And we took off again….

Sorry for this late post !

I know how eager you all are to know the answer of all the questions from my last post !!From Samosa’s to ABP…..(Raipur to Delhi)

I got a little busy and occupied. Last week we celebrated one of our most favorite festivals “Diwali”( Festival of Lights) . Trying to relive my childhood days of this  festival through kids and giving them those precious  moments of celebrating family tradition. Letting them make memories, giving the essence of Indian festival. Being miles away from family here in California, it’s difficult to create the same aura and excitement of the festival but certainly not impossible.So we had good time. BUT!!! 

Soon after that week the northern part of California was shaken aback with the devastating “wildfire”. Last few week was terrible,full of grief and pain for more than 300,000 people who have been forced from their homes statewide. Most of those residents live in Los Angeles County, where 170,000 were evacuated.

Some 9,000 firefighters have been battling the wildfires, which have become the deadliest and costliest in state history.

A total of 8,817 structures have been destroyed. Of those, 7,600 are homes.Camp fire 🔥, Woolsey fire and Hill fire are the names which shook the entire state and nation.

We are praying for all those people for whom the world is upside down!  The home , the family and the beautiful memories are now scattered in form of ashes all over.

It’s something which no one can give them back !!

A red “unhealthy air”has alerted the residents to stay indoors.

As per the weather department the air is not at all safe to breathe.

We all were home for those days with the windows and doors closed…a midst of tv news reports and the horrific alarms of fire vehicles. Each siren were leading us closer to-our evacuation plan which could happen anytime .

Thankfully we didn’t had to evacuate and the fire got contained in my area.

Today after few days I had opened my diary page again ….

Now it’s time to reveal the curtain from the question, for which I got several mails too 😀!!

But please let me know through your comments!

Whom did you thought him to be?

It will be interesting to know.

Now here I go….

He is my Uncles good friend and a renowned Industrialist of Chattisgarh state, whom I met once over dinner at my Aunt’s house, and as you all know about my aunt from my previous posts Up in the sky on my new journey!! that day also she was a little too much about me, my training and job at Airlines, how sincerely i took my learnings at this tender age how sensible i am….She was bursting with my praises  until my Uncle asked her for the dessert. As Mr. Thappar gulped the first spoon of Carmel custard he looked at me as a young achiever and felt proud (I guessed) But  I  preferred not to look at him and kept on turning cherries 🍒 in fruit bowl 🍲.

And today after seeing him here with me I got super conscious. Just wanted him to forget those praises and me totally ! As he was right  beside the demo place..so i had to stand beside him.

The announcement and demo began and i decided not to look at him. After showing the seat belt i picked up the oxygen mask, attached it to the overhead unit and pulled it towards myself to show the flow and donning of mask. But my pull was so stong that instead of coming towards me the mask fell down and Mr. Thappar  catched it perfectly just above his head like Yuvraj Singh🏏. His wife s face was all lite by a proud smile. I was shocked and all the other eyes looking at me were now on the floor  trying to find the oxygen mask.

I heard few giggles too but i quickly restored and continued with the safety card ahead…and somehow finished.

I was so embarrassed that quickly went to secure cabin where ABP showed me the emergency exit and a thumbs-up….. without showing him any expression I returned to my seat. Thappar Uncle was just next to me, we didn’t talked and I pretended to be busy in my Silent Review….which was actually all about…

– Should I pretend not to recognize him?

– What will I tell senior if she asks me about the demo ?

– I should take it easy , these things happens…

– Let me reach home and talk to my Aunt first.

With all these thoughts we took off and was soon above 10,000 ft. and seat belt signs went off.

Got relieved to see everyone was normal , and busy with the trolley, hot oven and water trays in the galley.

I started preparing my glass tray very carefully .

Then I made the meal announcement with perfection  and commenced the service. Head crew took care of the cockpit . All was going on smoothly and I was being more comfortable and easy with every row.

