New Delhi: Flying is a right that we all take for granted. Whatever the destination, most of us just swipe our credit cards online, strap on our seat belts, gaze languidly at the window, and get set for an all too familiar experience.
But in this age of hyper-aviation with falling airfares and an increased number of low-cost airlines, it is easy to forget there is an India that has never seen a plane close up, let alone sat in one.
Bahadur Gupta is one man who hasn't forgotten this India. A native of Kaisal village in Haryana's Kaithal district, Gupta, who rose through the ranks to become a mechanical engineer in the erstwhile Indian Airlines, promised his fellow villagers that he would show them the wonderworld on board a plane. Thus was born Gupta's Dwarka-based 'fantasy flight', where, with the help of a grounded Indian Airlines plane, he helps many people live this fantasy even as they learn an important lesson in safety.
Besides villagers from across the country, the experience has also emerged as a popular choice among schools looking for entertaining and educational excursions for students.
"We cater to over 200-300 children at a time," says Gupta, who provides visitors a crash course in introducing boarding cards and aircraft etiquette. He also offers an experience even frequent fliers are not privy too - a trip to the cockpit.
It is evident the students, many of them budding pilots, enjoy this as they flaunt the captain's cap and press buttons to summon staff members who double up as air hostesses.
But what they perhaps find most interesting is the mock emergency drill, which involves them cruising down an evacuation slide and escaping a 'burning' plane through a rope bridge as fake smoke fills up the confines.
16/03/14 Ashwin Ahmad/Mail Today/India Today
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But in this age of hyper-aviation with falling airfares and an increased number of low-cost airlines, it is easy to forget there is an India that has never seen a plane close up, let alone sat in one.
Bahadur Gupta is one man who hasn't forgotten this India. A native of Kaisal village in Haryana's Kaithal district, Gupta, who rose through the ranks to become a mechanical engineer in the erstwhile Indian Airlines, promised his fellow villagers that he would show them the wonderworld on board a plane. Thus was born Gupta's Dwarka-based 'fantasy flight', where, with the help of a grounded Indian Airlines plane, he helps many people live this fantasy even as they learn an important lesson in safety.
Besides villagers from across the country, the experience has also emerged as a popular choice among schools looking for entertaining and educational excursions for students.
"We cater to over 200-300 children at a time," says Gupta, who provides visitors a crash course in introducing boarding cards and aircraft etiquette. He also offers an experience even frequent fliers are not privy too - a trip to the cockpit.
It is evident the students, many of them budding pilots, enjoy this as they flaunt the captain's cap and press buttons to summon staff members who double up as air hostesses.
But what they perhaps find most interesting is the mock emergency drill, which involves them cruising down an evacuation slide and escaping a 'burning' plane through a rope bridge as fake smoke fills up the confines.
16/03/14 Ashwin Ahmad/Mail Today/India Today
