Every day, I see planes flying past my home. My home is adjacent to the flight path that aircraft take after taking off from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India. They also land using another flight path that is visible from my home but at a greater distance. For years, I have wanted to fly, anywhere, domestically or internationally.

The opportunity arose a few days after my grandmother, who had lived for over 100 years in my home, passed away. My aunt lives in Chandigarh, a union territory in India, and she had come for the sad occasion along with other family members. As she was returning, I went with her. It had been years since I had visited the airport to fly rather than to receive relatives. It was a short but pleasant journey to be on an aircraft and to see other aircraft parked, landing, and taking off from within the airport’s terminals. I recalled all the steps one goes through while flying domestically: check-in, security check, going to the boarding gate, boarding the aircraft, and finally, at the arrival destination, collecting the luggage from the baggage claim.

I had been manifesting this movement for many years and it finally came.