All the trays were neatly stacked in the trolley and we just had to add hot meal casserole ( veg/ non veg) in it as per the passenger preference. Just 2 more row left to serve, and as we reached row 12 th , my jaws dropped as I saw a Jain meal lying in front of me which was a special meal for seat 10 A whom I probably served a non veg Hi tea with a smile .

“Ohhh my God”!! I murmured !!!

With a sudden Adrenaline rush all the blood started flowing towards my brain.

Without wasting any second further , I quickly rushed to him and grabbed his meal from tray which thankfully was not opened or seen by him and said

“Sorry Sir, the meal wasn’t hot and so I exchanged it !!

Passenger 10 A – Thank you mam😊!! So thoughtful of you !! I requested for a “jain meal”!

“Absolutely !! Jain meal for you ”!! I smartly said. 😬

The situation handling abilities is a basic necessity of a Public sector job! Though I qualified that, but the other crew listening to the entire conversation was satisfied by the customer handling but asked me to be very careful henceforth!

After the service the cabin lights were dimmed. Passengers were tired too ,so most of them were resting and hopefully no call buttons was expected until landing . We adjusted in the galley area behind the curtain and my senior made tea for us , my first tea party from the aircrafts kitchen 😃with my colleagues. With every sip of  the tea , the conversation and the comfort got better and tastier.

I told the head crew about Mr.Thappar and his demo mask catch , they laughed and she asked me to offer him few extra candies 🍬  🍬 ( especially the popular tamarind candy) which  was left. I hesitated at first but then handed it over to him when I went to my seat for landing!!

He smiled and said..

It was a nice experience to see my daughter at this height! Fly high beta ( son) .

I got overwhelmed…a ray of light from the window got split into seven colors, and the aircraft touched down.I could just say  Thank you Uncle, hope to see you in my next Raipur flight ✈️,and I actually meant it .

Door were disarmed opened and step-ladder was attached. We were ready with Goodbye ,and a back to home smile.

I was also eager to switch on my phone and get back home.

The last one to deplane was my ABP who clicked his selfie with the emergency exit 😁.

As he left he said “ Mam this was my first flight too”.

Me : What? 😬😁…

ABP: It was a lovely flight and I’m ready to be ABP next time !!👍🏼

Me: Namaskar ! Have a good day !!

And the passenger coach left!

We had our debriefing and the other set of crew arrived , the plane started getting ready for its next destination again

Delhi – Chennai – Delhi.

We all thanked each other and deplaned !!

And my first familiarization flight with learnings, mistakes and various experiences of

• A good catch of demo mask .

• Somehow saving  a vegan from eating chicken .

• Choosing a first time flyer as ABP.

• And witnessing the difficulties of the hanging trainee batch and a confident batch.

 It was all and enough for the day!

I was tired and sleepy but all the other crew were planning for the rest of the day. We reached office signed out and rushed down, and in other 10 mins I was in the car… yet 40 mins to reach home and when I called up mom.

Me : Mom🤗 I landed , started for home 🏠

Mom: Oo yes !! I just saw a plane landing 😄😄.

Me: Mom, there are soooo many take off and landing every minute 🤦🏻‍♀️!!

Mom : But that airplane was yours ! I told daddy too😊.

I really felt like giving her a big hug!!

Moms are special they feel you around them , even when you are not physically there!!

I wore my sun glasses closed my eyes and was just happy about the day..,everything,…about it … even for that demo 😀😀 .

Reached home and my family was right there at the balcony waiting for me !!

As I closed the car door my narration of the day started and continued till  dinner time….alongwith Mr. Thappar , Oxygen mask and me. The falling of mask and catch of Uncle was enacted by me more than 6 times 😄😄 with the showers of laughter. I was ready for my next flight …..

So,see you soon in my next flight . Till then stay safe be happy.

Happy Landings!!

But before I sign off….

Did any of you have ever missed your flight?

Do you know any operating crew who missed the flight…..Well.. I know one :- ))

Is it me? What do you think? Will know in the next post..