Saturday, April 23, 2011

Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju on Way to India: (Part 2)

(You will enjoy this story more if you first read the part 1 of this story- the previous story- the link of which is http://stories-children.blogspot.com/2011/04/bhanu-shanu-kaju-and-biju-on-way-to.html)

Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju felt mighty excited when their parents broke the news of their impending visit to India.

They wanted to know from their mom and dad everything about the journey. So one evening during the dinner time they made lots of enquiries related to their travel to India. Mom and  dad gave them very interesting information.

Now that Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju had almost all the information about the journey they needed, they started making preparation.

Each of them already had very colorful stroller bags which they had used for their earlier trips. They dusted the bags and made sure that the bags were clean.

Bhanu, the eldest brother (age 10), had a blue colored stroller bag with stickers of a famous scientist and a famous tennis player on it because he loves to read science and to play tennis. Shanu likes red color and so when they bought their bags, she chose red color for her bag. Kaju's bag has yellow color. He likes all the bright colors and as per him, yellow is the brightest of them all. And Biju, the youngest one obviously likes the famous pink color, the color every four year young child likes. So she loves her pink colored stroller bag too. Hers is a slightly smaller bag so that she can pull that bag on her own.

They took out their most favorite clothes from their wardrobes and ironed them and folded them properly before arranging them in a very tidy manner inside their stroller bags. Since they would be staying in India in the month of June, it was not necessary for carrying their woolens. During June, in some parts of India it is the start of rainy season and in some parts it is still summer.

They also packed few story books to read. They did not want to increase the weight of their bags by taking too many books and they had already planned to buy couple of comics at the airports.

They decided to wear their caps while going to the Seattle Tacoma airport. Colors of their caps were also the same as that of their stroller bags. Bhanu- blue, Shanu- red, Kaju- yellow and Biju- pink. In a small box they filled some gummy bears of these four colors which they would eat during their journey.

Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju has started the count down. They were highly excited and each passing day started looking like a week to them. Yet, finally the day of the start of the journey to India arrived. Since the flight to Newark airport from Seattle Tacoma airport was to take off at 7 AM, everyone got up early in the morning that day. All the four of them and their mommy and daddy dressed smartly and they were ready when dad's friend came with his car to pick them up and drop them at the airport.

Bhanu asked his daddy, "Are we not going  in our car?"

Daddy explained, "Since we are going out for a longer period, parking our car for so many days in the parking area of the airport will not be a good idea. That's why I requested my friend to drop us at the airport."

Since it was the morning time, it took them just about half an hour to reach the airport. During the heavy traffic time it could take more than even an hour.

After reaching the airport, they thanked dad's friend for dropping them. They waved him bye and entered the airport with their luggage. They went straight to the airlines counter for checking in. Since they were early at the airport they found very few people ahead of them in the line for the check-in. The lady from the airlines at the check-in counter gave them their boarding passes on which were written their respective seat numbers. The boarding passes also showed the gate number of the airport from which they would board the aircraft.

Now all of them proceeded towards the security check post. They were requested to pass through a screening machine. Their hand bags (the stroller bags) were also checked by the x-ray machines.

After the security check, they went to the gate from where their flight would take off. They had to wait near the gate before the boarding was announced. Since they had enough time with them now, they used the rest room and also drank water from the drinking water fountains installed at the airport. They requested their mom to accompany them to the book stall where they could buy couple of comics.

By this time an announcement was made on a loud speaker that all the passenger who wished to travel to Newark airport should start getting into the airplane which was now kept ready for take off. Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju with their mom and dad walked into the airplane and went towards their seats. They had decided that Biju, the youngest one would sit in the window seat to begin with. And then during the journey, each of the four would sit in the window seat turn by turn.

They kept their bags in the overhead baggage lockers fitted above their seats. Daddy helped them to keep the bags in these lockers.

All of them fastened their seat belts. Bhanu said to the other three, "Do not take off your seat belts even after the airplane takes off. It is always safe to keep the seat belt fastened while flying." Shanu, Kaju and Biju nodded in full agreement.

In a few minutes, they felt that their airplane had started moving and was proceeding towards the runway where it would run at a great speed and then take off. Now the aircraft was already at the start of the runway and the pilot of the plane started moving the plane at a very fast speed and after they were more than half way through the length of the runway, their airplane started climbing in the air. Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju, though initially a bit scared during the take off were now already enjoying their journey in the air.

