@pilotlaxmi

class="content__text" Posted @withregram • @officialhumansofbombay “If there was 1 thing that excited me as a kid, it was planes! I was 8 when I 1st sat in one, after we landed, I told Papa, ‘One day, I’ll be a pilot!’ He smiled & ruffled my hair. After 12th, I went back to him & repeated, ‘I want to be a pilot.’ This time, he took me seriously & said, ‘Go for it, beta. The sky's the limit!’ We took a loan & finally, my training began. After 2 years of putting my heart & soul in my training, I finally got my license. My dreams had gotten wings! Soon after, I landed a job with Air India. My 1st flight was from Bombay to Delhi; I was nervous. But the moment I sat in the cockpit, I felt at home. Papa was so happy! Whenever any relative asked, ‘How will she settle now?’ He’d reply, ‘Meri beti uddne ke liye bani hai!’ He’d hype so much in front of others, especially after I became one of the 1st few women pilots for Boeing 777! And I loved my job–I loved watching terrains change from up above. But I wanted to do more... So, when the pandemic hit & the Vande Bharat rescue mission launched, I volunteered to be a part of it! Maa & Papa were worried. But when I explained how important the mission was, they agreed. My 1st rescue flight was to Shanghai- we had to bring back the Indians stuck there. I’ll never forget that flight–China being the Covid hotspot, everyone was distressed. We wore hazmat suits through the course of the flight. When we finally landed in India, the passengers gave us a standing ovation. A little girl came up to me & said, ‘I want to be like you!’ I told her what Papa told me, ‘The sky's the limit!’ After that, I did 3 rescue missions in a month. The flights were long & wearing hazmat suits made it tough, but my responsibility towards those stuck kept me going. Once, I even flew to bring medical aid to India–I travelled with cartons instead of passengers. That was the 1st year of the pandemic, we are in the 3rd year today – Mission Vande Bharat is still active. In fact, tomorrow I’m flying out to Newark to bring those stranded back. Papa says he is proud of me. He recently told me, ‘I used to tell you the sky's the limit. But you’ve scaled even that! Keep flying!’

February 17, 2022