The Restless Gemini

Έν οίδα ότι ουδέν οίδα --- Hen oida hoti ouden oida

November 27, 2005

I want to be a Pilot

This morning I was switching the TV back and forth between two programmes- one was the programme on creating AIDS awareness in India which featured Richard Gere and the other was a programme on National Geographic Channel called "Mission Udaan". This was an unique programme in the sense, NatGeo together with the Indian Airforce conducted a selection campaign to pick up one aspirant who would be picked to fly one of the most advanced Fighter jets - the Russian Sukhoi SU30. The selection was conducted in three Indian cities Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. From each city 10 people have been shortlisted and from these 30, one finalist would have the envious job of flying a Sukhoi. The first episode which was telecast today had shortlisted 30 aspirants, Iam eagerly looking forward to the second episode where I think I would get to see all the selection drills for a Pilot.

The selection process was certainly demanding. It consisted of a medley race where you had to run end to end on all fours and then running backwards. There was then a group task where the group would be given certain equipments and would be asked to accomplish a task, this was then followed by a Group Problem Solving Exercise and a personal interview. During the course of the interview, I found that many incumbents told that it was their ambition,dream,goal,desire to fly a plane/to become a pilot/to join the Indian Airforce.

I instantly remembered that as a kid, I would often say that I wanted to become a Pilot one day. However the thought soon petered out and I became "truly interested!!" in other professions like Painter, Architect, Train Driver, Agriculturalist, a Kung-fu fighter(after seeing Bruce Lee movies) and not to mention a Poultry farmer. But then I ventured into GIS projects and Cartography(map-making) after my MBA before settling(hope so!) to be a SAP consultant in an automotive company, doing all these things But I still enjoy the thought of flying(of course not as a pilot). I make it a point to get a window seat on a flight. I like peeping out of the window and to see a real map on the ground with my own eyes. I can find an instant similarity between what I see through the window and what I see on satellite imageries and topographical map sheets. The buildings are all a stack of toy boxes, the rivers are winding snakes and the clouds...its indeed an experience to fly above the clouds and to peep through the window. Flying was the first thought which used to fascinate me as a kid, and Iam still fascinated by flying objects...so don't blame me if you find lot on my blog about Aeroplanes and stuff.

1 Comments:

Blogger Preeti said...

hey... i thing we are in the same ship.... errr.. i mean the same planes. I too am fascinated by the word 'flying'

December 21, 2005 4:04 am  

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