On Cloud Nine ??!!

I have come across this familiar adage, and always related it to the adrifting feel of happiness...

But really being on Cloud Nine... It it something that I had'nt experienced. Not until my trip to Bombay..

Small solace it was, when I heard my colleague was supposed to accompany on my first flight. But my castles came tumbling down, when I heard she was about to leave a day early. Filled with a lot of apprehension, I walked down to the departures aisle, looking for the Kingfisher Tag somewhere to lead me the right way. A neatly dressed young man approached me and asked me politely, if I was to board the Kingfisher flight to Bombay. No sooner did I nod my head, he grabbed my bag and started walking, moving swiftly through the crowd. Dumbstruck, I ran tag-wise behind him to see him lead me through the gates, to the boarding pass counter. A little relieved that I was in safe hands, I requested the guy at the counter to point me along the route I needed to take to get to the airplane and informed him that it was my first time.

Informing me that I needed to take a security check, he pointed towards what I understood to be a conveyer belt system to scan the luggage as it went through. I walked to the conveyer and noticed a screen on top of it displaying warnings, banning a lot of items which I knew for a fact that I was carrying. I panicked and tried to retreat from the line, when the security waved me off, saying it was ok. I understood that it is still India and here, everything goes.

I breezed through the security check, and there were was another polite helper on the other end,who walked me right into the airplane. Weird but pleasant experience to sit next to a total stranger, staring at the screen in front, where lovely Yana Gupta, gave the flight instructions in a nice sorta dance.

The lift-off, something I dreaded, was about to happen. The stories I heard from a whole lot of people about Air Sickness and Ear Blocking, all came back to me in a rush. I panicked, desperately looking around for an Air Sickness bag, which I was told, might be available on board. Then I asked the cute Air Hostess and she did show me where it was.

It was a weird feeling, like someone sitting on top of you. A little uneasy, a little stuffy..but all was well and I was on my way, happy enough that I did not fall prey to the Airsickness after all.

Pretty much a smooth flight from there. Pleasant people, decent enough food and music to listen too and a lot of staring and looking around for me, considering its my first time. I didn't budge from my seat, a queasy feeling, that the flight might actually crash if I walk through it. Stupid, I know ! But Seriously !! Thats how I felt.

Bombay it was.. an hour later. I was airplane savvy by then and the landing dint affect me much, though I couldn't pretty much hear what my room-mate was saying till the morning next day. My ears were completely blocked.

But my flight back...That is another story altogether..

On my next post...