At 5, I fell in love with planes. I wanted to be a pilot.
At 15, I fell in love with Physics. I wanted to study the science of flying.
At 24, I fell in love with the ticket counter. I realised that I had great talent of being a skillful passenger.
Nevertheless, I loved the airport. My fancy came true last year, when I was one of those underprivileged citizens who tried to board a train online while the site itself was offline. Finally, IndiGo rescued us but we had to shell out extra bucks for this. Better, because the staff was good. So good that you could enjoy the service more than the journey. That was the first time I saw the moon so closely when she offered me that tetra-pack of “Real” fruit juice.
The best part of any flight is the take-off. The thrust of the engines, the speed that the plane catches and the propulsion that takes it into the air is worth experiencing. I have cherished this part so much so that any MBA test for me is a flight. I experience the same thing when I appear for the CAT mocks. Virtual as it may be, but the entire phase of the CAT is nothing less than a flight for me. The only difference being that I can no longer be a passenger.
Before taking any mock, I have to obtain clearances just as pilots do by contacting the ATC. I tell my parents the time of my mock and ask them not to disturb me during those 140 minutes. After obtaining ‘parental clearances’, I proceed to obtain the ‘machine clearances’. This comprises of memory, analytical, machine speed, pressure, water, fuel, blackbox and internet signal tests.
Then the pilot takes the plane to the runway. Here we have a runway with instructions on how to behave during the flight.
– 2 doors in the front (QA and DI), 2 at the back (VA and LR)
– See which door is nearer to you while sitting. In case of evacuation, run to the nearest exit. (See which section you are strong in, in case of emergency, it can help you.)
– We shall approach our destination in 140 minutes.
(Omitting other instructions)
The brain pushes the fuel of confidence and preparation into the cylinder and a large thrust is felt. As the speedometer needle rises promptly, the engines are buzzing and the brain starts functioning at a very high speed. The resulting momentum is passed to the fingers after about a minute or two, and finally the brain-plane takes off by clicking on ‘Start Test’. After that, it’s just you and CAT.
Once the flight ends after 140 minutes, people alight from the centres. Some have had a wonderful flight, and some haven’t enjoyed it much. But there’s always going to be a common statement for all “Thank you for choosing to fly with us.” – CAT committee.