DISCLAIMER- The author is a serial storyteller. ‘Danger Zone’ ahead.
It was sometime in the summer of 3rd grade as I remember, when a very Tech-savvy dad of mine had recently bought the latest 4k theater projector from Sony.
And who better to find support from to justify his spendthrift tendencies in front of a yapping Mrs. than one’s easily excited 8-year-old, movie-loving daughter?
I vividly remember how he came running to me, saying, “Listen, Mumma is going to a garden party and so, we’re having a movie night out on our terrace. Call Rashi & Arnav too.”
Movie night at my place? A socially awkward me was already won.
I waited all day and then at around 6 pm, my friends finally showed up. Papa made butter popcorn in our new microwave and we all waited patiently for each of our bowls to reach us. And then we decided on a movie, which we protested to for around 45 minutes but then agreed to see.
It was mostly the boys who were hyped up, with my brother backing papa’s recommendation with all of his might & tears.
And so, I had no option but to give in. Little had I known that this movie, Top Gun, would become a favourite for life.
Now, although a little Indian me barely understood the quick English dialogues, I was deeply struck by how smart and hard-working yet fun, those men-in-uniform were. The actors were definitely NOT bad to look at either.
Quite surprisingly, the movie was my first and most lasting lesson on “Work hard, play harder”. And how can I go without talking about the best chemistry most of us have ever seen in our lives?
Maverick and Goose were simply a dream duo. I mean, “I laughed at love and I thought it was funny, but you came along and you moved me honey”, pretty sure that the Jerry Lewis song was made for them. Not for Carole, not for Charlie. Solely for the Bradshaw-Mitchell bromance.
Although the movie was overall hopeful, the tragic plot shatters me to this day.
*Wrapping up the context, let me talk about what I wanted to in the first place- your humble host & her love for aviation (& the cinema, always).
I come from a family where most have donned the blues- with one being in the first batch of India’s first low level-flying course in attachment with the States’ same, the “US Navy Fighter Weapons School” or as you & I know it, “Top Gun” in 1969- I’ve grown up with all sorts of stories of this certain relative’s coolness,
my dad’s sketches of fighter jets on our drawing room walls and with this one movie. All of these inevitably making my heart scream for the skies since the 3rd grade. Then life happened.
Be it Decaprio, Matt Damon and the hundreds of hours I spent surfing the net for information, or those dozens of times I begged my parents to take me to see air force tarmacs- all were swept aside by time.
It was not until the 2nd “Maverick”, that I remembered what most of my childhood was spent dreaming of.
And surprisingly enough, our Leiden-Sarin ‘Air law’ Moot was what prompted me to take my laptop and write about a long-lost love.
I also saw “Fighter” recently, where I was all engrossed in expertly critiquing the production while an entire squadron from the Trishul Airbase was seated behind me and listening to it all.
All my knowledge of ACM and aircraft capabilities were duly noted. As I exited the auditorium, I ran into the CO’s daughter who happens to be my sister’s friend.
As we all formed a circle, one of the YOs complimented my 3 hour-long ‘picture description’, as he called it. He further went on to ask me if I was interested in flying and as he did, another guessed, “Judging by your face ma’am, you’re either an overly confident aviation enthusiast or just an Air Marshal’s daughter.”
Although offended, it ended up becoming funny as we continued on with our conversation. I replied, “Proudly the former” and the laughs followed.
The day definitely gave me not a movie, but a memory I’ll remember.
*Now, you might be wondering where all these stories I’ve been telling you tie up. I hope?
These instances although indirectly, hit me with how much we change as we grow. And even though change is an obvious outcome of life, it feels like a huge epiphany to me, every day.
Of course, change is not necessarily a bad thing, but doesn’t it feel like you’re losing bits of yourselves along the way? Because I for one, have felt like that for the longest time but couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
And hence my point, in this crazy world where everyone’s in a race and we’re our own worst critics, it’s easy to forget the simple joys and dreams we had as kids.
Those childhood memories? We easily forget them in the struggles of our daily lives. But they don’t. They’re like warm hugs on the colder days, always there to bring us back home when we’re feeling lost. Whether you got beaten up by your sibling over something silly or took the suitcase from your doctors’ set and pretended to leave home (like I have, a hundred times) or, took a long trip to the Andamans’ with your family that one summer- No matter how small or core, they’re just always there to help hold that smile up.
And those dreams? Think about it. When was the last time you remembered that dream you had of being an astronaut, an avenger or a rock star? Those dreams might seem silly now, but they were a part of who we were. Maybe, we won’t be fighter pilots like in Top Gun, but I’m sure we all had our ‘Top Gun’ moments sometime in life, where we were flying high with Maverick and Goose- feeling invincible.
We may become attorneys or judges or servicemen tomorrow- whether we aspire to or not. No matter how things will turn out for us, we’ll have those ‘Top Gun’ moments to hold us, and that is how I know we’ll end up okay.
There’d always be something beautiful and relieving about holding onto the 8-year-old versions of ourselves who dared to dream big.
In other words, that is what will always make us feel, “The need…The need for speed”.
– This article has been written by Anushka Verma (2nd Year).