Kaju was already feeling hungry. He knew from their earlier discussions that the sector Seattle-Newark is a domestic sector and the airlines do not serve the meals in the airplane in domestic sectors. However he knew that mom had packed good amount of various types of eats for this part of the journey. So he requested mommy to give all of them something to eat. And they did eat lots of things.

Then all of them got busy. Bhanu and Shanu were reading a book of short stories. Biju sitting next to the window was watching the outside view and Kaju was reading a comic book. Their daddy and mummy went to sleep since they woke up quite early in the morning.

After some five hours of journey, they reached Newark airport. They got down from their airplane with their hand baggage. Now they were at Newark airport and by using the escalators or even walking, they were supposed to reach the gate from where their next plane will take off to Mumbai in India.

They decided to use a moving escalator to reach near the gate to get into the aircraft. Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju enjoyed the ride on the escalator. It was not necessary for them to walk once they stepped on to the escalator. The escalator carried them all the way to their gate.

It was 3 in the afternoon and the next flight's departure time was around 8 PM. So they had to wait for 5 hours for their second flight.

During this waiting period, Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju went around the various food stalls on the airport along with their mommy and bought pizzas, hamburgers and hot dogs and water. Then all them including mom and dad shared the food they bought. Afterwards they all slept for a while and spent some time in looking at lots of airplanes that were landing and taking off. It was real fun. They also spent time reading books and telling each other stories. They also sang songs in which their dad and mom joined them.

Now it was 8 PM- time to board the airplane. They walked into the plane along with their stroller bags and occupied the seats allotted to them. They were excited about this part of the journey since the air hostesses would serve them lots of eats and various types of sodas and other drinks etc.

After they settled down in their seats, an air hostess approached them, wished them good evening and gave each one of them their pillows, blankets and ear phones. Now Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju noticed that each of them had a television fixed right in front of their seats and they cried out loudly in joy. The music system was also in place on the hand supports of the seats. The whole thing was happening just the way their mommy and daddy had told them during the dinner time the other day.

Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju enquired their daddy about how to use the television set and the music system that were provided for each and every passenger. They learnt it very fast; after all they are intelligent kids.

Soon the pilot of the airplane welcomed all the passengers and announced that everyone should fasten their seat belts as the airplane was about to take off. This time Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju were not scared of the take off any more; rather they enjoyed it.

Now they were high up in the air and the buildings outside started looking smaller and smaller. After some time an air hostess came to their seats and politely requested for their choice of drinks. Bhanu requested her to give him cola, Shanu wanted a lemon drink, Kaju settled on orange and Biju gave order for mango drink. Daddy and mom requested for orange juice. They were also served peanuts and paper napkins.

They had to pass lots of time now in the airplane since the journey time to India was close to 15 hours. They decided to see the movies that were meant for children's viewing.  During this period of 15 hours they were served cookies, peanuts and chocolates etc. They relished eating  them. Then came the meal time. Air hostess  served them a very tasty dinner and they enjoyed it immensely.

They also used the tiny rest rooms that were available in the airplane. First they were curious to know how an airplane's toilet looks like and secondly being such a long journey they had to use the toilets for what they are meant for- you know what!!

For a few hours all of them dozed off and they felt fresh after taking a good rest. They read comics and books and played some games that could be played while sitting in their seats. From time to time they would peep outside the plane from the window but all they could see were the clouds and nothing else because from the great height at which the airplane was flying it was almost impossible to see any thing  of the earth.

And finally the time of reaching Mumbai was coming closer. They found that the plane was now going down. Dad and mom requested them to pack up their things that they had taken out of their bags. They went to the rest rooms once more. Now they were looking outside the window constantly. Soon the view from the earth started becoming clearer and larger. The mountains, the sea, the building and the bridges started coming in their sight. They felt excited with the realization they had almost reached Mumbai, they had reached India finally.

The airplane landed at Mumbai international airport. It then reached the gate from where they would have to get off the plane. After the plane came to a stand still,  all of them unfastened their seat belts. They opened the overhead baggage lockers and with the help of their daddy took out their stroller bags.

Now with their bags in their hands, Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju entered Mumbai airport along with their daddy and mummy and from there they would proceed to their host's home in Mumbai in a car. Their air journey to India came to an end.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

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