Near Death Experience

Before I turn old and grey and forget this experience, thought would set it out into the space mission of the www.

Before my TNS days, I was working as GM Marketing - India and S.E. Asia for Oberoi Camarco, an International Trading firm, a JV between the Oberoi Group, India and the Camarco Group, Malta.

This particular time, we had a deal with a firm in Kyrgyzstan to supply them with men and women's shoes. We sourced them from Agra, Kanpur as well as Thailand and collected them all at a bonded warehouse in New Delhi.

The shipment was ready and now we had to find a way to get them across to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. As land was not an option, the buyers agreed to air supply and we were left to find the right cargo plane to take the goods.

After a lot of searching among options, we found an Ethiopian Airlines option that would fly in from Dubai, take the shoes at New Delhi International Airport and deliver them to the buyer.

The aircraft arrived at New Delhi with an Ethiopian crew who we met for briefing. And lo and behold, obviously while they did speak English, they did not speak or understand Russian. And then they asked us to get them the flight maps for charting out the route to Bishkek. We scrambled through various sources only to find that USSR never had English flight maps (obviously) and even though it was CIS now, no one had thought of making new maps in English. Predicament eh!

So again through our sources, we found a Turkmenistan flight navigator who was in New Delhi while his passenger aircraft was stationed here for 2 days. As our round trip would only take about 10 - 12 hours, we hired this guy to come on board to read the Russian maps. happy days or so we thought, but our man was very very poor in English. Recipe for disaster.

It was Christmas Eve, my boss the MD, had flight tickets for Malta and stayed on till the last minute helping out but then had to leave. We decided that it would be best if I went on the cargo flight to ensure that delivery happened at the other end and that at least there was one guy familiar with the goods and the protocols.

It was 6 p.m. by the time we loaded up the aircraft with the 60,000 odd pairs of shoes and we took off, 5 Ethiopian crew members, one Turk navigator and one me.

I sat for most of the time at the cockpit, looking at the dials and the whiteness outside till we started to come close to our destination. Then in the night sky, I could see mountains around us. Snow capped peaks and the night sky was actually white.

Bishkek, is nestled in a valley among these mountains and soon we began our descent.

This is when the navigator took over and started reading out some numbers from the maps for the pilot to punch into the machine. it was tense, as I could see the pilot drop sweat off his brow and fly with a tense grip on the stick. The navigator then said 300, the pilot punched in something when the navigator said trembling in a Russian accent, no not 3 hundred not 3 hundred, three thousand. The pilot freaked, we must have had a close call. His sweat tripled and he yelled at his engineer to take me into the back room. Guess they did not want a civilian get freaked watching this melodrama.

I was quickly taken to the back room, a small 6 by 6 cubicle, where the engineer sat with me.

We felt the aircraft dip, and fly down and then suddenly the thrust was given and we could feel it rising up again. Then once again, the craft dipped down, down and then again began to rise. What the %$#K I thought after the third attempt, what is going on?

The engineer said, they are trying to land but seems that there may be some problem and knowing the protocol, they will try once more and if not successful, will abort and fly back. Fly back? fly back, hell what will I do with 60,000 pairs sitting at New Delhi airport, if they do go back and leave me there. Oh God, please land.....

And it did, we felt touchdown, the speed slowed down and we were in one piece. Hurray.

After everyone gained composure, the crew opened the aircraft door and I looked out, we were about 30 feet up in the air, and all I could see around us was a thick blanket of snow. Far in the horizon, we could see some lights but we stood there helpless, up 30 feet in the air.

After about 20 minutes, we saw some lights approaching and soon three army jeeps drove up with a aircraft ladder vehicle.

The ladder was clipped on the door and army personnel came up, I understood some broken Russian those days and we were asked for our passports. They collected everyone's passports and took the pilot and the Turk navigator with them and got back into the jeeps and disappeared.

The ladder was still connected but they left two soldiers with machine guns standing at the bottom of the steps.

The rest of the crew looked at me as if I had the answers. What could I say? But then, good sense had prevailed when I was leaving Delhi airport and I had picked up a bottle of Johnny Walker and a carton of Marlboro. Taking them out of my bag, I went down the steps with my peace offerings. And sure it worked, they were friendly, once having pocketed the goodies. In our animated dialogue, I made out what they said.

"Your aircraft has illegally landed in our airport, our CIA will come and get all of you and put you in prison and then investigate the case and decide what will be done".

CIA, and not US CIA but ex Russian, boy! that would be a rough cut version of the KGB, first kill and then ask questions. Is that how they operate? Imagine what was going through my mind, what a Christmas present. Will I ever see civilization again? Will they make me an example of the capitalist and hang me in the square or will they convert me to one of them having to live the rest of my life in exile tending goats on these mountains.

I climbed back to the safety of the cockpit wondering what will happen next.

And then the night transformed itself, we heard a slow humming sound, that soon grew louder and then we all saw it, a convoy of lights weaving its way in the white snow. Is this the end? What could it be ? as we all stared out the cockpit door.

Half a dozen black Russian limousines drew up with one dozen huge Russian trucks behind them. They halted under the aircraft, the guards were spirited away and several men came up the steps. Among them was a young red headed girl who spoke English. She told me, that these were my buyers, they had got delayed because they were negotiating entry with the authorities at the main building. They took us down and made us comfortable in different limousines, each one warmly heated, music playing and hot coffee. The pilot and Turk navigator were also in one of the limo's.

