Amitabh Bachchan's Official Blog

DAY 1849

Britannia, London May 8/9, 2013 Wed/Thu 3 :05 AM gmt

Yes I do believe it is the hour that worries most and causes extreme rections among the Ef … yes it should be time to be in bed .. yes it is the hour to be taking good care of health … but… yes … the attraction of those that consider themselves to be extended to me as family, must be given the respect and the admiration they all deserve … which is .. due attention !!!

The flight in from JFK, New York was smooth and quicker than when we went the other way. Going into from Heathrow, London to Nyc was 8 and a half hours !! Coming back today was 6 hrs !! In fact during the days of the Concorde it was 5 and a half hours ! Time difference between Uk and USA being 5 hrs, when you took the Concorde, going out to Nyc, you actually had two breakfasts .. because you took off at 9:30 am and reached Nyc at the same time in UsA !! Concorde flying time - 3 hrs and 15 mins !! The flying needle’ they called it, because that is how it looked in full flight. Did the flight several times and added to it were several pleasant memories.

Soon after the first flight took place we were on it for a holiday with Shweta and Abhishek as toddlers almost .. and the joy of explaining to them the intricacies of the ‘sound barrier’ and how the aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound. That on most of the portions that it flew over land, it reduced speed, because on a Mach speed faster than sound, it would have the capacity to blow off all the glass windows below ! So interesting and novel was the plane that the Commander of the flight would give certificates to the kids, which confirmed that they had flown this special plane. On occasion we shared seats with great celebrity - Sir Alec Guiness, Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, and several others …

…. and then the stories related to it ..

You could actually see the curvature of the Earth as you flew at over 58,000 ft, on speeds of Mach 2 … at that height the atmosphere did not look blue, but a light purple ..

The funny tales of it .. its novel size, speed, landing nose shift, were all subjects of wonder and awe … plane was divided into two sections, the front and the rear .. no difference in status or price or seating or anything .. it was a structural necessity. The cabin crew service gallery, was in the front of the plane, and when food was served, naturally the first row in the front cabin got served a little earlier due to the convenience, since the alley was very narrow and long, there was difficulty in moving about to the rear and then up with food trays. This on one occasion, seemed to annoy one of the passengers who was sitting in the rear section. When her turn came to be served, she threw a shindig .. “ I am paying the same price for the ticket ” she exclaimed loudly, “ why is it that the guy in front is getting served first ” ?? . The air hostess not wanting to get intimidated by this somewhat uncalled remark, kept her cool and gently replied to her .. “ …because Ma'am, they are flying faster !! ”. Silence ! No further questions or tantrums after. There was so much excited talk on the exceptional qualities associated with the making and the flying of the plane and its remarkable feats of speed, that the lady actually believed that there was a 'technical advantage’ for the front row !! The speed factor though elicited many an interesting query. The best coming from the great Mohammed Ali, who on his first trip, wished to know, since the plane flew at such extreme speeds, whether if he was to be driving on the motor way and the Concorde flew by along him, would he be able to see it ..?!!

I have not come across any known record, of what the response to this question was !!

The Concorde, now that we are on the subject, flew limited destinations - one of the reasons for its discontinuance, apart from that one and the only disaster that took place in Paris when it crashed on take off !

It flew mostly over water bodies, because it would never be able to push the throttle to full, over land ..so London to Nyc, to Washington, to Rio I believe and the return to Paris also. The Paris factor being a consideration to the French, because the Concorde was a joint manufacturing effort of the French and the British !!

There was a time in those days when I was virtually living inside one.

I was on a concert tour of the States, various cities in the USA and Canada and the UK, when in the middle of the tour my Father took ill and I wanted to be by his side. So I would perform on the wek end, Saturday-Sunday in America and Concorde/747 back to India for the week and then 747/Concorde back to UsA to perform over the Sat/Sun .. some what disorientating, but it needed to be done. When it comes to parents and loved ones, nothing else matters !

I am told that the time in flying across the Atlantic now, is slower in order to save fuel !! And of course the Concorde has been withdrawn and buried !

Time, I would imagine, to bury my thoughts in final ceremony here, and shift at mach speed to the pillow and …

My love as ever ..