Holy Roman Empire and remarkable engineering works, A Charter Flight in Cairo

My landlord in Bangalore once narrated how he missed an international flight to Cairo after holidaying across Europe soon after his World Engineering Conference in Prague. Interestingly, most of the meetings of the engineers are held in the Czech Republic every year. The reasons lie in its rich tradition of engineering, science, and technology dating back to the 14th century, when Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and remarkable engineering works were created that have served their purpose to the present day.

Throughout the centuries, a large number of world-famous scientists contributed to the development of human civilization in the broader fields of science and technology, agriculture, health, transport, and industry. Also, it’s the territory of the great Albert Einstein, Charles Doppler, Ernest Mach, Bernard Bolzano, Ferdinand Porsche, and many others. The magical beauty of the Czech Republic and historic Prague, as well as the friendly environment, brought vivid memories of those five days of the convention programme. The broader participation of delegates from engineers, researchers, scientists, and technicians from all over the world witnessed the fairytale castle of the Czech Republic, the lovely locals, and their great culture. Let’s not forget that the Czech Republic has it all, with the best beer in the world and fantastic wine too.

Travelling across Europe is a lot cheaper. As his passport was affixed with a special visa—a diplomatic visa—to the delegate for an international conference, he planned for a tour while on his return trip and flew to the world’s largest airport, Heathrow (then), and simply hopped on a train in London at St Pancras, while heading to experience a little bit of everything in comfort through the Tube Rail. He sat back, relaxed, and let’s whisk him to the centre of Paris. He was struggling to find safe and cheap places to stay for the night until he discovered a dormitory at Gare Denfert-Rochereau Paris train station. The room had no frills but was comfortable for the night.

They are not kidding! It’s totally safe to drink tap water in Paris, even at public water fountains. Everything else is potable. The availability of warm water might have led to the discovery of so many cool new tips and budget hacks. The popular beverage brewed with boiled water over tea leaves from India appeased his hunger with bread and loaves, which constituted the majority of the European diet for the poor. It’s a great way to save time and money when travelling across Europe by taking the night train. There are lots of sleeper trains in Europe, and they are comfortable and convenient. His visa granted him unrestricted movement in most of the EU countries. The one-stop destination passed through Berlin, Bern, Venice, Rome, and Athens. People seeking refugee status in European countries are generally entitled to food, money, shelter, and medical attention. He never hesitated once in the queue in Vienna. They give generously to those in need. He slept cheap and spent his dollar on something cool.

And he finally sailed in the Mediterranean Sea to Egypt for the most famous monument of Giza. Mysteries surround the Great Pyramid, but it’s the shade that makes the wonder even more admirable. At noon, the surface of polished limestone begins to brighten with specular reflections from the Great Pyramid. By doing so, he got stuck in Cairo traffic and missed the Air India flight in the evening. The times of uncertainty and danger suddenly surrounded him and he fell into a trap after his entire itinerary. Also, he hadn’t enough in his purse for the next available flight. One could realise how one felt so helpless in that situation that things fell incredibly disoriented. With no other alternative, he knocked on the embassy door to get assistance. It sent an SOS to check the response from India.

Alas! The delivery of one Boeing from Seattle was arriving in Cairo for refuelling. The crews of Air India were in mission mode to rescue the lone Indian lost in Cairo. “Flight 747-200 to Bombay is now boarding”. The captain welcomed him aboard. Soon he fastened the seat belt until the mighty plane had come to a complete standstill. It cruised at 600 miles an hour in the middle of the night from its four mighty jet engines in luxurious comfort. The hosts of four flight crews wined and dined the sole passenger very well.

It was Monday, April 19, 1971. It was Air India’s first jumbo jet that touched down at Santa Cruz at 8.23 a.m. A Boeing 747 roared into Bombay’s skies on that morning in regal splendour and was accorded a royal reception while India had entered a new phase of jet operations. Engineer SM Huq from the Central Water Commission, New Delhi (later retired as Chairman), was right. He was never late for that Boeing 747, never lost in Cairo, and never prepared for that untoward incident, but he boarded the charter flight by chance. What was an unexpected treat to fly while travelling solo inside the Emperor Ashoka?

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