I remember it like it was yesterday. I entered this red room in the middle of the night. Filled with buttons and lights it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. There were 3 men chatting there who all of a sudden paused as if something out of the ordinary just happened. There I stood there awestruck. staring at each and every inch of that mystic place trying to figure out what in god’s name was all this. In the midst of it all I heard a voice. It was the Captain welcoming me to his office at the belly of the beast with the brightest smile I ever saw from a man. Of course back in those days I was quite the looker. I was barely 3 feet tall with soft chubby cheeks and a devilish smile and more often than not always ended up getting my ass whipped for doing something naughty or crazy.I walked slowly controlling myself not to touch anything. And then at that very moment I saw what it felt like. The feeling of flying, the power of those engines and the lives of the hundreds of passengers all were in the control of the 2 strong hands this man on the left seat of this monster of a plane. A man who I wished to become someday.
That trip was a special trip for me. I was 4 years old with all the energy and madness any 4 year old boy would have multiplied by 10. This trip however was unlike any other trip I did before. For the first time in my life I would be flying alone without my parents or any guardian. Yeah it was a crazy time. Saddam was all crazy and my folks who were working in Abu Dhabi (the capital of UAE) feared something bad was going to happen so they sent me alone to India to stay with my grand parents. I don’t know whether it was me being brave or just plain old crazy but here I was, a kid who didn’t even know his nursery rhymes in the airport hugging my parents not knowing where or when I was going to see them again and I didnt even cry and just waved good bye and walked away like it was just another one of those flights. Then again I dont know if it was me having balls of steel or the cute looking airhostress who couldnt get her hands off of me or my cheeks but what ever it was it was the flight that changed my life forever.
Well time went by and I started wearing glasses after seeing Top Gun and Swat Kats one too many times and I thought I couldnt be a pilot any more and figured hey it was just a childhood thing and moved on with my life. It was not until the final semester of my engineering when out of no where I met a pilot working for Deccan Aviation in my apartment lift. It took us 30 sec from the 4th floor to the ground floor and that was all it took to convince me that all I had to do was to see if I was medically fit. Weeks later I met a doctor and guess what I was fit to be a pilot after all. Then it was no looking back.
Like it was faith next thing you know Spicejet comes out with a cadet programme and were selecting cadets. And as luck had it I was one of the select few who got to be one of the first cadet pilots of an Indian Airline carrier. Words could not express the joy I felt after I got that call. It was spectacular. Finally I was out to make my childhood dream a reality. Ground school in Delhi went off great and I got my visa and the dreaded class 1 medical. I was all set to take my wings and it would all happen in the middle of summer Mesa, Arizona, USA. A summer I would never forget.
Sabena Airline Training Center was where the action was all going to happen. Known to be one of the best flying schools in Europe and for training every pilot for KLM which is one of the largest airlines in the world its reputation for creating world class professional pilots precided it. There were 7 of us in our batch of which 3 of us flew together. Sid, a 26 year old software engineer and Aravind who like me just graduated. We were all set to go for the most memorable time of our lives. Well memorable it was but for what reasons we would find out later.
We should have got the picture when we landed. It was 7 in the evening but it was bright as hell. And to top it off it was a burning 45 degrees. Well we were stunned because well its hot in India but not hot as hell like this place plus there was absolutely no humidity in the air whatsoever which worsened it even more cause the breeze would just hit you with even more heat. The best part was beat this we would not sweat in that heat because it was soo hot that even our sweat would evaporate before it got a chance to actually be sweat.
Having said that however we were greeted by this amazing gentleman. His name was Bob and unlike most people he could actually know the names of each and every Indian and would try to get it pronounced right. Even if he couldn’t he would never make any american name for anyone but just call us by name the best way he could. He is one man who everyone loved. Well he took us to our apartment and on the way drove past our airport Falcon Field and our school.
The first few days were crazy. We were lost in the time zones and for 2 days we slept all day and be up all night. We never were able to get a hold of ourselves. Finally on the 3rd day we were able to get all dressed and go to our school. The school was unlike any thing we imagined it to be. It began with the admin desk and then came the corridor of class rooms which led to the instructors room and the briefing room and then the huge dispatch. We were amazed to see soo many chairs and tables filled with students from belgium, Holland and India. There we were greeted by Melody, our ground instuctor. She was a tall blond with big shoulders and beautiful eyes. She was the ground instructor there and she gave us the newbie tour which was basically showing everyone who the new kids were. She took us downstairs to the ramp where for the first time we saw what we were here for. There were 8 diamond 20s for the vfr phase and 3 diamond 40s for the instrument phase. Just then we were able to grab Doc, one of our closest buddy who came a month before us and was all set to go for his 1st flight. Together he along with his instructor showed us what it was all about. That was the day where I felt the absolute power and absolute freedom I always dreamt of. That was the day I finally sat on that left seat. Even though it was for just a moment and even though nothing was on and even though that plane was like a mosquito compared to the plane that captain I saw flew. It was the first time I got to sit inside the cockpit and touch the controls. I was finally sitting in the room I always dreamt I would be.
