From cycling to flying-The thrill of being ever on the ‘move’

My experience with flying has, however, not been without the occasional hiccup. There was, for instance, this flight which I had once taken to Visakhapatnam having to return to Hyderabad as, believe it or not, one of its wheels had fallen off! Even more weird was an incident when, seated next to the exit in a low flying aircraft of Vayudoot airlines, from Hyderabad to Tirupati, I saw the exit door literally torn away by the gushing wind and went spiralling down all the way to the ground.

The feeling of being on the move has fascinated me right from my childhood. So much so that I am writing again on the subject, in spite of having done so earlier.

The thrill of learning to ride a bicycle was the first such experience. Those were the days before the naya paisa had come into circulation. That was accomplished using a hired bike, for four annas for every half hour. Much later, acquiring a bike of one’s own, a children’s version of Hercules Company, provided a moment of supreme joy. The bicycle remained my standard means of transport for several years thereafter. I recall cycling as much as 14 km, starting at the crack of dawn from home in Gaddiannaramn in Hyderabad, to reach the tennis courts at Lady Hydari Club, to learn to play the game. After the coaching session, one had some curry puffs and tea and proceeded for a swim in the pool nearby. After all this, I still had the energy to cycle all the way back home.

Then, in my post-graduation days, came a motorised two-wheeler, in the shape of a Vespa. The sheer exhilaration of shifting into top gear, on a stretch of the road to the university where there was less traffic, more than compensated for the monotony of sitting through classes during the day. Over time, one graduated into driving the family car, though not without going through several brushes with the law! I mean, speeding tickets, licence left at home, being fined by a policeman for being without it when checked, and such.

Train travel was another experience that provided great excitement. One journey, in particular, remains fresh in memory, when my mother accompanied me to Coimbatore from Madras to begin my acting career in movies as a child star.

It was not until I was called for an interview by Air India for recruitment to the post of station manager that I first experienced the long awaited thrill of flying. The company had selected 300 applicants for a written test at Madras. Nine were shortlisted, and asked to be ready to fly to Bombay that night. We boarded an international flight on its Madras to Bombay segment. Imagine our thrill when, en-route, an inflight announcement was made that on account of a thunderstorm in Bombay, the flight may have to land in Karachi! Foreign travel, without a passport or a visa! That, however, was not to be, and the plane landed safely in Bombay’

Long experience with flying has left me with many pleasant experiences. In 1982, I, as his Secretary, accompanied Vice-President Mohammah Hidayatullah on an official visit that took us to several countries. The first one was a private visit to the UK and the USA; then an official visit to Canada, which was followed by another private visit to Japan. It was when we were on our way to Singapore that I had the unforgettable experience of watching the sun rise, as the aircraft crossed the International Date Line.

It was again with Hidayatullah, that I enjoyed the privilege of flying in a helicopter from Santa Cruz airport in Bombay to Raj Bhavan, a luxury that went with working with a VVIP, The chopper took ten minutes to perform a journey which would have lasted more than a couple of hours in the ordinary course.

A flying experience that I will never forget, albeit in a simulated sense, was watching a show at the theatre situated inside the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. Hidayatullah was on a private visit to the USA and avoided the capital city as it was not an official tour, which would have involved protocol related arrangements, needing advance preparation. So, his wife, Pushpa Hidayatullah, decided to visit the city and I went with her. Even while seated, strapped firmly to a seat belt, one was put through a wildly exciting and nearly frightening experience of being in an aircraft, which performed all sorts of aerobatics, going through figures of 8, rapidly dropping several thousands of feet in a matter of seconds before stabilising and rising again, now falling to the right, and then to the left.

One more memorable experience was landing in Hong Kong airport. The plane had landed, and after taxiing, stopped just short of the end of the runway, just as I expected it to continue straight and fall into the sea! And a group of Japanese tourists burst into spontaneous applause, clapping hands, and cheering loudly, a typically Japanese way of showing appreciation for an act of courage and skill.

On that tour, I went to the Science Museum with my grandchildren. There was this exhibit where one sat in a simulated cockpit of an aircraft, which took one on an imaginary flight inside a canyon surrounded by high-rise hills. And I, as the pilot, had the nerve-wracking experience of negotiating the flight, literally with my heart in my mouth, as I tried desperately to avoid crashing into the hills as the plane flew at high speed inside the canon,

My experience with flying has, however, not been without the occasional hiccup.

There was, for instance, this flight which I had once taken to Visakhapatnam having to return to Hyderabad as, believe it or not, one of its wheels had fallen off! Even more weird was an incident when, seated next to the exit in a low flying aircraft of Vayudoot airlines, from Hyderabad to Tirupati, I saw the exit door literally torn away by the gushing wind and went spiralling down all the way to the ground.

Thank God that none of those two mishaps resulted in any loss of life, safely falling in a largely empty area.

I have also had a few adventurous episodes of travelling over water.

One particularly memorable experience was that of standing in a pilot boat in the Visakhapatnam Harbour, as one went on a ride from the shore to the point where the high seas began, and the swells and the power of the sea could be felt. The best experience I had was when I accompanied Governor of Andhra Pradesh Sharda Mukherjee, when she went to Bombay to witness naval exercises conducted by the Western Naval Command. The high point of that experience was being transported from one ship to another, while both were moving over water, in a ‘Jackstay’, sitting in a chair hanging from a rope above with the waves of the raging sea under me.

And, by way of a flippant ending to this already light-hearted piece, here is what I tell people who ask me whether I enjoy flying. This is because I have always been a ‘high-flyer!’

(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)