badge

Thursday, March 15, 2012

A Midair Honeymoon




I could not sleep well as I turned and tossed in my bed. The thought of flying to New York the next day set my mind adrift. It would be my first trip abroad and that too in the land of green dollars, The Statue of Liberty and The Empire State building, beckoning me, with arms wide open.  The next day, I arrived at the airport and saw a huge crowd near the check in counter. I suddenly caught sight of a divine beauty, surrounded with many people.

She had well chiseled sharp features, very fair complexion, and smile on her soft red lips, almond eyes, and a curl of hair descended on her forehead. I stood mesmerized by her beauty. She was newly wed, draped in a red silk sari and laden with gold, befitting a princess. The flurry of passengers and the din at the airport could not divert my attention, till I found someone charging towards me.

‘Rahul, what are you doing here?’ asked Girwalkar, a ship mate of mine, as he gazed at me. 'I am off to New York for training ', I replied, as I recovered from the sudden unexpected encounter. ‘Let me introduce you to Sonali, my cousin, she is also leaving for NY to join her husband ' he said, as he took me along to meet the girl in red sari!!

Sonali was a charming girl and after a brief introduction, her parents insisted that I assist her in flight and ensured that we got seats next to each other. After bidding goodbye to her relatives, Sonali accompanied me and soon we settled on our seats, after boarding the flight. I was still a bachelor and was at a loss to find a right subject for conversation with her. A little later the flight took off and headed in the westerly direction.  I could see the receding landmarks of Mumbai till everything merged into the blue horizon. The seat belt sign was switched off and the air hostess got busy with in flight service. A constant jingle of the gold bangles and fragrance of Calvin Klein perfume kept intruding my senses.

I asked Sonali ’Do you hail from Mumbai?

She replied in a silken voice, with widening kohl lined eyes ‘I am from Pune, and my parents reside there’.

Soon she took over the conversation as the ice was broken. In place of a coy and shy girl I was now talking to a bubbly girl full of all kinds of queries and opinions. It was a maiden voyage for both of us. I gathered that she had been adjudged 'Miss Pune' in the previous year's beauty pageant and was married only two months earlier. Her fiancée was working as a Chemical Engineer with a company in New Jersey.

She kept chatting along and the stewardess mistook us to be the newly weds and kept devoting extra attention to make our journey a comfortable one. We were served with lunch and our conversation continued. The flight landed at London's Heathrow airport. It was cold, as we stepped out of the aircraft into the lounge. The crew changed and after a halt of about two hours the flight took off once again. Sonali, fell asleep after a while. It was still a long haul to New York as I tried to catch some sleep. I looked out of the window to find only the black waters of the Atlantic. A few hours passed when the loudspeakers cracked to life and announcement was made by the pilot that we would soon be entering the US and were required to fill the Immigration Forms. I helped Sonali in filling her form. The flight slowly started the descent as the glittering lights of the skyscrapers loomed large and I could recognize the Empire State building. It resembled a fairyland. The tiredness which I was experiencing a short while ago vanished all of a sudden. The aircraft landed smoothly on the JFK International airport. We picked up our hand baggage and after clearing the immigration walked past the customs. The duty official checked the passports and asked us if there was anything to declare.  He winked and tapping my shoulder said' Enjoy your honeymoon'!! Both I and Sonali went red, on hearing this. Sonali's husband was waiting for her and after a brief introduction we exchanged a few pleasantries and parted our ways.

My first trip abroad could not have been more exciting and incredible to have been mistaken for a newly wed, whilst still a bachelor, and enjoying the frills and pampering in flight! How time flew and I reached the other end of the world, is still fresh in my memory!

PS-1.Submission for Incredible Stories! Sponsored by Indiblogger
      2.Image kind courtesy Google

81 comments:

  1. what a experience, sir !!!!!!!
    Smiling ear to ear :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiflly narrated with a befitting punch line. The duty officer had a sixth sense for sure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Umashankar for liking!Sixth sense ha ha.. yes!

      Delete
  3. And that was some experience!! Great! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautifully narated. I got lost in the story. Such a memorable incident.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hahaha! That was a very happy accident!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very cute tale! She must have been an exquisite beauty to be so noticeable in all of a busy airport. Have you ever passed lives with her again? Your first trip to NY was a truly memorable one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true, Sam!A memorable one, and never met her again:(

      Delete
  7. this is an incredible sweet story all the best for the contest rahul:)i hope the girl hailing from punne reads it now:p

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Alka for your kind wishes! If she ever reads she will laugh her head off:)

      Delete
  8. Rofl newly wed.. :D
    It must be very embarrassing in the end though lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was like an Hindi movie ending that the girl went with her husband to live happily thereafter:)

      Delete
  9. I thought I was reading a story! Very good narration, Rahul! All the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot, Sandhya to have enjoyed the flight:0

      Delete
  10. Few moments and incidents remain unforgettable and fresh in our mind..the treasure of memories :)
    A very sweet post ...Thank you for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This one is ever green, Simran:)Thanks a lot for your sweet comment!

