After seeing a helicopter his wife had once wistfully asked him how much it would cost to hire one, so this school teacher in Rajasthan's Alwar district decided to fulfil her wish on his retirement on Saturday.
Scores of people gathered to watch as Ramesh Chand Meena, donning traditional attire and sunglasses, along with his wife Somoti and grandson Ajay boarded the chopper at a helipad near the school in Saurai to fly to his residence in Malawali village, which is 22 km away.
Meena, who was given a farewell after 34 years of service, said he booked the chopper service from New Delhi for Rs 3.70 lakh as he wanted to fulfil Somoti's wish.
The flight was all of 18 minutes, but Meena said it was a memorable maiden experience of flying. "We were sitting on roof-top when my wife after seeing a chopper asked me about its hiring price. To fulfil her wish I decided to book a chopper on the retirement day. It was our first experience to fly. We enjoyed it immensely," Meena told PTI, after his no ordinary commute.
Meena thanked the district administration for permitting him to fly after he put up a request. "I had taken all necessary permissions from the district administration and other departments. Thanks to district administration officials who made the process easy," he said. The couple has two sons. One is a teacher while the other is an inspector in Food Corporation of India.