I was born in the home of sailors. Four generations of my family, before me were proud sailors and had seen the world. I was forced to join the sailing community. Since a very young age I had the travel bug creeping into me. But there was a difference. I wasn't too keen on sailing. I wanted to fly. My passion for flying started young and I think I took to it very naturally. With my dad's support at a young age I had learnt to fly all sorts of one engine planes and even tried gliders. My heart however wanted more. When I came of age, I was duly sent into the Navy, without any other options. I couldn't over rule my dad's command and thus I followed the family tradition. With the passing of time, it became clear to my superiors that I was more inclined to flying and so they sent me off to India to learn flying. It was like a breath of fresh air. I could finally do what I pleased and I had complete freedom to fly from the sailor community. It was a proud moment for me. After my training I was sent home for a vacation. It was going to be my last vacation is quite a while. I came home to tear eyed parents and siblings. It was amazing.

On my way back home, I accidently ventured into the duty free retail section of the airport. Airport shopping is considered to be a lifestyle of shopping and retail is generally frowned upon by the people. Delhi Duty Free shops are excellent and they have so much of variety. I was left astounded at the kind of money you could spend. I bought some duty free liquor and duty free perfumes. I got some amazing cosmetics and confectionery and chocolates at duty free. That completely sorted my family and friends. I was so excited to see their proud faces, smiling at me with such great pride. It was fantastic to see them after almost 3 years. I missed them real bad and it was a great to finally see them. I managed to finally let go of my mom's embrace and relax in the evening with my friends. I was meeting them after a very long time and the life of sailing takes everything out of you to make you tough, that most people aren't used to. It was a great experience to be back home and feel love and affection from family & friends. My break of 1 month and 15 days got over so soon that I didn't even realize it was over. I said tearful good byes to my special friend who I intended to marry and my dear parents. It was going to be a year before I got a permit for vacation.

Finally the day came and I headed out and get back to work. Actually it wasn't anything like work because I was flying my planes, something that I always wanted to do. That's when the sailor started to fly.