Love in the Air

It was the world’s AIDS day, December 1, 2014

I was all set to fly for the 1^st time in my life. Everything was prepared on the previous day of my journey, my tickets to New Delhi and back to Pune and a hyper-active mind. My brother, who stays in Hartford Connecticut was sending 55-200mm Nikkor lens, 50mm 1.8D Nikkor prime lens, professional binocular, Seiko automatic under diving wrist watch, Citizen perpetual calendar and chronograph wrist watch, blackberry bold 9930,  pair of Reebok sports shoes, and couple of other stuffs as my birthday gift.

On December 1, I woke up at 5:30 AM and did my 70 min workout, had my breakfast and wore my brand new woodland boots, Levis jeans, and allen solly white shirt. I was ready and was waiting outside my society for the OLA cab which I booked a day before the journey.

It was 7:50 AM and I dialed the driver to know his whereabouts. I am going to be late, he said. I was furious as I booked the cab for sharp 8:00 AM to reach airport by 9:00 AM just as the ticket precaution said to reach 2 hours before the journey. After cursing the driver for 30 mins, he finally arrived at 8:20. I was a bit nervous as I might get late, Somehow the driver managed to reach airport at around 9:20.

Pune Airport is originally owned by Indian Airforce and they leased a substantial area for commercial planes. As I reached airport, I could see Sukhoi-30 fighter jet roaring loud in the sky and some about to roar. It was bliss to see such beautiful machines of power and pride. I focused on finding my way to new place where I have never been. Airport was not at all as I expected it to be. I heard Pune airport is small, but this small? I was wondering.

I saw a pretty GoAir official and asked her, “where is GoAir departure?” She asked me to wait in the waiting area, but obviously I was in hurry to fly then to wait so I went across aisle, somehow trying to pass the time. Suddenly an announcement was made. “All the passengers of GoAir flight G8/174 may proceed to security check”. I had nothing to declare or for x-ray check, so I went directly to the boarding counter, where a beautiful lady was waiting for me with a smile. I remembered her as the official whom I asked about the departure area.

Her soft, yet confident voice inquired, “No luggage, for business trip?” With a smile, I said “kind of”. I requested her for a window seat and both the boarding passes. With a smile she handed me two boarding passes which I took happily and went directly to another waiting area. Boarding time was 10:35, still 35 mins to go. I went close to the glass panel where I could see sukhoi and other commercial planes landing and taking off.

On the far left corner, I could see 3 ATR planes waiting. I was disappointed to see them as I was expecting a bigger plane like Boeing A320 to board. Slowly the waiting area got occupied and other commercial carriers like Indigo, jet airways and spice jet landed their planes to onboard passengers. I was still searching for my GoAir plane, wondering where the hell it went. Why is it so late? Why nobody seems to care? And most importantly, where are GoAir officials?

I was still digging my spectacles on that glass panel trying to find a GoAir Plane on either side. Suddenly a female voice raised my ears. “Excuse me; are you boarding G8/174?” From that awkward position, somehow I managed myself to give a decent look. She looked like in twenties, an Assamese with freckles on her cheeks. I said, “Yes, are you boarding the same?”

 “Yeah, any idea when they will start boarding. Huh, I should have gone for IndiGo, all my friends are waiting in IndiGo, and I am stuck here. Poor me, poor Pune.” She said.

Before I could say anything, I saw a GoAir Boeing A320 burning the asphalt of the runway.

Here we go; we can on board our plane. She gave me a sweet wink. And we went out of the gate, together.

The plane was big, as I expected it to be. On the stairs, a well dressed steward greeted us and checked our boarding pass. I was excited, and went up the stairs.

