Not sure how to call this. I would have called it
flightophobia, but the english language for whatever reason has decided to call
it Pteromerhanophobia (not even sure how
to pronounce it) or aerophobia. It’s the fear of flights. I used to look
forward to flight travel. But it changed during my trip back from
Romania. My first flight from Bucharest to Vienna was uneventful. Vienna to
Delhi was a 9 hour flight and it changed my outlook for flight travel. Within
the first 45 mins of being in the air we went through a violent turbulence and
the flight dropped suddenly (not sure how many feet). The people inside started
to panic and the cries of “whats happening” started doing the rounds. This went
on for 3 mins before the flight was under control. I don’t know how to explain
that feeling. I was scared, but was clinging on to my seat as if it will save
me. And I realized that the people inside with their hysteric reactions made me
more nervous than the actual turbulence itself. All this while though, my
neighbor was unflinching. I looked at him and he said, “Don’t worry, Lord
Krishna is there”. I thought to myself, “yes,
I might see him soon J”.
After that experience, whenever I had to travel in flight, I became nervous
throughout the journey. I recently found out that even my son doesn’t like it.
We had to travel last week to Chennai and he was all looking forward to
travelling in flight. But, immediately after takeoff, he started saying “Daddy,
I am scared, all the buildings are on the ground and we are up”. How can I tell
him that I myself was very scared? I tried to put a brave front though and
tried to calm him down. I have read a lot about turbulence and I know that it is
not unsafe. But when I actually go through one, I have a feeling of not being
in control and that leads to anxiety. Hopefully, I will be comfortable one day.
Two days after the travel, my son asked me “Daddy, you said the Gods are there on the sky, but you didn’t show anyone when we were on that flight"J.
