[ Narayanan K ]
(As Tezu gets a new well-equipped modern airport terminal, a former resident of Lohit shares his memories of his first flight from the airport 4 decades ago.)
As a young lad in my early 20s, I had been dreaming of a chance to fly high in the sky. It was in 1982, working in Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Sunpura, Lohit district, that the opportunity knocked at my doors. We were to go to Dibrugarh and the great Brahmaputra was in a spate. It would take 4 hours to cross it, with a lot of risk to one’s life and a day-long ride to reach Dibrugarh. My friend suggested that we could fly from Tezu to Dibrugarh this time and that it would take just 30 minutes and it would cost only Rs.40 (or was it Rs. 60?). Wow!! That’s it! The decision was made.
I was daydreaming about my first time ever, a record-breaking memorable journey in a huge plane with numerous windows, two big doors, two engines on each side, 5-star service, a big airport with lots of activity, with several people moving around. I was wondering how the beautiful forests with hundred-feet tall trees, ever winding streams, rivers and hamlets would look from the high altitude. ‘Would it be possible to spot my school campus by any chance?!’
The flight was to reach at 10:30 am and depart at 11 am. We had a hurried breakfast at 8 am and left for the airport in a jeep. The beautiful greenery on the way, the songs of the birds, the make shift bridges, rivers and streams didn’t matter much that day. The mind was filled with air travel alone. Suddenly the jeep stopped in front of a big iron gate and a small compound wall. “Where is the airport?” I asked. The driver told “This is the airport!!!” In front of me stood a single building with some antennas and a big wide open ground.
Slowly people started gathering. It was 10:30 am. No plane yet!…. 11 am. Still no sign…. 12 noon…. People started talking about the usual delay due to bad weather. Yes! Indeed the weather was becoming bad. It started drizzling with heavy winds! Co-travellers started talking about their past experiences, when sometimes the flight would arrive late, hover around, but won’t be able to land, land but won’t take off due to inclement weather. You couldn’t leave the airport because anytime flight could arrive and leave at the earliest. Anyway, the tea shop outside had a gala business. No lunch.
Hours passed. But no sign of flight. I was tired, weary, hungry and exhausted. We were hoping after hope that the plane would arrive at least by 4 pm. (that was the cut-off time for arrivals). Finally good news!! The flight was approaching! We were praying for its safe touch down.
It landed at 3:30pm. I was by now not bothered about the size of the plane nor the number of windows it had. It was a Fokker Friendship with 20 or 25 seating capacity. I was sadly happy to be seated. Sad, since it was a small plane and happy because of a window seat ! I was excited about my first ever historic take off. Forgot about hunger, tiredness, weariness. The weather was not good. It was cloudy, windy. Was the weather god probably conspiring against my travel?? Someone was murmuring “the flight might be cancelled”- ‘Oh, no…! Not after so much ordeal.’
Finally, it took off. Glad and smiling, grim and tense, excited and happy faces were everywhere in the aircraft. I enjoyed the take off part of it. To my surprise, two big fans (rotors) were doing the job of flying, making a lot of noise. Within no time we crossed the pristine jungles of Tezu’s outskirts, the Digaru river and scores of streams. Soon we were flying over the great Brahmaputra. While I was wondering about the vastness of that great, gigantic and beautiful river – that happened.
The whole plane dropped down like a stone! Down by 50 to 100 feet. It felt like a freefall! The high-pitched rotor sound died down to a low husky voice. Suddenly the plane rose up, and the engine sound recovered, giving us relief. It didn’t sustain for a long time … again the drop and rise… again and again… innumerable times. Everything inside the stomach was rotating in sync with the rotors. This turbulence continued… How long? For a moment I thought that the plane was hopping up and down instead of moving horizontally! At last to our great relief, the jolty journey came to an end, when it started circling over Dibrugarh airport.
The epic journey comprised 5 minutes of smooth take-off, 5 minutes of soft landing and remaining 20 minutes of unforgettable free roller coaster ride!! It was memorable nevertheless. Even after 4 decades, the experience still remains fresh in my mind……..
Today, Tezu exhibits a beautiful terminal building and it is connected to rest of the country much more easily. Best wishes for its future expansions. And best wishes to my dear Lohit friends for many occasions of joyful flying!
(K Narayanan was the founder Principal of VKV Sunpura and served 6 years in Arunachal from 1977 to 1982 in VKVs Roing and Sunpura. He is a maths teacher with 40 years of experience in prestigious schools in India like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s and the University of Hyderabad campus school and retired as HoD Maths in Indian School Salalah, Oman. He lives now in Hyderabad. Email: nkrish100@gmail.com )
