My First Air Travel

It sounds amazing to remember the first travel by air, like your school days when your ask to write an essay on your first Rail Journey. It was year 1977 – 1978, I was just confirmed as Asst. Engineer in the company after completion of the training as Graduate Trainee Engineer, I became member of the group responsible for Nozzle Holder Planning termed as FVB2 in the German abbreviation of planning adopted by BOSCH. Our company head office and main factory was at Banglore and during the training period I could see the seniors visiting frequently to Banglore for various reasons, I also used to think of visiting Banglore for knowing about the head office and detailed operations being carried out there, once I was called by my boss the head of the planning department Mr. S.K. Maitra called me and declared, Dilip you are supposed to go to Banglore for some urgent work and have orientation programmed there for a week. It was almost two O’clock and then he started telling you just catch a taxi to Bombay, you have got a roomed booked at the Centour Hotel, Juhu your flight is at 7:15 tomorrow morning I was literally shocked with pleasure by this sudden advice of attending what I dreamed for a long time. I was bachelor that time, excusing myself from the boss I rushed to my work table, told my colleagues about the programme, and left for my residence, prepared my bag for a week, came to the Shalimar Bus Stand from where taxis ply from Nasik to Mumbai. I hired full taxi for Bombay, which I was entitled as asst. engineer and when I reached to Bombay at the hotel it was almost 7:30 in the evening. That was my first stay at a five star hotels, admitting in this blog frankly I was not at all a costumed  for such lavish hotel stay at all, so enjoyed the nice stay in that cosy  atmosphere. I was instructed by our PRO that to catch the flight you have to report one hour in advance for checking I had requested the hotel management for a wake - up call of 5 AM which they did, I was so eager to board the plane, in the plane not realizing that the flight would not take off before its scheduled time of 7:15 AM, getting ready I reached by quarter to six to the airport.

It was my first entrance to any air port terminal, my flight was an Air Bus so, it took me some time to locate the check in counter I was remembering that if you really want to enjoy the travel ask for a window seat which promptly did while checking in a got the seat immediately them, I sat down to relax with a cup of coffee as it was enough time for the flight and the security check had not started after a few minutes there was announcement for the security check once again with the eagerness I was the first to go for the security check then the lounge.

Enquiry revealed  that the aircraft would be arriving from Banglore in a few minutes and it does happen, by the time the lounge was full of the passengers we all were observing the passengers getting down from the air craft it might have taken another half are hour before we were asked to go ahead to board the aircraft and then came the moment as the craft was not far away we all walked down to it the ladder was already attached as here again I was first to reach the ladder top, found smiling beautiful air hostess, welcoming with folded hand, first entry to an operative aircraft   ( I am using word operative as I had a training of six weeks at HAL Kanpur where I had seen air craft assembly and an aircraft too).

I occupied the seat it was window seat in the fifth row, within 15 minutes time the aircraft was full of passengers and exactly at 7:14 AM the air hostess locked the door of the aircraft make the usual announcement to advice for fastening of seat belts, demonstrated how to take care when the pressure inside the aircraft is law and finally introducing the captain of the aircraft the flight take off was announced and the thrilling moment came, as the aircraft was running I did not feel anything but as it took off there was something I felt in the churn in the stomach but it was temporary and as the craft attained certain height the feeling of stomach went away.

I looked outside the window it was all water  of the Arabian Sea of Bombay harbor  and after a while the clouds I looked down from the window and the beautiful landscape, rivers, houses looking like toys the experience was so thrilling that it could not be put on papers today, meanwhile the air hostess brought some chocolates half an hour passed, the some hostess came helping open the tray attached to the front seat then the breakfast tray with some fruit-salad a piece of bakery item and small cup of juice by the time I finished the breakfast it was already forty five minutes past aboard, I was continuously watching the scenery art side and came the announcement that the harts that we will be reaching the Banglore airport in twenty minutes time and advice of fastening of our seatbelt, which I did The aircraft I could see the city of Banglore from the window and the aircraft started landing while landing again there was a little churn in the stomach bind some jock at touch down but finally the pleasure of our hour fifteen minutes journey  first journey by air I cannot forget even today, thrilling and sweet memory.

The bachelers life at Nasik

Last few days I have been busy in some business priorities and could not spare time for blogs. There was some organisational changes to be carried out at the agnecy which are complete now.

So, I continue with my autobigraphy with the last blog of bachelers life at Nasik. The life had taken a good routine and I enjoyed it. The company MICO was very highly professional and quality consious organisation which has maintained it's goodwill as on date as BOSCH also I recall that a company perhaps Sundaram from South tried to complete with MICO, in this segment. They hired people from our company on higher pay scales but could not manage to stand against the rocksolid goodwill of MICO and ultimately failed. In 1978 there was an unfortunate incidence in my life and it was death of elder sister Rekha after giving birth to her second child at Ujjain. I recall I had rushedd to Ujjain to visit the family of my brother-in-law Mr. Narendra. It was a great loss to all of us but I made her name be remembered by all family by giving my gas distributorship her name and now this name is remembered by the oil industry people and the gas consumer of Jalgaon city.

