First experiences are always special and when they are as eventful as my first experience was… it is even more unforgettable…

One of my unfulfilled dreams since my childhood has been to fly in an airplane… at least for a short distance

I joined an HR forum as a freelancer and my first assignment was to be part of an interview panel at Trivandrum… and I was flying to Trivandrum... WOW

It was my first assignment and I did not have any friends as such in the panel…in fact I knew no one from the panel.

In the normal course, when one has to embark on such a risky adventure as flying for the first time, they would prefer to be in the comfort of seasoned friends, but not me… The opportunity to fly was so tempting that I would not have cared if I were flying with one of the most wanted notorious terrorist.

The day of my first flight dawned bright and sunny. I jumped out of the bed and got thru my morning chores at lightning speed. The check-in time was at 10:30 a.m., but I was all set and ready for the airport by 7:30 a.m.

People at home told me to wait till it was time to leave… but I would jus not listen…

I had purchased a new bag for my travel and was absolutely geared up… I landed at the airport by 8:30 a.m. It then struck me that I did not have the ticket… the tickets were with one of my colleagues, Lakshmi who is a seasoned traveler. I called Lakshmi, who answered in a very sleepy voice… she had jus got up and will come to the airport on time… she asked me where I was and I told her sheepishly that I was at the airport…

At that point I did not know what she thought of me, but till date she has that event as the biggest joke of the century.

Anyways… going back to my first flight… Lakshmi arrived by 10:10 and by that time I had worked myself into frenzy, and was absolutely sure that I had lost the precious chance of traveling by air…

Lakshmi very coolly guided me thru the procedure and I rushed behind her trying to act as though this was not my first flight…

When she turned around and told the whole panel in a loud voice, “u know something, this is Lalitha’s first time in an airplane”… and everyone within 20 meters radius was looking at me with various emotions ranging from a cheerful smiles, to sympathetic looks, to downright contempt and smirks for not doing so in advance.

I tried my best to hide behind some pillar… but it was just not possible… and u know why…

Lakshmi took me under her wing and led me into the flight. She was also magnanimous enough to give me the window seat… I was absolutely excited and looked around, trying to absorb everything at once. Lakshmi asked me to keep cool and act professional… but I was not able to…

It was 10:30 even before I realized the same, we had the airhostesses coming in and giving instructions on how to secure the seat belts and what to do in case of emergency, etc…

The flight soared into the sky and so did my adrenalin… I just cannot describe in words my mind frame at that particular point in time…

Everything was bright and rosy for the next 15 minutes… lakshmi then advised me to open the window if I wanted more air… I turned to look at her with an air of shock… had I not read someplace that we cannot open the windows in a flight…

The whole team started laughing aloud, and just then the flight started shaking terribly… later on I would know that we were in turbulence… but at that point the explanation lakshmi gave was that the loud laughter of rounded persons caused the turbulence… I leaned out with my nose on the window to check out what was causing the commotion when lakshmi grabbed my hand and asked me not to do so, as I was causing the flight to tilt to one side…

I moved back in a hurry even before common sense took over… the time for humor came to an abrupt end, when the flight started making groaning noises and started shaking even more… Lakshmi and others became nauseated and I did not know what to do, so I kept blinking at every body… in a hope that she would laugh and tell me it was all normal….

When the oxygen masks came down from above our seats, I came to the conclusion that my first flight was going to be my last one too, and closed my eyes tight. After a few seconds, I half-opened my eyes to check out on others… and could see that all those who had smirks on their faces when they learnt that it was my first flight – were looking pale, red-faced, white, grey and every other shade other than the normal ones.

I encouraged them to keep cool, and everything was going to be ok, and surprisingly no one contradicted or put me down by saying… what do u know? They looked reassured with my kind words…

Then, we heard the announcement on the public system asking us to fasten our seat belts as we had reached Trivandrum… I looked out of the window to look at the beautiful Arabian Sea on one side… plenty of coconut trees and other greenery in the middle, and back waters leading to the sea on the other… that sight made me change my mind instantly and decide it was worth taking the risk of flying again.

I have travelled constantly by air after that, but the thrill and exhilaration of my first flight will remain with me forever…