 From distance, I saw mind boggling lady air hostess with a cute smile was waiting for the passengers. I reached near her; Standing after me was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She wore a knee length business skirt and a white cotton shirt with an ascot tie and a coat on her sculpted body. Her hair was a rich shade of mahogany twisted backward making a French twist; it flowed in waves to adorn her glowing, porcelain-like skin. Her eyes, framed by long lashes, were a bright, emerald-green and seemed to brighten the world. She had saccharine sweet cherry lips, and they were blossom soft. Had she laughed, the world would laugh with her. And had she wept, the whole world would want to comfort her. In an instant, I was floating in the deep trench of warm ecstasy.

Suddenly a thrust came from my back and only then I noticed, people were waiting to board their plane. I moved and started searching for my seat, which I couldn’t find. I asked another airhostess, which wasn’t as pretty as the one I was still seeing through subconscious mind. “Can you please tell me where is 5F”. With a smile she said, “It’s the fifty row, the window seat on your right.”

 I took my seat and started searching for that Aphrodite which I saw a few mins back. She was behind the curtains, greeting other passengers the same way she greeted me. With a heavy heart, and burning ego, I tucked my sight on her.

As all passengers were seated and plane was ready to take off. An announcement was made.

“Now we request your full attention as the flight attendant Amrinder kaur demonstrate the safety features of this aircraft”.

There she was, ravishing Amrinder Kaur, she had removed her coat and her slender body was now clearly visible. As she demonstrated the safety features with sign language, I felt like a professor of kinesis. With her every sign, it directly hit the core of my heart. A sweet smile was flowing on her lips, eyes traversing through the passengers and suddenly they met my wide open eyes. For a second my heart skipped a beat, I was smirking, looking mesmerized at her, her lips, her rosy red nail paint. I was unaware of how desperate I was looking at her and trying to jump off the seat and hold her up in my arms.

The plane started to move slowly making its way to the runway. I was excited, but the slow speed was annoying me. I wanted to feel the thrill of speed. Moving sluggishly plane took few turns and halted as of waiting for something.

My seat was just above the fuselage and from the window I could feel engines starting to thunder. The pilot then gave the full acceleration pushing everyone against their seat cushion. The thrust was massive and the plane was sprinting at a high speed. Within a few seconds, I felt as I have dropped my pant on the ground and jumped. My breakfast was swirling inside my stomach and instantaneously I was up in the air, with every passing second I was getting a bigger picture of the terrain below me. Warm sun was soothing the clouds as we tore them apart. I was happy and was continuously looking out of the window at the clouds and thread like rivers beneath me.

When the plane was at 35,000 feet above the sea level and was settled to make it course to New Delhi, my sensual love showed up from behind the curtains, carrying a trolley of some canned food and water bottles.

My heart was pounding as she approached near my seat; I could not wait but to talk to her, to have her close-up of her innocent face, to look into her deep emerald eyes.

“Excuse me”, I said

With an innocent smile she said, “What can I offer you sir?”

“Yourself, please”, said my soul. But to skip the beatings from those pointed heels, I said, “A can of Thumbs-up would be great”.

This was the moment I was waiting for; to reach till my window seat she had to come close. With a grace and confidence she bent her back holding a can of drink. Her earlobes were just 15 cms from my lips; her intoxicated fragrance ignited all my sensory organs. Her sweet, mild cologne erupting from her white neck went deep inside my nose erecting all my cells and organs. I was floating in the 9^th heaven of euphoria.

Shortly after some time, it was time to bid goodbye. With extreme pain and heavy heart, I said, “Thank You! And see you soon”, with a smile she replied, “My Pleasure, Sir”.

As I touched the ground after 1 hour and 50 mins of flight, I was focused again to take my baggage and heed back to pune hoping to see Amrinder again.

My return flight was scheduled at 8PM. I hurried to board the plane again. From a distance my eyes were searching for Amrinder, but to my utter surprise, she was not present. There was another breathtaking lady, a white blonde. She was like a painting of a goddess brought to life. She smiled sweetly at me, her eyes sparkling like stars flaunted on the night sky. In the very next second, I was again in deep ecstasy of love…


-Ashray Agrawal.