I was very popular amongst the worker in the factory because of my erars in speaking marathi. Though born and brought up at Nagpur, a major city of maharashtra, Nagpur is not known for speaking good marathi initialy they used to laught but later on it became a bond between me and the workers and collegaues. continued in next blog.

The Accidents In life

After the incidence of 1971 - 72, throughout in the college days, there was not even a minor accident not up to 1977 when i was putting up at Sana Loge of MG Road in Nasik while working with MICO, Those day my roommate was one Mr. Chawdhari, he was deploma in electrical engineering and working with the power plant of EKLEHRA, he had a yezdi motor cycle, which at times i used to drive, once we six friends Mehata, Khandekar, Chawdhari and two others went to Saputara, the famous hill station at the border of Maharashtra and Gujrat and while coming back i was driving the motor cycle in the evening as we were just sixty k.m. away from Nasik., suddenly a group of goats came to the road, the motor cycle stuck to the one of the goats Chawdhari was pillion sider but fortunately apart from some minor injuries to both. There was nothing serious and after which we got treted at Nasik and since then till date by God's grace not even any minor accident though i have been driving car since 1084. The series of the blogs on accidents concludes rare.

The accidents in life

I am continuing on the subject with my last blog , the third major accident rather it was not an accident it was an asault on me. The year was 1971-72 I had just appeared in my matriculation exam and  the result was yet to come  as I had written in my earlier blogs that the mohalla Tankapara, where we lived in Ranjangaon, the neighborhod was not good most  of them were of labour class  ,it is very unfortunate in our country some of the labours prefer to relieve from their physical exertion by communing alcohol and that could be seen every evening in the neighborhood, some people quarrel their homes and so on. I have also written in my earlier blogs that my father was working with a distiller as manager at the distillerer ware house were bottling of country liquor was carried out and naturally the profession called for daily contact with unscrupulous elements some of them seldom came for money for their alcohol so I never liked the neighborhood. Once I was sitting at the front door of the house and suddenly I felt that my head was hit by something from back I touched my head it was bleeding heavily, I was just to faint but before that I shouted for help neighbor came rushing, brought his bicycle, asked me to sit on the front rod and rushed his cycle to the primary health centre of Rajnandgaon to the casualty ward. To my luck  I was attended immediately by the doctors and the staff but by that time there was lot of bleeding, my shirt was full of blood, the doctor's and the staff tried to stop the bleeding by bandage etc. mean while my father came to know about this , he came to the hospital I could see the anguish on his face. Than I lost my consciousness and when I gained it I found  my self on the civil hospital of Durg, district I could see my father, my uncle Dinesh chacha, my mother, my aunt ,my sister every body on bed side, they told me that I was saved by successful surgery on my head was mostly my thick hair save my life, I was told that the assault was by one of the alcoholic because of some rage or enmity with our family. I was hospitalized for 15 days  I remember   clearly my matric exam result came in this period I stood first class with 69 percent marks. I also remember thar I filled my engineering admission form from the hospital bed, remembering the incidence and writing the blog I can feel the incidence even today and the scar of nearly nine inches length from a sharp weapon is still there on my head.There is saying in Hindi language Jako Rakhe Sanyam Maar Sake Na Koi. I will continue with the blog.

Accident in life

I am running 58 years of age now, and after leading these many years of life one goes across number of accidents, of course i am talking about physical accidents and not the emotional ones, the first one i remember is of childhood when i was studying in second standard. I was putting up  with my elder uncle Mr. Jugalkishor Chaubey he was exercise sub inspector there; it was the years 1962, me and my cousin brother Ashok (Son of Jugalkishorjee) were studying together in the Ghogal Pathshala the primary school of Reva.My uncle had an orderly known as ARDALI by common people, whose job was to take both of us to school and bring back from school everyday on the bycycle, Ashok was leen and thin and i  was healthy in childhood, so naturally the orderly used to make Ashok seat on the front rod of the cycle and me on the carear and it was a routeen. One while coming from the school i do not know what came to my mind, i was sitting on the carear  with my  both legs apart, suddenly  i tred to join my both legs and in these process to one of my uncle got stuck up in the spokes of the cycle naturally i creed a loud and the cycle was stopped. Ashok after seeing the situation also started crying, ultimately the peon and some bystanders with effort removed my leg from the spoke, my ankle was bleeding heavily. I was rushed to the primary health-centre, got primary  treatment the wound got heeled in weeks time but the scar on my ankle  today also.
                  The second accident is of Nagpur, the year 1966, I was studying in the 6th standard, our family was invited for lunch by one of our close relatives Amar Guru this was his nick name popular in our community , after the lunch a PURI remaining in my meals i started to offer one of the dogs nearest house, and in mischief every time the dog wanted to hold the PURI in his mouth i withdrew my hand. i deed this couple of time but the third time the dog held my palm along with the puri seeing this my reltive released my hand from his mouth and I was rushed the Medical College for treatment, the nurse used mild acid to kill the poison of dog bite, and latter on i was taken for thirteen consecutive days to the Meyo Hospital of Nagpur by my uncle Umesh Chacha's for the injections to prevent the infections of dog bite. All these memories have come alive after seeing the wall post of Umesh Chacha by Kalpana and Niraj on face book today.I will continue with the blogs on the accidental life later.