      Delete
  11. ha ha that was interesting!! :D It almost sounded like a fictional story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True ,Ria. Sometimes facts sound like fiction:)

      Delete
  12. well written.. you successfully painted a beautiful picture in your readers mind :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A huge thanks for that beautiful comment, Madhulika:)

      Delete
  13. I enjoyed the story very much, Sir for you've narrated it so beautifully!! :)

    The title is just "Awesome". :):)

    ReplyDelete
  14. An enjoyable tale! All the best for the contest, Rahul!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a lovely story. And welcome to the USA :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot, Agnes! I had a great welcome in USA after this awesome flight:)

      Delete
  16. Well it is always nice to spend a long flight with someone pleasant next to you. Specially if he/she is good looking and not married.:)
    www.thoughtsofpaps.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally agree with you PAPS!Long flight and good companion is a killer combination:)

      Delete
  17. kya baat hai Sirji! beautiful narration of an awesome experience

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sujatha, am so happy that you enjoyed reading this one:)A sincere thanks!

      Delete
  18. simple and wonderfully written....thank you for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  19. haha! Enjoyed reading it..:) Some experiences we remember as if it happened yesterday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right , Natasha! Looks as if it happened yesterday:)Thanks for liking!

      Delete
  20. that's the beauty of memories... they just pop up and make us smile :)
    Enjoyed this lovely tale from your memoirs !!
    all the best wishes 4 contest.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nice narration of the experience!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I know how this experience feels like for a bachelor! Feels like a story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Padmaja , it looks like a happy story now:)

      Delete
  23. Wah Rahulji. That is quite an amazing experience! Just a small correction, it should be fiance instead of fiancee. And, all the best for the contest!

    ReplyDelete
  24. A sincere thanks Rachna for your comment and observation:)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautifully narrated, I really enjoyed this story. All the best for the contest.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks a lot Rachna for your best wishes and for liking this one! This contest was one more excuse to write something which I thought may be interesting:)

    ReplyDelete
  27. wow! did you meet her after that?!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Glad you enjoyed surrogate husbandhood so much - and in the nicest of ways. Lovely story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the new fascinating term ha, ha!Thanks a ton..

      Delete
  29. Great I enjoyed reading. She is so pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Haha! You made it sound like your honeymoon ;) Surrogate husband indeed! Good one

    Love
    http://www.meghasarin.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Megha!A short lived honeymoon it was:)

      Delete
  31. A very sweet anecdote, it was. Well narrated. :-)

    And all the best for the contest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot, Vinati for that sweet comment and your kind wishes:)

      Delete
  32. LOL! That experience was definitely something Rahul Sir!! :) Looks like you thoroughly enjoyed! Aah... the advantages of being bachelor! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am happy you enjoyed reading this, Jen:) I did enjoy Ha ha..!

      Delete
  33. Incredible indeed! Very interesting, and so beautifully narrated! All the best with the contest :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. too good! lol
    enjoyed the whole trip mus say wid a beautiful companion...lucky !!
    these memories stay forever ..I guess .. that age..those moments everything seems so dreamy in fairyland...
    hope you enjoyed your New York trip... its fun there always ... thou little crowed but always good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thank you, Harman for having taken time off to read so many of my posts!I had a great time in good company in flight and at NY too:) I think I will write another post about that some time!

      Delete
  35. True, Ashwini! It was a memorable experience, still fresh in my mind:)Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  36. LOL! Funny and that makes it memorable! Very well narrated...I liked the details of her attire! :D

    Do visit my new blog- http://manjuzkitchen.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  37. Welcome to my blog Manju! Thanks a lot for that nice comment:) Your blog is really nice!

    ReplyDelete
  38. :) Awesome ;) do did u enjoy your honeymoon rofl!!!
    Nice story Rahul sir!!! and yes this story is bit similar to the movie "Mr and Mrs Iyer"
    Loved it :D

    ReplyDelete
  39. Ha Ha, Ramya... the short lived honeymoon it was:)Thanks that you liked it!

    ReplyDelete