Flying Fascination

Contributed by: Chandni Mathur
Dated: 17th August, 2013

I have always been fascinated with MIGs. I just love the way they fly…I want to fly too but that’s humanly not possible and this song keeps playing at the back of my mind (I believe I can fly..I believe I can touch the sky…..) As a little girl I wished that my dad was in the air force, so I could live near the aircrafts and see them every day because flying and aircrafts have always fascinated me…

All the kids have this tendency of rushing out of the house/classrooms or peeping out of the window, the moment they hear that “swoooosh” sound of the aircraft flying across the sky, leaving behind a trail of fascinating design of clouds… It feels as if the aircrafts are there to connect the clouds with one another, binding them together, as if it’s trying to reconnect two parted friends… as a kid, I used to perceive  the aircrafts as messengers of Gods who give you your answers and fulfill your wishes…For me, they were a symbol of freedom
On the way to Itaunja, there is an Air force station. I guess every morning they have their sorties, so luckily whenever I go with my team to Itaunja, I get to see those aircrafts gliding up in the sky, moving through the clouds in speed. It somehow thrills me..It makes me happy; it makes me forget all my worries…It sometimes also makes me forget what I am doing…  It has a hypnotic affect on me… It completely grips me and I can sit for hours together leaving everything behind and watch those aircrafts zoom in the sky…slowly disappearing into a different world… but what I never understood as a child, is that they are also bound by some limitations… even they are not allowed to cross the line beyond a certain point …

It’s not just about aircrafts but also about the Kites.. Those colorful diamond shaped pieces of paper hooked with a thread also look equally fascinating. I love watching kites fly…though I personally don’t know how to fly one but I have always loved watching it. They make the sky look more colorful….looking at the kites you feel the sense of independence, it  makes you feel happy about life and gives you hope… but then you realize that somebody else has the command over the “independence” of this kite. It has to move in the direction as and when the thread is pulled. It is totally restricted and dependent on its master, it has to change paths according to the wishes of its master… sometimes cutting through the thread of the other kites and make the other kites free along with the sense of pride. Yet again, a question strikes my mind, what happens to the kites which get free from their masters..? they fly away completely free, wherever the direction of the wind takes them…so, now the question is, can the kites be considered a symbol of freedom?

On the other hand, the birds can be considered free spirited beings. I wish I could soar in the sky like a bird. They definitely have a shorter span of life but whatever span of life they have, in that, they have no limits in terms of boundaries. I assume, for them, none of it make sense…they are beyond (physical) boundaries, restrictions and are their own masters. They just know how to fly freely…all they know is FREEDOM… yet they have certain restrictions just the way our kids have…they appear to be free, like any of the above mentioned things….they can play, have fun, run like a wild child in the rains, jump ..do whatever they want to..But do they really have freedom to whatever they want to do??

Children are also always tied up with this invisible string, whose command is in the hands of his/her parents, teachers or guardians. Why can’t we just let them be, the way they are…why can’t we just not have this string attached to them and let them shape themselves into free spirited beings. All of us focus too much on what is to be done and what is not to be done or how things generally are done. Why can’t we just for some time, forget all these restrictions and let them fly as if there are no restrictions…as if it’s a free world…and all they have to do is just spread their arms wide and fly….

For once..Just let them be..