Date: 23rd August 2015
Day: Sunday
Time : 10 pm
Location: Sitting in a flight from Delhi to Mumbai
The flight was about to land in Delhi at 9.35 pm. I slept from 9-10, on waking up I found our plane still in the air. The aunty sitting next to me was chanting some prayer and an air of uneasiness could also be found there. On enquiring, she murmured in a worried tone “Pata nahin Delhi me kuch to samasya hai, yeh plane ko utaar hi nahin rahe….na jaane kahan le jayenge hume …ek ghante se hume hawa me hi latkaya hua hai…aur abhi yeh bhi bataya hai ki fuel bhi khatam ho raha hai” and continued with her chanting.
I checked with flight steward, she said there is very bad weather in Delhi and also informed that we might take diversion to some other nearby location. Yeh toh wohi baat hui “Jaana tha Japan…pahunch gaye Cheen :-)”
Few thoughts that kept crossing my mind:
- Will I be able to reach Delhi where my family is waiting at the airport and they don’t have my whereabouts
- What if plane runs out of fuel and is not able to land safely
At last after spending nearly 2 hours in the air, we reached Jaipur which was a big sigh of relief. Immediately called up home and informed that I am safe and in Jaipur. After refuelling, the plane took off and I reached Delhi around 1 am.
This instance has left me with lot of learnings:
- Expect the unexpected: Life is full of surprises , U turns and diversions .Keeping yourself prepared can help in handling situations in a better way.
- Right presence of mind at the right time is very important: Taking right decision at the right time at the right place is very important . The decision to land at Jaipur at the right time as we were running out of fuel was the right decision.
- Staying calm makes sailing only better: In a situation like this, there was hardly anything that I could do. Worrying would mean making situation worse.
“Maine samundar se seekha hai….. Jeene ka Saleeka,
Aaram se rehna hai…Maze me jeena hai.”
- Emergency fund comes to rescue in case of real emergencies: One may not get to know the essence of emergency fund till it is brought to use. The extra fuel which helped the plane fly for extra 2 hours was a life saver…had we reached Delhi on its arrival time, this fuel would never have come into picture and its importance would not have been realized.
- You will reach where you are headed to but not necessarily in a way you planned: Finally, I reached my destination and the first dialogue that came to my mind when I sat in the car at the airport “ Is raat ko boring bana do Babajee….” from the movie “jab we met” 🙂
About the Author: Gurleen Kaur is a Financial Consultant and devotes her time to her company www.hareepatti.com. She has done her Bachelors in Finance and Investment Analysis(BFIA) from College of Business Studies(CBS, Delhi) and MBA from IMT, Ghaziabad. She can be Contacted at gurleen@hareepatti.greatestdesignever.com