THE DAY DAWNS.

Was I excited; I couldn’t sleep much and was full of anticipation to embark on what was going to be a new adventure for me. At last I was off to India. I had checked on-line and found out that the Aircraft was an Airbus. I had been on them before. I remembered when Indian Airlines introduced them on the Colombo Bombay sector and I was taking a flight to Colombo when somebody mentioned I was taking an Airbus, wondering what kind of a bus had wings and could fly ?

As usual we left home late and made it to the Airport an hour before departure, passengers are supposed to be at the Airport three hours before, but that was nothing new to me. When I was a frequent traveller and my late first wife worked for an Airline I used to be at the Airport just in time to be bundled into the plane. That was another time of my life.

My Buddy is a well-known actor and a frequent flyer. One of the counter girls recognized him and we got a business class upgrade, and that was a cool way to leave Colombo. The Airport had been renovated and looked really good. The traces of the old Airport were there but there were a few additions and it was plush. We went up to the duty free grabbed what we needed and had some lunch at the Business Class Lounge. I walked around and surprisingly was quite relaxed and all those fears and apprehensions I had about flying seemed to have vanished. I got my buddy to take a photograph of me and sat down to mail it to my Mom when I heard the boarding call.

We made our way to the security check point and this was the first time I experienced post 9/11 security. I was standing behind my friend when a rather young pretty looking security officer requested me to remove my belt and shoes before passing through the metal detector. I couldn’t help it! I removed my belt and proceeded to unzip my jeans as if though I was going to strip! The look on the Woman’s face and the frantic gestures she made at me to stop was a sight I wish I could have captured for posterity. The Officer in Charge looked on highly amused while I feigned ignorance and sheepishly told the Woman “Aiyo Mang Dane Naha! Mang hithuwe okkamma galawanda ona kiyala. Kalekata passé mang plane ekka yanne!” “Oh my god I didn’t know I thought I had to remove everything! I am taking a plane after a long time!” I don’t think the Woman quite realized that I was pulling her leg! My buddy in the meanwhile had missed all this and was frantically looking for me further down the walkway.

The inside of the Cabin was a sight for sore eyes. I breathed deeply absorbing the fragrance of the interior and felt at ease as I walked to my seat. I had picked a window seat as I always did on top of the wing. I looked out at the tarmac and the memories of the numerous occasions I had done the same thing flooded my mind. I thought to myself so this is what I missed out on all these years!

We were ready for takeoff and as I strapped myself in as the aircraft started the slow ride to the runway. I enjoyed every shudder and vibration that the engine made. I was on a high. The stewardess came with my drink and while sipping my smoothie and gazed out looking at the vast ground surrounding the taxiway when the Aircraft reached the take off position. The familiar sound of the engine revving up was so comforting as the Aircraft moved slowly at first and as it gained speed I watched the runway blurring as we approached takeoff speed. I waited for that moment when the Aircraft leaves the ground and suddenly you know you’re airborne and you hear the noise of the hydraulics in action. It was wonderful to be flying again!