THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING.
And thats the way it will be. I'm now going public with what could be called as the next chapter in my life. After 6 years in the software industry, it's time for a change in career, a really big change.
It's taken a month of painstaking research and running around to reach this day. It started with Prakash coaxing me into considering a career in aviation. Initially, it all looked like a every-other-day-joke of his. But he was quite persistent. And he's the one who got me hooked to the "Ladies and Gentlemen ...". It took a good 2 weeks before I actually took any interest in it. And from then, I spent so many hours on the internet, reading, referencing. I also visited Jakkur Government Flying Training School, spoke to couple of people there. Also met Anurag Jain from Air Deccan. Dug up a lot of information, from beginning to end, about the training, job opportunities, compensation, future in aviation etc etc.
It turns out that there are several people who are switching careers to aviation. So I wouldn't be a lonely guy with an IT background. There are about 40 flying training schools in India, most of them run by the Government. The overall condition is not very appreciable, with the number of student intakes and the number of planes they have to train, students are spending 2 to 3 years doing the complete Commercial Pilot License (CPL) course. And it'll cost Rs.10 Lakh.
There's a number of places around the world where the same course can be done in 1 year, although at a higher cost. I had shortlisted 2 places, Sydney, Australia and Vancouver,Canada. Until two weeks back, I was considering Australia as the best choice. And last weekend, I woke up remembering that I had dreamt that Australia was not the place, it was Canada. I just couldn't remember how I had come to that conclusion in a dream. Anyways, so I went to IDP (Australian universities educational conglomerate), and they said that the visa processing and admission will take 4 to 5 months. That completely put me off. And I walked into the Canada visa center, and they said student visa takes 3 days. So Canada it is. And yet, I was only 99% sure I wanted to do this.
Today, I met Captain Himanshu Pushkarna, who flies planes for Spice Jet. He was in transit at Bangalore. We met for just 20 minutes, in which he gave me a bundle of information about the Canada place. He's been there himself. While he said that the visa could take even a month, he agreed to help me with the process, including finding accomodation in Vancouver. He gave me a thumbs-up about job prospects, my chances, starting pay scales etc. Guess what! Starting pay will be twice as much as I earned at Wipro after sweating it out there for 6 years. As I was speaking with him, I mentally decided that I wanted to do this. The meter had touched 100%. And that cleared Stage-1 : I want to be a pilot.
Stage 2 is the funding for the course. Approximately CAD $37,000 for the course and CAD $10,000 for accomodation and living expenses. I've already spoken to my bank, and got an in-principle Ok for the loan. It'll be against the apartment as collateral. Then onto Stage-3.
Stage 3 is the medical test. There is a very stringent medical examination, including test for eyesight and an audiometry test, and a EEG - something like brain mapping - to make sure you're not fu*ked up in the head. The Indian medical test is supposedly a lot more strict than the Canadian one. The point to be noted is that the Canadian medical is valid for 1 year, the Indian is valid for 2 years. I'm taking the Indian medical tomorrow. I'll know if I'm fit enough when I meet the doctor on Monday - 9th Jan. If I clear, the Canadian medical will be a breeze. And that will be clearance to Stage-3.
Stage 4. Hmm. This could be the stage to test my skills at diplomacy. If at all diplomacy works with ones parents. It's the stage where I have to divulge all these details to my parents and hope that they will understand and agree with my proposal. But that's only on Monday.
Wish me luck. Until then.
Cheers
Mayur Poddar
