Image Courtesy: Screengrab from Youtube | Barcroft
One of the noblest deeds a person can do is to inspire children in their lives. Their young and impressionable minds are always brimming with ideas and aspirations; all that is required is to ignite a spark which can launch them towards their dreams. Bahadur Chand Gupta, a retired engineer of Indian Airlines, provides such sparkling moments to numerous poor children everyday. He gives them the experience of boarding an aircraft and even controlling it from the cockpit using a grounded Airbus 300 on the outskirts of Delhi.
How it happened:
Chand, who hails from Haryana, decided to dedicate his post-retirement life to provide a lifetime experience to underprivileged children, when once he couldn’t take his friend to see an aircraft while serving at Indian Airlines. Coming from a small village, he knew how precious and distant the dream of boarding an aircraft was to so many people in the country. He sold off his land and bought a decommissioned Airbus 300 in the year 2003 for 6 lakh rupees. After some refurbishing, the plane was ready to host children from around the country who would live their dream for once.
Memorable experience:
On their visit, children are issued proper boarding passes while entering the premises where the plane is parked.
Once inside the plane, they are seated and served sweets and chocolates by flight attendants.
They are also allowed to enter the cockpit and given a demonstration of how the plane is controlled.
Finally, they are given the experience of an evacuation drill in which they come sliding down from emergency exits.
The visit is free for underprivileged children, while those from well-off background are charged Rs. 60.
Till now, Bahadur Chand will have inspired hundreds of children who would want to become a pilot, an engineer or a flight attendant. The Logical Indian salutes the man who is living such a wonderful life after retirement, spreading happiness among children and giving wings to their dreams. Hats off Bahadur Chand!
– Abhishek Mittal
