Aircraft, pilots, and the sheer pleasure of flying in the limitless azure skies is an ambition that almost every child harbours in his or her heart. I clearly remember that on being asked the most hackneyed question, “Beta, bade ho kar kya banna chahte ho? (Son, what do you want to be when you grow up?)”, my spontaneous reply would be “a pilot”.
I used to take off to London or New York, imagining myself to be the pilot of the toy aircraft grabbed in my hand and run around the house to finally land in the courtyard, the proverbial “Heathrow Airport”, that is! I would not be bored of these “flights” much to the annoyance of everyone at home.
I’m sure many children of my generation had similar flights of fantasy. Decades have flown by but the charisma of the commercial pilot has not waned even among the present generation.
