The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : For 30 children, a dream come true in the skies

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 13, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

For 30 children, a dream come true in the skies

Priscilla Jebaraj

Paramount Airways arranges joyride for poor school students

CHENNAI : Flight stewardesses are used to passengers dozing through the safety demonstration that's part of the take-off routine. On this special Sunday flight, however, Paramount Airways stewardess Neetu L. has thirty pairs of rapt eyes focussed on her every move as she dons a life jacket and shows them the correct way to fasten the seatbelt. Not surprising, for most of her young passengers have never even seen a seatbelt before.

Reading lights, air-conditioning controls, pushback seats, pullout tables -- "ooh, look at how this works" - for the thirty underprivileged children from Rotary homes and corporation schools whom Paramount took on an hour-long joyride as part of early Children's Day celebrations, every little gadget on the plane is a novelty.

All that is even before take-off. As the aircraft speeds down the runway, eyes widen and mouths open in amazement. And then, "WOW", a spontaneous shout of excitement seems to lift the plane into the air.

Squeals of delight welcome every new perspective of familiar old Chennai. "I can see the harbour... and the ships," exclaims Umaresan, a Std VIII student from the city's fishing community. A. Devarani of Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School, Nungambakkam discovers that "the cars are just like ants." As the plane heads out of the city and towards the rolling hills around Tirupati, Satish Kumar, a Std XI student of Chintadripet Boys Higher Secondary School shakes his head in wonder, "Who would have ever thought Tamil Nadu was so beautiful."

The aircraft weaves in and out of the sun-drenched monsoon clouds. "The clouds are so much prettier from above than below," marvels Std XI student S. Abhinaya. Satish agrees, "Studying the types of clouds in a textbook is no use. They should show us all this as a practical lesson." He traces the shape of a temple in the clouds to match the Tirupati shrine below before declaring, "The movies don't do justice to it, the real thing is so much more beautiful."

Even a period of turbulence, provoking a bout of nausea, can't quench the excitement as a rainbow garlands the clouds.

Social Welfare Minister Dr Poongothai, who is accompanying the children, is encouraged by their sense of wonder. "It's an inspirational experience for them," she says. Paramount Airways Managing Director M Thiagarajan hopes the joy of their first flight will take them to new heights. "If even one child becomes a pilot or takes up aviation as a career, we would have fulfilled our aim," he says.

His dream could well come true: as the plane descends, Neetu and her fellow crew are bombarded with questions on how to join an airline. As it touches down, starry-eyed children call out, "Once more, once more."

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