Letting go

Ramesh, this one goes out to you again.  Thank you for that gentle nudge to write more.

 

For all the other readers ( I am being flamboyant here again, in assuming that I have too many of you, but the ones who read, trust me, you are precious to me) the earlier two posts are about our all girls trip to Thailand.

 

Letting go on Day 2 -  Part 1

 

Our plan for the second day was simple, unlike the earlier day. First half of the day at Coral Island and then back to Bangkok.  But what did not anticipate was all the adventure that was awaiting us at Coral Island.

First things First, we met our guide for the day, this time a petite woman who had the name tag on her which read LINRY, but this is how she introduced herself to us ( please read with a sing song tune)  Iiiiiiiii Lilllyyyy.. your guideee… A friendly woman who repeatedly assured us No Wollies… ( for the uninitiated, what she meant was no Worries). Figured out most of the Thai population cannot pronounce “r” and the “r” is invariably replaced with a “l” so tomorrow is always tomollow. Safari world is Safali wolld… you get the drift right?. That however is not the point in discussion, isn’t it?

 

We are not the only ones who are to be guided by Linry, she has a group of Indians. Ok we were a little surprised to see a whole bunch of Indians along with us. Most of them as families, grim faced and quiet. And while the men tried to look cool, the women looked jealous. How can these women ( us ) have so much fun?

 

But that realisation was only momentary and we were ushered into the thin silver sands on the beach, by the time we could take a few pictures, we had to wade into the crystal clear sea water which was a never ending aqua marine colour in front of us. That blue blue colour is something that I have seen only in movie song sequences. We clamoured up the speed boat in which there were people taking our pictures, we did pose for them too… Later we realised at the end of the ride, we will have to pay and take the prints or else they will just tear it up and throw it away.

Sudha & Me posing before we clamoured up the speed boat

 

We were instructed to wear life jackets in the speed boat and were eager and animated as the boat leapt above the water only to come down on the water with a stomach-churning thud. Laughter and chatter of four women filled the speed boat. I guess the laughter was more about hiding our fear for water. None of us knew swimming.



 

Our Speed boat leaving the bay

 The speed boats’ first stop was for parasailing. We moved from the speed boat to the large floating platform that provides a clear view of the bay and the city’s skyline. But who had the time to watch all that. Linry handed us over, to the care of some young men and she assured “no Wollies” once again, when we looked at our bags promising to look after our belongings. Sudha had already done the parasailing earlier in Andaman and hence she chose to be our photographer. Her DSLR was put to good use. our special thanks to Sudha, if not for her, our memories would not have been captured so beautifully.

 

We were watching people floating a hundred feet over the water held by a parachute and driven by a speed boat. Since I could see the harness being tightened on each person and is safely secured on to the parachute, logic was in place and except for a couple of butterflies in my stomach, I wasn’t worried.

 

My turn came and two of the gentlemen fastened the life jacket with the harness that can clasp the parachute. And then I was given the instruction to run on the floating platform as they strap the Parachute’s metal clasps onto me. In my mind, I was instructing myself to be ready to let go of the solid surface beneath me.

Waiting in the queue for our turn to be parachuted :-) & finding safety in a group :-)

Instructing myself to let go  just before giving my control to the parachute & speed boat

My heart was beating fast when they were strapping my parachute and before I could finish a couple of huge steps I realised I was airborne. It is an amazing feeling to let go of the land beneath your legs and float in the sky. While the speed boat seems to be moving pretty fast, I was floating in the air with almost no movement at all. The air up above was noisy, not very happy about my intrusion into its space and was hitting me hard. My heart started fluttering.

Airborne



Letting go



waving to Sudha while landing

A minute of being airborne, I found myself at peace, looked around and loved the skyline of Pattaya, the sea front looked far away and the unending aquamarine looked fabulous. I could also see few small islands’ and wondered if anyone lives there. And then overcome by some strange emotion, I let out a loud noise, my voice only to be drowned by the sound of air and the speeding motorboat in front of me. I let my hands off the parachute straps, freely flying in the air enjoying every bit of the experience.

By now, I was landing back onto the platform and I could see Sudha focussing her DSLR on me and I waved to her. I didn’t want to land, but I could see the speedboat manoeuvring itself to the spot for me to land. Two gentlemen helped me land smoothly. 

 

Harness removed, parachute off, the speed boat gone, I realised in my head I was still flying.

Smiles worth more than a million dollars

I still remember my first flight.  I didnt sleep well that entire night out of sheer excitement - the flight was an early morning one and I was probably the first one to be ready.  I remember sitting in the window seat and feeling the exhilaration of the aircraft being lifted into the air.  The feeling of transcending into space, literally, a sweet dizziness and seeing the earth move away from you putting you into a completely different orbit are unforgettable moments in life.

