Tears trickled silently. As she stood helplessly at the brim of modernity, it was the child in her who stared, completely scared. For us, the escalator at Forum Mall, Koramangala was ordinary; for her, it was fear coupled with a subdued realisation. A brief awakening but of epic scale, that imploded and her heart could not hold.
On reading an article in City Express (29th July), Prema Ramappa Nadabatti, the only woman bus driver in BMTC, was invited by Flight4Fantasy, a flight simulation centre, to fulfil her dream to fly a plane. But she did not realise that the experience will propel her out of the bubble that was her life.
Watching a completely new world where the odour of the city’s affluence obnubilated, her naivety was apparent when she wondered, ‘ishtu belakide illi’ (so much of light here).
The curiosity and innocence of a child, the desire to be accepted, the fear of losing acceptance - all stirred up right till the fourth floor of the ‘alien’ world. Such was her ignorance with the modern world's way of life that when offered a canned cold drink, her shyness made it obvious that opening it was something that she had never tried before.
Finally, after all the confusing tryst with 'our life', there she was, right inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 NG.
And for us, as well as K Vybhava Srinivasan and Deepak Agarwal, the entrepreneurs who set up the centre, she was indeed an inquisitive child all through the hour-long session.
Taking off from Dubai international airport and landing back, we could not fail to notice her curiosity as well as her aptitude to grasp. She said, “Busgintha flight odosodu thumba sulaba alva” (Flying is much easier than driving a bus).
“When we read about her dream to fly a plane in City Express, we did not have to think twice about what we wanted to do. This was our small way of encouraging her,” said Deepak and Vybhava, who have so far provided over 10,000 people with an experience of flying a Boeing in over a year, at a price that has been unmatched.
They and their staff ensured that Prema never felt out of place and when she innocently stated after the session, “Nanu Dubaige hogi bandna eshtu bega?” (Did I go to Dubai and return so fast?), there was a mature understanding of her pure impulse. But she was quick to point out a comparison stating that bus driving was more practical but to learn flying, you need to master both theory and practicals.
The staff at the centre wanted her to spend a little more time and let her experience a fighter plane. And she flew...lost in the landscape, taming the mean machine in just a few minutes.
Now, Prema has another dream. To learn English and try her best to drive the ambition of her son to become a pilot.
And the determination on her face as we walked out of the centre was profound, and yes, when coming down the escalator, there were no tears but confidence and it did not trickle, it oozed.