The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : It was a dream come true for him

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

It was a dream come true for him

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JAN. 8. As Air Vice Marshal Ajit Lamba took off in a Hansa aircraft on Saturday afternoon, he had a 13-year-old boy sitting beside him in the cockpit.

Wide-eyed, immensely thrilled, the boy, Santhosh, from a government school in Seshadripuram was on his first flight ever, an experience he had only dreamt of. Santhosh and 14-year-old Latha were lucky enough to be part of `i2eye,' a dream project launched a year ago by a city-based journalist, Ananthkrishnan M., and Air Vice Marshal Lamba. And their objective: to give visually challenged and underprivileged children the ride of their life, an experience to fly.

"I was very happy and a bit scared too, although my teacher had asked me not to be scared," a beaming Santhosh told presspersons as the National Aerospace Laboratory-supplied aircraft touched down.

Applauding Santhosh from a distance were a group of 14 boys and girls, his friends from Kalpatharu Kalavidaru, a dance centre for underprivileged children where he learnt the nuances of Bharatanatya.

"When I asked these children whether they want a ride on a plane, they thought I was joking," recalled the danseuse, Padmaja Suresh, the brain behind the dance centre.

"The pilot showed me the controls, how to take the aircraft up, how to slow down," continued Santhosh, excited by the attention and the crowds around him.

"From up there, everything looked so small," he said.

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