Originally posted here on January 24th, 2007
Current Mood:
anxious
Current Music: None
13:00 hrs On board SG 212 from B'lore to Delhi
Its early morning on Saturday, 13th of Jan. I’d kept an alarm for 6:30 am but am up at 5:40 itself. In fact I haven’t slept properly the whole night. I’m not sure why. Maybe I’m a little afraid of flying on my own. I’m not really sure of all the procedures and am worried that something may go wrong. Also, on all the previous occasions that I’ve traveled to Delhi, it has been from Chennai, where I was putting up with my uncle and aunt and had them for support. But this time I’m all by myself. I had to do all my packing on my own and there’s no one to drop me or see off. Maybe, that made me feel lonely.
Its early morning on Saturday, 13th of Jan. I’d kept an alarm for 6:30 am but am up at 5:40 itself. In fact I haven’t slept properly the whole night. I’m not sure why. Maybe I’m a little afraid of flying on my own. I’m not really sure of all the procedures and am worried that something may go wrong. Also, on all the previous occasions that I’ve traveled to Delhi, it has been from Chennai, where I was putting up with my uncle and aunt and had them for support. But this time I’m all by myself. I had to do all my packing on my own and there’s no one to drop me or see off. Maybe, that made me feel lonely.
Anyway, the flight’s supposed to depart at 11:30 am and I’m at the airport by 9:40. I put my suitcase on to a luggage trolley, enter the airport and go to the SpiceJet counter. My luggage is checked in, am given the boarding pass and directed towards Gate No. 2. One look at the gate and I almost faint. There is a hugely convoluted, serpentine queue leading to the gate and it almost looks like Majestic on a Friday night. I had planned to have some light snacks before boarding the flight but after seeing the queue, I don’t want to waste any time.
I spend the next two minutes searching for the end of the queue. It’s 10’o clock by now and its almost 11 by the time I’m through the security check. I have a sandwich, make a few calls to family and friends, read the newspaper and its time to board the flight. There are several queues for various airlines and destinations and they are not clearly distinguishable. The confusion reminds me of Home Alone 2.
A minibus ferries us to our flight. On the way I see a helicopter taking off for the first time. Our flight is a Boeing 737-800 and its not huge. I board the plane and walk up to my window seat and put my bag in the overhead compartment. The seats are a little close together and for someone like me, there’s not enough leg space. Anyway, I make myself as comfortable as I possibly can and wait for take-off. The plane is ready for takeoff but there is a further delay of about 30 min which our cabin crew informs us is due to the Bangalore ATC. Finally, at around 12 noon, the plane taxis to the runway and picks up speed almost instantaneously and before I know, we are in air. It feels like riding a huge giant wheel, only thing is we keep going up. The difficult part is not when the plane starts ascending but when it has reached the maximum height and attempts to stabilize. This is when the plane starts wobbling to the left and to the right, sending shivers down my spine. The instability is due to the bad weather, informs our captain.
The view from the window is amazing. We are flying at 38000 feet about sea level and the scene from here is really splendid. The best part is when we sail above a group of clouds. I take some pics with my mobile, even though the use of mobile phones is forbidden.
After about half an hour, with two more hours to go before we reach Delhi and the initial excitement having all but died down, I have to find a way to spend time. I pick up the inflight magazine and start flipping through the pages. Nothing of interest there. No probs… there’s Sudoku at the end. This should keep me busy for some time. I have never seriously tried Sudoku before and feel very guilty about it. So this is my chance to make up.
5 mins after I start, I still haven’t started. 10 more mins and I still haven’t got a single number. I take a break and start afresh after 5 mins. But 10 mins into my second attempt, I’m still scratching my head for a start. I close the magazine, look out for about 2 mins, but can’t take my mind away from the puzzle. Now this is really bad. Almost half an hour after my first serious attempt at Sudoku, I’m still struggling for one digit. Finally, realizing that its not leading me anywhere, I decide to give up and do something else. And start writing this blog. So this blog is actually a result of my almost non-existent Sudoku skills.
The captain announces that we should be landing in about 15 minutes. Not able to come to terms with the fact that I failed completely, I decide to give Sudoku one last attempt. But the one hour break hasn’t made me any smarter. I’m still unable to crack one, single number and give up in frustration. This gives me my first resolution of the year. I resolve to start playing Sudoku seriously when I return to Bangalore.
By now we are flying above Delhi and the aerial view of the city leaves me spellbound. The broad roads, the high apartment buildings, Yamuna flowing through the city and the metro looking like some toy train…..it truly is a scene to behold. Delhi looks really good from here. And it only gets better as the place descends and the vehicles and buildings start getting bigger.
Soon the plane lands in Delhi and my first air journey after a really long time is over. It was a good experience.
(If this blog bored you, blame Sudoku. And yeah, I’ve started practicing it. BTW, do give me some tips…I need them.)
Current Location: SpiceJet flight to DelhiCurrent Mood:
anxiousCurrent Music: None
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