1970 is an unforgettable year in my life. It was in May 1970 that I first stepped inside a plane. How excited were my young daughter and I to travel by air! (Hubby used to boast that he was a veteran of air travel. When he joined the Durgapur Steel Plant, he had gone to the USA for official training.) We planned to go from Durgapur to Cochin by air to attend my brother's wedding. The journey from Durgapur to Ernakulam took four days by train. If we went by train we would miss the wedding as the schools closed for summer vacation only two days before the wedding date. To get the vacation pay, I, as a teacher in a convent school there had to attend till the last day of the session.

Hubby's two elder brothers were in Calcutta. We used to stop there en route to and from Kerala. The day the summer vacation began, we landed up in their house. The flight was for the next day. Early next morning, the younger of the brothers accompanied us to Dum Dum airport. After the formalities of checking baggage, tickets, etc., we sat in the lounge, waiting for the flight call. At last came the announcement, "Passengers for flight number – are requested to proceed towards the plane."

Saying goodbye to brother-in-law, we then went up the walkway and entered the plane. An air hostess smilingly welcomed the passengers. My daughter and I grabbed the window seats - hubby had to sit in the aisle. The air hostess gave us all instructions for the use of the life jackets and asked us to fasten our seatbelts. With a thumping heart, I waited for the plane to take off. Alas! Nothing happened. After some time, it was announced that there was some mechanical trouble and hence the delay in the takeoff. Suddenly the plane started down the tarmac, but that was all that happened. The plane still could not take off. In the end, all the passengers were asked to disembark and proceed to the lounge to await further developments.

Poor brother-in-law! He was still waiting there, though two hours had gone by. He consoled us saying that such things did happen often with Indian Airlines. To cheer us up, he said that there was Dharmendra, the film star, among the stranded passengers. We thought he was joking, but we found that it was true. We at once went in search of Dharamji! Hubby and I were great fans of Dharmendra. There he was, looking very handsome and every inch a hero! We introduced ourselves as his great fans. He thanked us and greeted us very politely in Hindi. When he heard that we were from Kerala, he said that it was a beautiful place and he had been there for a shoot recently.

We then went to the restaurant for some snacks. Meanwhile brother-in-law bid goodbye and left. Later it was announced that the flight was cancelled and the passengers would be accommodated at Grand Hotel. We were taken there in the Airlines bus. Wow! The suite allotted to us was ‘grand' indeed, as also was the exotic food sent to our room. But I was feeling very sick and went to bed without having even a bite. The next day, the exercise of going to the airport and checking in was repeated.

Meanwhile, we had informed my mother in Kerala about the delayed flight and the uncertainty of our arriving for the wedding. The second day was luckier - a series of hops and jumps and off we went, soaring up in the air. Fleecy white clouds in the blue skies going past the windows - it was truly enchanting. Within a couple of hours, we were in the Meenambakkam airport in Madras. Hopefully, within the next two hours, we would be in Cochin. However, another shock awaited us - we couldn't get the connecting flight to Cochin, as our reservations had been for the previous day. This time, there was no airlines bus or accommodation. We were on our own. We had to stay in a small hotel and cool our heels till at last we got a connecting flight to Cochin. Man proposes, God disposes. How true this was. We missed the wedding due to the inefficiency of Indian Airlines. How I fretted and fumed!

On the Madras flight, we saw another ‘star' - Padmini of the Travancore Sisters. She was fair, slim and quite charming. When we introduced ourselves as her fans, she talked to us graciously. She got down at Coimbatore, where the plane had halted for half an hour.

At last we reached Ernakulam. The house wore a deserted look - only my mother was there. Most of the relatives, including the bride and groom, had gone out. The gulab jamoons which I had lovingly prepared with homemade khoya had turned sour, matching our spirits. The air journey which should have taken only four hours had gone beyond four days because of the delays. The only bright event in the whole dismal journey was the meeting with the two film stars - ‘stars' who had made the otherwise drab journey bright.