It has been a ritual from the time I started using a mobile phone , from the year 2000. I would speak to my mother before and after each flight.
This would always be the case - it never mattered if the flight was of a long or a short duration. Just like getting ready for take off involves the crew giving safety instructions , my readiness involved completing the phone call.
My mother would be on the ball , no matter what time of the day, what time of the night , making sure of my travel plans, no matter where in the world I was.
While long flights were always very diligently taken care of, it was even in the short hauls that she would never forget to make the calls. This included short duration flights like Kalamazoo to Chicago , Mexico City to guadalajara , São Paulo to buenos aires , Tokyo to Osaka, Amman to Tel Aviv , Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg .
The conversation was pretty diverse. But there were some standard points every single time - both before and after the flight. These were -
Before the flight -
Sleep well
Eat well
After the flight -
Did you sleep ?
Did you eat ?
There were only a couple of times when we did not speak prior to the flight taking off .
The first time was when I was on an Aerolineas Argentina flight from São Paulo to buenos aires in 2009. It was about 3 am in india when the flight took off and possibly, that's why I think she missed calling. Looking at the time in India, I too did not call.
It was a scary flight . Full of bumps, some twists and a few turns. Seat belts were on for the full flight, there was no service, the cabin crew did not present a comforting look. Many people on the plane were in the prayer mode.
It was on that flight that I made the calculation of the amount of time it would take for a person to hit the ground if the plane crashed mid air. Assuming a height between 30,000 to 40,000 feet with g assumed as 10 m/s2 , it would take between 40 to 45 seconds.
The second time I went on a journey without speaking to my mother was last year, in 2016 - on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Milan. It was late night in india and we didn't speak before the flight . The plane was hit by lightning mid air and it was like flash photography in a Pitch dark room . The pilot was very confident and steered the plane safely on to Milan. I had also thanked the captain on Twitter ( screenshot below).
In the thousands of plane journeys I have undertaken last many years, i have always felt comfortable and secure because of the strength that love provides - the love from my parents, my family, my friends. The pre take off phone call was a manifestation of this love and the strength that comes from love.
This strength is so warm and comforting , it's like a shield, it's like the Kavach and Kundal that Karna had in the Mahabharata. It protects , it guides, it gives confidence.
While there was confidence in the Kavach and the Kundal , I did have the preparation done for the contingency - just in case , the plane crashes, my prayer was that in those 40 to 45 seconds that it would take to fall to the ground, i should be able to switch on my phone and make two phone calls - to my mother & my father , and to Jaadoo & Ipsita. I would wish for enough mindfulness to be able to make these calls .
In a couple of days, It will be three months from the day my mother transited from this world. In these three months, I have been on scores of flights . Scores of flights WITHOUT that phone call. Every time , however, before take off and on landing, I look at my phone and make a silent connection with my mother , telling her of my journey and the answers to those two standard questions on sleeping and eating . And every time , I feel her inveterate love seep through . A deep sense of warmth and assurance comes over me.
You don't need a phone to connect to the people you love.
And I wish myself Bon voyage !
