I did not sleep for 36 hours straight!
The anticipation, fright and enthusiasm was overwhelming. It was an unforgettable first flying experience. At 5:00 a.m. on April 26 2014, for the first time in my life, I was inside a plane. Time froze. The plane took off. The night sky, the yellow rising sun, the blue sky, the white clouds, the land below, the vast ocean below, and the plane flying - the experience was exhilarating.
I am Anith Kumar. I graduated from Shanti Bhavan (SB), a school for children from the lowest socio-economic background in India, in 2010. I dream of buying myself a jet before turning 30 - an ambitious dream.
I never expected to be flying in my first plane at age 22. A month and a half ago Canadian Madeleine Grant emailed me, inviting me to the 2014 Hot Docs International Documentary Festival to be held in Toronto. She has a made a documentary film on my classmates and myself called The Backward Class.
In the movie I am in my final year of high school. The movie encompasses my life at SB, and the lives of my mother, father, and younger brother in Bangalore. The story focuses on SB being home and family to me. The education I have received there enables me to achieve in life, so that I eventually break away from the cycle of poverty, which I was born into and which has played harsh in the lives of my parents, siblings and the community of people in India born into homes like mine.
I was excited at the prospect travel. I immediately applied for a passport at the passport office, government of India, Bangalore. The next 20 days and eventually more were filled with anticipation, hope, and extreme joy. I was very happy when I received my passport in hand. There was joy in my parents' eyes and their smiles were radiant with love.
I was granted a week off from the office so that I could attend the event in Toronto, but I would need a visa to fly out of Bangalore within days. The anxiety was keeping everyone on their toes -- my parents and siblings, the Shanti Bhavan administrative staff, Madeleine and team in Canada, and myself. The restricted and unreliable internet access in Bangalore made it virtually impossible for me to gather and send the visa information. Madeleine booked my flight from India to Canada via Abu Dhabi and we crossed our fingers.
Somehow Madeleine worked a miracle getting my online visa application approved with help from the DOC organization of Canada, but it typically takes a minimum of eight days to process an approved visitor's visa application.
I submitted my passport to the visa application centre in Bangalore on Wednesday morning. We wrote letters to the Canadian High Commission at New Delhi, India and hoped they went through.
Friday morning, with my flight meant to leave Saturday, I still did not have my passport with the Canadian visa approved yet.
At precisely 11:00 a.m., Friday, April 25, 2014 I threw my hands up in the air and literally shouted out with joy. I had received a notification on my phone from the Indian office stating that my passport had been processed. I could collect my passport at 2:00 p.m. the same day! I immediately made calls and wrote emails telling the good news to my parents and siblings, Madeleine, Shanti Bhavan and friends. I left the office at 1:00 p.m. and had my visa in hand at 2:00 p.m. This was only the beginning. I had to fly now!
I was at home by 4:00 p.m. By 6:00 p.m., I was ready to fly. I had my passport and flight itinerary in a handbag, and a larger travel bag. After a silent prayer with my family at 8:00 p.m., we had dinner together. No one could sleep. No one did. I walked out of my home in a slum in Bangalore at 1:00 a.m. Saturday April 26, 2014. My mother, father, younger brother and sister were with me in the car to the airport. My parents had tears of joy when I reached the airport at 1:45 a.m. I hugged each of them bye and walked into the Bangalore International Airport, India.
I cleared the various security checks and the passport and visa check. I had two boarding passes in my hand by 2:30 a.m. One pass for the plane at 5:00 a.m., from Bangalore to Abu Dhabi, and the other from Abu Dhabi to Toronto.
The plane took off from Bangalore at 5:05 a.m. I closed by eyes and flashed through my life from age five until then. I opened my eyes -- I was flying! On the plane, I was looking at a display monitor attached on the back of the seat in front of me. I watched the plane's location on its route. I didn't sleep because I was nervous about the plane making it back to ground. The landing at Abu Dhabi was as exciting as being in air.
The flight on the second plane, to Toronto, was even more exciting. The queue, the security checks, the passport and boarding pass checks -- I was overwhelmed with anticipation. I wanted to be flying again!
The flight from Abu Dhabi to Toronto was 12 hours. I switched between watching the realtime display of the plane's location and movies. In the later six hours of the flight the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean! The Atlantic Ocean is beautiful.
At 5:00 p.m., Saturday April 26, 2014 Toronto time my feet were on land! I walked out of the Toronto airport to be welcomed by my classmate Vijay and the documentary crew. The weather here is extremely cold for me! The smiles and hugs from the three of them assured me that I will have a great time in this country with cold weather, complimented with the warmth of care and love from Madeleine and the team in Toronto.
I will be flying out of Toronto 4:00 p.m. Sunday, May 4, 2014. I am buying myself a jet by the age of 30!
The Backward Class has gone Rush Only for it's first three screenings in Toronto and will have an additional fourth screening on Sunday May 4th at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema at 7pm. See www.hotdocs.ca for tickets and screening information.