In the air from cochin to dubai

In the air from cochin to dubai

I kept looking out of the window and was amazed at the way things looked down there. the flight turned this way and that way and settled to a normal position

soon everything down was blanketted by clouds and i couldnt see anything below. I still looked at the clouds and the blue skies 

The cabin was soon alive with passengers unbuckling their belts and walking up the aisle to the bathrooms and what not. I sat there and took everything in feeling like in a dream. I was on a flight !! in the air god knows how many feet up in the air

The air hostesses then brought refrehments and I had an orange juice . later I saw they were providing drinks. I dont drink liquor but i like beer and I saw them serving beer, but i was too shy to ask again after opting for orange juice first

Hmm they serve drinks in flight. not bad !!

After the drinks came food and it was not so bad
they asked me veg or non veg and I said non veg and what came was a meal with  all veg things and one small curry with small piece of chicken

I smiled, well atleast they gave me that. better than nothing !

I spent few min fiddling with the packs and wraps as everything was in some package or another and eating in those cramped space was something, but I ate it as I was famished and topped it with some coffee. but the milk powder tea tasted horrible and soon i had gas in my stomach

My head started to ache a bit and I tried to lean back on the seat and get some sleep but sleep eluded me due to the discomfort of the economy class seats. people were sleeping soundly. I envied them

I lay back and tried to close my eyes and relax and after some hours   I people moving and looking out

Then i saw the sands
it was far away and I guessed those frequent flier knew we were about to land

I saw seas of sand and dry mud and barren hills 
The whole place was hot and sunny

I was going to a desert, the Gulf !!

pretty soon the lights came on, we fastened our seatbelts and the plane began descending. It seemed to tgake ages to land and finally i felt the thud of the wheels which felt to me like it was a bit too hard

people started getting up and opening overhead baggage compartments before the plane came to a stop. Me and my friend waited for all the hurry burry people to go by and then we slowly inched forward. 

I could see busses and flight taking off and landing . Lot of activities

Dubai airport

I followed the queue to the check in and then my friend guided me to the visa checking. I had to stand in a queue for scanning my eyes !!

I was tired and so just followed everyone and whatever they asked to do. Infact everyone seem to be meekly obeying. maybe thats because this was not their country 

Then I went through passport control and the arab asked me something in malayalam and i was surprised. keralites or people from the southern state of kerala are also called malayalees and their language is malayalam(so is mine ) and I have heard of malayalees arriving in UAE for more than 35 years ago !!  god !! how it must have been then !!!

Then i collected my baggage and marvelled at the huge airport full of shiny steel and glass so spic and span and shiny

lots of police and guards

we moved towards the exit and my friend looked at me and said " brace yourself "
i raised my brows as i didnt understand and as the automatic doors opened and we moved out of the airport 

Thats when I was hit by the heat !!!

my god
it was so hot !!
the whole world was hot
I gasped and stood quickly to the shade

my friend smiled at me

"welcome to dubai"

First Filght

MY FIRST FLIGHT

JET AIRWAYS

I had heard a lot of jet airways , so I was excited to be going on my first flight on  Jet Airways . I stood in the queue for jet airways with my friend . I got the  Gate pass and then I was asked to fill a form with my details. It seems that all Indians must fill this form when leaving the country and when returning from overseas

Then I had to stand in a Queue for passport control and they asked me why and where I was going and some details about myself. That was over quickly though I was a little tense as it was my first time . Then the security checking .All the security personal were surprisingly North Indians and hindi speaking officers, but since I knew hindi well it was not an issue. I came to know that airport security was provided by the Central government , so thats why the personal are Hindi speaking guys though the airport was in south indian state which is not a hindi speaking state

All that was over and we then proceeded to the gates and sat down in the area provided for the passengers . Thats when I took  a good look at the airport . I hadnt been able to look at the airport due to my tension of first time flying and It looked good since it was a new airport and the facilities was not so bad . It was my first time in an airport.  The passengers seemed to be quite and pretty silent and most people talked in low tones. I felt hungry and we had a tea and snacks in the snack bar .It was funny to see the prices , seemed amusingly high to me ! but the sacks were good

There were many flights and people were coming and going .  I was able to see my first Passenger Aeroplane so close for the first time .I stood near the glass and looked at flights from different countries . There were some flights of Air India, the National carrier andI was delighted to see that they had painted many scenes of India on the tail and some of that was scenes from kerala !

