An Incredible Experience

Anyone who knows me , knows this about me, I like my afternoon nap , and I like it long, and for the sake of having an unchewed head , until about 15  a few minutes after I wake up, it's best not to ask me to do anything resembling  work . Oh wait, that was before I became the Artimator's mater. Should you like the pleasure of my company in decent clothes,the best way (to avoid head banging and nail chewing injuries) is to ask me (nicely) atleast  a few hours in advance. In short, in those good old days, waking me up from a nap prematurely and asking me to get ready quickly and leave the house was a task not to be undertaken by anyone who wanted to have a peaceful evening.

As it happened ,one  evening,around 6 ish, a few years ago, since the spouse was woken up by a call on his mobile, I was lying in bed just lazily wondering  who it was (that dared), when the spouse  finished his call and  said something to me  that caused me to literally  jump out of bed, for the first time ever in my life.

Five minutes later, I was dressed  and standing at the door, politely actually asking the hubby whether he would be able to make it out of bed the same day (a feat that gave me great satisfaction,because usually I am at the receiving end of that one!)

Now, if you have read some of my older posts like this one, you might have an inkling that planes and air shows are a very normal part of the hubby's and (by extension) my life. I just cant get enough of watching aircraft fly, but the sad part is that other than traveling in  commercial aircraft, a few odd times, my feet tend to stay firmly on the ground. The Indian Air Force does not allow anyone except pilots and personnel in uniform (so to speak) to fly , ride or go for a joy ride in their aircraft .Since I don't qualify for any of these criteria, being married to a fighter pilot, does NOT mean that I would ever be allowed to get a joy ride, unless I decided to join up, which may happen if pigs were to sprout wings one day.

Anyway, getting to the point,( there is one) you see, as he finished  that  phone call , the hubby turned to me and asked whether I would like to get an aerial view of our house , and if yes, then would I kindly be dressed and awaiting the chauffeur a.k.a the hubby at the door in 5 minutes flat. Being the good wife that I am , that's exactly what I did. A few minutes later, as we were zipping along to the runway, he explained , that there wasn't a sudden change in IAF policy, but there were a couple of ex-military pilots, who had flown in a politician,in a charterted helicopter,  and landed at the only airport in the small one horse town that we were living in at the moment. That airport, happened to be the IAF base where my hubby was posted to at that time, and since they had a little extra fuel to burn and a soft corner for the "fauj" , they had offered and been authorised to give a few families  joyrides, on a first come ,first fly basis. Since the news was spreading faster than wild fire, and the sun was about to set,  the race was ON.

As it happened, having a fighter pilot for a hubby  translated into a chauffeur with race winning driving abilities,and I was one of the few lucky ladies who got the chance, about 15 minutes after THE phone call, to be flown low over our house and all our friends houses, and wave at the same friends as they went about their very very ordinary evening walks!

This is was a different helicopter,but you can see how I feel when I see aircraft flying

It was truly , one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and that is why, this is my entry for the

Mahindra XUV500 "Incredible Stories" contest!