes. Everything seemed frosty in the darkness. Yet I knew from the slight whirr the moment the plane started to move. Why did I feel that the plane was moving backward? It was weird, since I never knew planes could take off backwards as well. May be the seats were arranged the wrong way. You see, that was the first time, and I was not exactly supposed to know things. So all I could make out from the lights was that the plane was moving backward, and that too very slowly. The runway was beautifully lit with blue and yellow lights. However I did not know if these were the runway lights or the lights from the city.

However, nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. After taxiing for some time, the plane came to a halt. I still had my nose glued to the windows while the man beside me had already attacked his orange drink. Finally, the plane started moving. However, you could not have imagined the speed it gathered in the next few seconds. As it was all dark, I just kept looking at the runway lights to get an idea of the speed. God, it was an amazing feeling. And then, the most unexpected thing happened. I suddenly felt a swarm of butterflies in my stomach while my ears heard nothing but static. And I gasped in amazement, my nose still glued to the window to see that we had already taken off. I saw nothing but lights, more and more of lights getting distant and dimmer. There were millions, blinking and shining, as if the ground below was studded with jewels. I was just behind the right wing and my goodness, they were so huge and powerful. Soon we were out of the city and there was nothing more to see but darkness. So for the next two hours, I kept staring at the blinking lights on the wing, wondering if all this was true.

So that was my first experience on air. I saw nothing, neither the green fields, nor the roads or the rivers. All I saw was the runway and the city with lights blinking like multicolored stars. The city of joy seemed nothing but a crown studded with millions of jewels. It seemed it was Diwali night and there were lamps everywhere. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A sight only the darkness could make me see.

sunshine.