That delighted me to no extent .I watched the flights take off with a curiosity of a small child marvelling in the sight of such a huge machine taking off so easily ! such a delightfull sight  ! 

My friend was sitting on the chair with an air of total boredom and I saw that same expression on the faces of many passengers . Frequent travellers, I thought with a smile. It seemed to me that They put an air of detached boredom on their faces on purpose !! Like ,  hah we seen this so many times. 

I heard the call for our flight and suddenly all those people sitting and lying lazily on the couches got up and proceeded to the designated gates in a hurry, as if everyone wanted to board first !

I saw no point in that because we had to sit in the seat numbers provided. I talked to my friend and sadly saw that his number was different meaning we had to sit separately inflight !

I stood in queue and smart young women from jet airways took our gatepass and showed it on their computers, there was a  small sound and they gave me back the gatepass after tearing the bogger portion. They seemed quite efficient and their manner and behaviour reminded me of military precision ( I havent been in miltary but had been in the NCC in school ) I seem to feel a respect for their professionalism and behaviour towards the myriad of passengers walking in

Through the glass I had a glimpse of the plane i was supposed to board and I was quicky disappointed !! It was so small !! Unlike all those big planes, the one we were supposed to board seem so small.I thought at that time , it  looks like a small tube , ha ha or like a lengthy BUS !!

I wondered how many people could board on that plane ! It seemed that many people were in Queue so I guessed that it must be pretty cramped in there, as we neared the doors , I felt my suspicions justified. it was a small plane and I had to duck at the doors, I had a first look at the Interiors of my first flight in disappointment

It seemed so crammed and packed of small seats. I am a bit tall and I knew that I would have problems stretching my legs. The seats were red and white and seemed not so cushiony. But the plane was neat and clean. The flight attendants guided me to my seat and I was delighted that it was a window seat !

I always loved to sit near the window when travelling by bus or car or train so it was good that my first flight was by a window seat ! I buckled up  and watched with a curiosity of a kid as people poured in and startd opening overhead baggage and cramming their oversized bags into that tiny space. everyone seemed to have huge bags.My small bag I had sent thru baggage as my friend told me that was better as we could travel "hands free "

Soon the doors shut and The cabin crew showed us demonstrations which I watched a bit apprehensively because all that they were telling was incase the flight went down !! what a way to start a journey !! and nobody was listening too except some first timers like me !

Then I heard the engines rev up and I felt the plane vibrate , I had fleeting doubts of the aircrafts ability to take off and fly with so many people. And to add to that they had also put tons of luggage beneath us which I had watched sitting near the window. I swear vegetables being loaded to the luggage bay !! They send vegetables by flight to dubai !! from kerala ?  hells bell ! thats really surprising !

The plane was moving along some lines slowly though there was more noise than its speed and i watched the Lines onthe runaways in white and yellow and many things written which made no sense to me, I wondered how the pilots could see all that things below .

then suddenly the engines burst into a roar and we surged forward with a  jerk which took me by surprise and I was pressed back against the seat as the Aircraft surged forward at great speed for take off . i saw the grass and runway whizzing past, my head seemed to buzz slightly and suddenly i felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and I felt as if my liver and lungs had come down to my belly and my belly was bottoming out !! . we were being airborne. I saw the ground go down and my head buzzed and my belly and chest felt pressed down.the plane was taking off at a sharp angle and looking out of the window I realised that I had a big wide grin on my face !!

I was smiling like a delighted baby as the plane took to the air .I wanted to laugh in joy and i covered my mouth with my hand so that the passenger beside me did not think I was mad or something as i was grinning quite widely like I was nuts !!

I was in the Air for the first time In my life !!

cochin to dubai

Cochin to Dubai. 
My first flight

Things were getting pretty bad for me in my home town. Business was getting slow and competition was getting fierce . My small one man operation of a computer sales and service business was suffering badly even in such a small town in India .