They moved the ladder to the cargo hold, tens of laborers jumped out of the trucks and began unloading the plane. After having calmed down, I went out and met my buyers and watched the unloading take place. They were fast and the trucks were huge and in one hour, the aircraft was as empty as my belly.

Time to go, and then the authorities went to the pilot and asked him to pay up the $5000 landing fees and then we could leave. News to me, what was this landing fees? no one had mentioned it before. The pilot asked me for it, I looked at my empty pockets and said Duh! what a twist!

Idea! I called Tatiana, the interpreter and asked her to request my buyer to handle the payment and that we would sort it out subsequently. They were agreeable but said they would have to go into town which was about one hour away. The morning dawn was slowly breaking and I did not want to be stuck for another 2 + hours so asked Tatiana if she could have them let us go with an understanding that they will clear the fees. Happened yippee! and we were given our passports and got back in after the customary hugs of farewell.

Flight took off and we reached New Delhi with no issues and landed safely around noon. Opened the cockpit door, still 30 feet in the air with no ground support to get us off. Then I saw an Air India ladder driving by and yelled out, 'Oh baisaab' and were soon off the craft and on our way home.

Shoes delivered, job done, skin in one place, was happy to call up Andrew in Malta and report.

Andrew called me up the next day, there was an article which appeared in the Bishkek newspaper that our buyer faxed to him...'Last night an unidentified aircraft was found flying over Kyrgyzstan military airspace and our anti aircraft guns almost shot it down'.

DO YOU KNOW YOURSELF?


A Quiz from Gautam Nath


Psychologists agree that each person is born with individuality as unique as his / her fingerprint.

They stress the importance of self-awareness in order to achieve self-contentment and happiness. Happiness will follow because you learn to live within the limits, yet to the fullest extent of your capabilities. This test will help you assess what character type you are.


In each of the following situations, select the one answer nearest to your own. There are no right or wrong answers.

1. If you had three free hours which you could spend in any way you like, you would:
(a) Go for a walk or to an amusement park
(b) Visit a friend
(c) Read a book
(d) Catch up with odd jobs around the house

2. If you were to find some old letters or diaries in your drawer, you would:
(a) Throw them out
(b) Keep them with the idea of reading them later
(c) Consider them to be worth your careful study
(d) Sit down and read each word carefully

3. Would you say that:
(a) You make friends easily
(b) You keep friends on an “easy come easy go” basis
(c) You do not care about having friends very much
(d) Your friends visit you at home

4. Weather conditions affect your mood:
(a) Not at all
(b) Not that you have noticed
(c) Nearly always
(d) Intensely

5. When you are invited to a party, you usually:
(a) Try to meet everyone who is there
(b) Find a certain group whom you like
(c) Often feel uncertain of yourself
(d) Compare the environment with that of your own home

6. When you hear about outer space probes, you:
(a) Want to be part of the venture
(b) Enjoy the television news about it
(c) Think about the adventure in climbing hills on earth
(d) Think that space probes are a waste of money

7. If you were to buy a new record album, you would probably choose:
(a) Marches
(b) Folk rock
(c) Symphony
(d) Waltzes

8. You think love is:
(a) Enjoyable and important but only one facet of life
(b) Less important than friendship
(c) Tricky and should be viewed with caution
(d) All important to life

9. If you were to plan a vacation according to your own desires, you would choose to:
(a) Visit several foreign countries
(b) Go to an elite vacation spot
(c) Be alone in the mountains, on the desert or at the sea shore
(d) Relax at home


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FOR ANALYSIS GO TO BELOW

DO YOU KNOW YOURSELF (ANALYSIS)


There are no Right or Wrong answers. Based on a count of the number of times you have selected (a) as an answer or (b) etc., it will point to your character type. Five or more answers of a particular alphabet will place you quite definitely in that category.
If your responses are scattered, you have a little bit of each character type as many people find they have.

“A” Personality: In all likelihood, you are energetic, capable and outgoing. It could be that you tend to be bossy but you are also considered a leader. You know a strong feeling of responsibility towards those around you and are an ideal traveler. Setbacks in life do not break your spirit and you enjoy challenges.

“B” Personality: You are usually gregarious and good company. You like fun and are usually eager to help others. You probably dislike being alone; perhaps you are a bit conceited and can be prone to exaggerate. Probably you are fond of the opposite sex and your affections tend to vacillate so that some people may think you are fickle.

“C” Personality: These characteristics mark the “Lone Wolf” the individualist who is also often a rebel. There is probably a tendency to hide your real feelings behind a mask and you dislike change if imposed by others, although you enjoy it when you make changes yourself. Many C Personalities are creative and find inner peace more in solitude than with crowds.

“D” Personality: You are very likely to be happy, self – contained and home loving. You appear cautious and can often be over anxious. In all probability, you are fair, loyal and greatly influenced by the opinion of others.
Often you find yourself imposed upon because you are sympathetic and willing. Travel is not one of your life’s objectives. You may talk about travel and take a trip but you are happy to be back on home ground again.


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