During the flight, there were so many thoughts, inbetween all those conversations we had, but the one I clearly remember is the thought about taking  my parents on a flight journey somewhere, someplace... and that was many many years ago..

I almost lost the chance when my sister was planning the same with my parents, and fortuntely ( how mean of me) that didnt happen and a couple of earlier occasions when i suggested this to my parents, they werent actually ready.  They both were trying to get over a bad phase in their lives, and I didnt want to force them, into anything they didnt want to do at that time.

Now they are much better and when Joel, my third generation cousin, invited us for his marriage, a couple of months back ( his wedding was on 22nd May and he was so thoughtful to invite us in March, the next day after finalising his wedding.) at Kerala, the idea was back again.  By now, I pretty well know how to deal with my parents, If I ask them, shall we go by flight, there would be other suggestions, so one day I called them and said, we will go for Joel's wedding by flight. complete silence on the other end of the telephone.  Appacha, I have blocked the tickets and in another 2 days time, tell me if the timings are convenient.  No defences, no opposition, no contradictions and dad mumbled let me discuss with Ammachi and call you back.  Thank God, I thought.

A couple of days later my dad confirmed the dates are fine and thus my parents first flight was finalised.  Infact, we were going for Joels wedding from multiple directions - My sis and family along with my son, Dennu, were coming from Bangalore.  Dennu is spending time with my sister as part of his 2nd lap of holiday tour. Joe had a official trip to Coimbatore coinciding with Joel's wedding, so he promised to reach Aripalam, ( my dad's place) by car. And i was flying down with my parents through Cochin.

I much later realised, actually during the wedding day, I did the wisest things in my life in taking my parents to Kerala in a flight for a relatives wedding, as almost all my typical Mallu relatives got to know about their flight journey and my parents were brimming with pride.

On the day of the journey, I went to pick up my parents from their place and I saw my parents all dressed and ready like little children, who are promised to be taken to a theme park, excitement written large and bold in their eyes.  Smiling and laughing we went to the airport on a saturday afternoon.  I remembered the days when I held their hands and was led to the known to the unknown in multiple environments during all those growing up Juvinelle years, when all I had was the faith and trust in them.  I knew if my dad was around I had nothing to fear.  I am truly biased that way about my dad.  Years later, today I saw the roles reversed, I saw their trust and pride in me.

All went well.  The normally bustling airport was a little more crowded, being a saturday and also partly because of all the renovation works going on in the Chennai airport. unlike a working day when the lounges are filled with Corporate honchos with emotion-less faces going around in a detached manner, this day had more of a family crowd and I guess that must have made my parents a little more comfortable.

My mom was a little worried about her first flight - she is slightly claustrophobic.  Even in a car, the first thing that she will ask is to put the shutters down for air to come in.  she feels suffocated in closed environments.  Infact, i was a little worried too about her. 

The baggage taken in I handed over the boarding passes and they were thrilled to see even the tickets.  Security check for my dad was interesting - he missed his silver rosary in his pockets and the machine beeped so he had to part with it for few minutes.  He checked with me if the baggage will arrive safely.  My mom wouldnt part with her handbag, as it had jewels that we had to wear for the wedding.  she quickly grabbed her bag after security check and waited for a few minutes in the lounge to see the entire set of Chennai Super Kings entourage coming into the lounge. 

finally we boarded the aircraft with the smiles of my parents broadening by the minute, so many people calling from Kerala to check if they have started, and my dad wanting to sit near the window.  This being a big aircraft we all could sit in the same row and my mom told my dad, again like a little child, after a little while I want to sit near the window.  My parents are such lovely couple, in sync with each other and they have the knack of managing each other.  I sometimes feel they balance each other so well that i have so much to learn from them. I heard my dad say, "anyway you would sleep in a little while, so it doesnt matter".  I made a mental note to check with the inflight executive about availability of an empty window seat.

The excitement on my dads face was quite evident and I saw him explaining a lot of things to mom and I had the opportunity to see the expression on the faces of my parents took off. They were joyous, smiling and so happy.  Excited is an understatement - My dad could see and identify some landmarks in Chennai and after a while was enjoying the beauty of clouds all around. The flight touched Trivandrum before it reached Cochin and I heard Dad say to his nephew while the flight landed in Trivandrum, one journey and we have two take-offs and two landings. 

Before the flight took off from Trivandrum, checked with the airhostess and organised a different window seat for dad so Mom could also sit near a window.  My dad thoroughly enjoyed the journey, mom too, but she started having ear pain after a little while, but she was fine.

 

I was revelling in their joy and happiness all through this journey - The smiles of my parents brought so much of satisfaction and I know I could never ever repay them even in part for all that they have done for me and the sacrifices they had to make, which made me what I am today. Atleast this, and I am so thankful for this opportunity.  And as a first born at home, I could do it before my brother or sister could do it for them.

I have just one regret though - I should have done this much much earlier. :-)