It was time to change and move on .but where and how ? That question stumped me . I was slowly going into debt and I couldn't invest in a new business .money was not a problem now but I knew it would be soon, as my revenues dwindled and I did  not have any other source of income to fall back on and neither did I have any savings .

 I had taken a home loan from the town cooperative bank  and I had a car loan, both of which ate into my earnings and savings, though I never regretted buying both.

So there I was in a dire situation with a wonderful wife and two wonder full kids and I did not want to put them into trouble . That's when I received a call from Dubai .

It was on old friend and partner who had left me and my business because he had lots of issues at home. It had been 2 years since he had gone to dubai and was calling me for the first time !

Lots of sorries and apologies later he said he was coming home on leave . I got excited a bit. Maybe he could help me !

He came a few days later and we talked quite a bit about his job and his struggle to get a job in dubai . Then he asked me about my business and I was so eager to tell him all my problems. The words flowed from me . I did  not ask him or seek any help but yes that intention I had in mind when explaining to him about my predicament .

He thought for some time and said  "why don't you come to dubai "

My Mind was in turmoil

Yes !! I said without even Thinking , " I would love to come there , But what can i do there ?"

he said that I could get a job or start my own business
" Dubai has huge Business potentials for big and small Businessmen

I am working in a big company and the company has many small contractors and suppliers. i can manage to get you into one of them. You can supply computers and such materials without big investments. I can arrange all that " he said

Thats great ! I was too excited.

but I dont even have a passport !

Then the first Thing in order was to get a passport. My friend guided me to a travel agency and we learnt few things , but they were charging a lot so he said, forget those agencies, we can do it ourselves

we applied online and got an appointment
Days later we started out to cochin some 75 km away from my home to the passport office. we reached there by office time and I was appalled to see a Queue that stretched from the passport office to the roads

"dont worry. this is always the situation here" my friend said. "because we are early we can get it done today"

Then a long wait and finally I submitted my application before noon. camera flashed. Seals were stamped. Money was paid. eeverything was all fuzzy and fast as I was like in a daze !

We were so hungry when it was over and first thing was to eat. Then we started back and reached home before evening. i did not mention the whole thing to my wife as I knew she would make a furore and would never allow me to go abroad. I wanted things to get ready and then i would tell her

My Passport arrived in my ancestral home as that was my address on my certificates and soon there was police verification and all was clear. I finally was a passport holder

My friend had returned back to Dubai and was calling me every day
he said he would have a visit visa arranged and then i could come to dubai

Money was an issue. The visa and flight tickets cost some money.

With a heavy heart I sold my office and all the things in it to raise money for my flight to Dubai
then I told my wife
we had a hell of a fight for some days !!

She said she wouldnt allow me to leave her and the kids along
days of cajoling and consoling and persuading and she finally conceded though not fully willing but as she began to realise the tricky financial situation we were in

I then paid the Money for visa and the tickets and in a few days I got a mail, there it was my First Dubai visit visa and My first flight tickets

I was elated and overjoyed
It was my first  time abroad and I had heard so much about dubai.
I live in kerala and you know there are Millions of Indians in United arab Emirates and Dubai
Most prominent among them are Malayalees of keralites , the southern state of India

I know many relatives who have been in UAE for 20-25 years
back then they used to go by boats !!

So it was a sort of excitement for me to recieve the visa and flight tickets
My friend also had arrived back from dubai again and he said we would travel together\

The next few days was sorrowfull. My wife and kids were devastated that iw as going to leave them
So many years together and I have never left them for anyplace so far

They were in tears as the day drew nearer. It dampened all my excitement and I too began to feel the heavyness of thinking that i am going to be away from my wife and kids for a long time and thousands of miles away in another world

We stayed together the last day and the packing and all that was done in sadness
I tried to cheer them up saying I would come back soon as this is a visit visa and I have to arrange all my new business and come back to get a normal visa

Early Morning next day, I left in a taxi to cochin International airport. I picked my friend on the way and we reached Nedumbassery ( cial)

I was in awe seeing all the people with Huge bags and luggages ( I had a very small bag with me ) and all the lights and shining floors and steel and glass dazzled me

i stood with my Friend in  Queue which said "JET AIRWAYS "