Kumar Bahukhandi
Noted Hindi littérateur ‘Sharad Joshi’ once said that he prefers a journey by ordinary class in a train to a journey by air. In the aircraft the air is stale. You sit stiffly at one place, the co-passengers are too stiff-collared to talk to you, whereas in the train ,you enjoy fresh air ,you make a lot of friends very quickly and time passes swiftly as you exchange meals and discuss every topic under the sun .There is no fun in the air ,he said .But air journeys also do have amusing and not so amusing moments ..
My uncle who was immersed in his subject, Chemistry, that his general knowledge in other fields was very low .Once he was flying from Goa to Mumbai .The co-passenger a jolly looking gentleman ,picked up a conversation with him ,Once prodded ,my uncle of course started a discourse on his favorite subject. After some time, it occurred to him that courtesy demanded and he enquired about his new acquaintance.
He asked his name .Raj Kapoor, the gentleman replied.” And what do you do Mr. Kapoor “I don’t think Raj Kapoor would have ever faced such a question in his life in his own country atleast, but he replied politely that he worked in the films. What do you do in the films, asked my uncle, Raj Kapoor replied that he produces films .That was grand opening line for my uncle, for the rest of the journey. He lectured Raj Kapoor on the different types of films, of the need to use non- inflammable films, how they are different in composition, and so on and on, for the rest of the journey .Only when he reached home and narrated the incident, he did come to know who Raj Kapoor was. What fun Raj Kapoor must have had!
Some times, situations do happen when the mood inside an aircraft becomes a bit tense. That it was like that we had taken our seats when the air-conditioning went off .It was peak summer, you can easily imagine the plight of the passengers and their mood. To cap it all, as many times the pilot started the engine and air conditioner, both were tripping off. This went for almost half an hour, we were literally being roasted.
Suddenly, a sardarji sitting in the seat just in front of me sprang up on to his seat and started shouting. “See the efficiency of this airline .Are these airbuses or DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses? Their engine is faltering on the ground itself. Imagine what will happen if it shuts off in mid-air? Obviously, he was very worked up and tense. The airhostess with her all efforts tried to calm him down but in vain. At that time someone from back seats quipped. “Don’t worry sardarji, if it shuts off in the mid air, we all get down and push”. Peals of laughter broke out in the air-craft. The tension dissipated .Luckily, at that very moment, both the engine and air -conditioning system sprang to life and we were off. Needless to add, the engine did not conk off in mid-air.
I was taking a non-stop flight from Mumbai to USA and was occupying a window seat .Within minutes of being airborne I found a sheet of whitish material sweeping by the window .I was going to inform an air hostess , when the pilot announced .”We are sorry that under carriage is not retracting in .So we are dumping fuel. Once that is done, we will land back in Mumbai.” We landed back after half an hour .The plane taxied to the hanger .After an hour , the pilot again announced that they have replaced the malfunctioning part. We took off again .
Next day morning when we were approaching airport for landing a chilling thought struck me .While getting up from Mumbai the landing gear had refused to get up and now while getting down , suppose it refuses to get down? Somehow, the prospect of fuel dumping and then crash landing on an American meadow ,however enticingly green, did not appear very funny .
May be Joshiji was right .Traveling by train is better option .
