THE WINDOW SEAT

Himalayas

When it comes to air travel I am a window addict. While doing web check in I go first for the window away from the wings for a better and uninterrupted view during takeoff and landing and if I fail to do so I try my level best to plead, charm and coax the airlines booking agent to give me a good window seat. The thrill of taking off from the ground to a Google map view and to see the known landmarks of the source and destination cities from the air as the birds only see is a treat I would never like to miss. Seeing the world from above gives you a different perspective on the world. Patterns emerge, nature shines and cities feel colossal. 

The tea gardens of Kerala

The fabulous landscapes of farmland or forested areas are certainly a view you can’t see from the ground. Farm fields take on the appearance of a scattered checker board with circles of wheat and alfalfa, while shadows cast from surrounding hills create a view that is unmatched. Countless people would like to a climb mountain to see the summit. If you don’t have the time or the expertise to climb a mountain, why not take a plane and enjoy the view of beautiful mountain tops from a window seat? You can enjoy the view of numerous peaks and valleys at the same time.

The city lights of Dubai

I live in Lucknow and if I take an early morning flight to Delhi then from the right windows I can see the sun rising from the Himalayas, which in turn goes to the left side if I am flying towards Kolkata in the east. Sunsets are beautiful and are enjoyed by many people on beaches or even against the skyline of a bustling city, but there is nothing like a sunset seen from an airplane.  Only from an airplane does a sunset act as a backdrop to the clouds and a dimming blue sky, making the horizon seem only an arm’s reach away. While it can sometimes be tiring to wait at the airport late at night, nighttime flights allow you to enjoy the remarkable view of city lights at night. These amazing views are really breathtaking as the entire landscape seems to come to life with the intricate patterns of bright lights that define communities across the country.

Another breathtaking sight to see from an airplane is a series of beautiful islands against the backdrop of the vast ocean. Seeing spots of white and green against the blue hue of the sea certainly makes for a marvelous sight – one you really won’t ever see unless you are in an airplane.  The Great Barrier Reef tops my list in this category and a flight from Brisbane to Cairns with a right window seat is simply divine!

Dubai - crisscross motorways

While you may be tired of seeing advertisements on television or while browsing the internet, you may be surprised to see advertisements on the roof of a building as you start your descent.

Cityscapes are absolutely stunning and when while landing in Sydney you are flying over the beautiful Sydney harbour, identifying the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from high above brings the same shivers in my body as it did the first time I saw them from far above. Similarly the Wankhede Stadium and the Marine Drive in Mumbai the Howrah Bridge, Vivekananda Setu and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Big Ben, the Westminster and the London Eye in London also give me the same joy which I used to experience as a child. While approaching JFK International the view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Island is stunning on a clear day the city lights of Dubai and Paris are no less spectacular. Los Angeles, Beijing and Delhi are often engulfed in smog and are very disappointing. On a clear day in LA if you are landing from the east you can see the downtown, and Hollywood if you know where to look, even the hillside Hollywood sign!

Sydney harbour

Some landings are simply spectacular. Wellington’s Beehive parliament is an identifiable landmark as we circle the airstrip but as we approach it from sea side rock fangs lashed by waves and brooding hills give way to one of the world's remarkable runways which seems as if someone had simply widened an urban street and decided to land jets on it. Suddenly, cramped wooden houses whip past, so startlingly close that you can almost peep into their living rooms. I couldn't help but wonder what it was like to live in what I discovered later was Bridge Street in the suburb of Rongotai. As planes land, its inhabitants must endure a regular roaring cataclysm, enough to rattle porcelain on the sideboard and the teeth in grandma's head. A mechanical wind must rip washing from their garden lines and toss it into stunted trees. It seems amazing that they just get on with their everyday business while I'm hurtling at 250km/h in an aluminium tube towards a close encounter with concrete.

Over Tames River, London

Land by day in LA and you see an urban nightmare. By night, it's the great American dream, a fantasy cobweb strung with lights and Californian promise. Fly from the south into New York's LaGuardia airport and the plane usually tracks up the East River with the whole Manhattan skyline out the left window. If you approach from the other direction, you'll have to settle for the New York Mets baseball park and Flushing Meadows' tennis courts. While flying into Washington DC's Ronald Reagan airport insist on getting the left window. You come in fairly steeply over the Potomac River and as the plane banks you see the whole of the National Mall from Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Hill, just like the opening of a political-thriller movie.

The cricket stadium and the beach

For me, though, there are few aircraft views to beat flying from Jammu to Srinagar. Just get a window seat, right or left and enjoy the Himalayas. Another heaven is Queenstown in New Zealand. You go there to trek the Milford Sound but from the airplane window you have the whole of the New Zealand Alps as a frozen pavlova below you, cut through by glacial lakes and dark valleys. As your plane descends, the peaks get closer, like a shark's mouth opening to swallow you up. You skim over a snowy ridge and straight up Lake Wakatipu with mountains on either side of the wingtips.

Approaching Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Lots of airports provide the great alpine views you'd imagine: Aspen in Colorado, Lukla airport in Nepal, Innsbruck in Austria, Geneva in Switzerland but Srinagar in Kashmir is matchless. Any short ride across the Alps is splendid: Geneva-Venice, Zurich-Milan, Munich-Zagreb. For the Rockies, try Vancouver-Calgary, Vancouver-Whitehorse, Las Vegas-Denver, or any route that crosses Colorado. In the Andes, you can't beat flying from La Paz either to Lima or Santiago. Onwards from there, directly south to Punta Arenas unite mountains and fjords in a spectacle to make the soul sing.

The world's best landing is sadly no more. When I first flew into Hong Kong from the right-hand side of the aircraft, the landing at old Kai Tak airport was beyond thrilling. The plane's wheels practically twanged the antennae atop apartment blocks and blew the toupees of plane-spotters on a car park roof. You could see the wrinkles on the faces of Chinese grannies on their balconies, and drying laundry, and peer into flats where televisions flickered.Pilots had to rely on their nerves and stick-and-rudder skills to navigate what they called the "Kai Tak heart attack". Pilots flew across one of the world's most densely populated harbours and had to veer sharply at low altitude, on spotting an infamous orange-and-white checkerboard, in order to line up with the runway. In the typhoon season, winds and poor visibility added to the drama. For passengers agog at windows, it was however a tilting world of close urban encounters.

Bosphorus Strait, Istambul

The world is really a beautiful place that can be enjoyed more fully from 30,000 feet. The amazing views from the airplane window will give you a new appreciation for Mother Earth. The next time you fly for business or a vacation, take a moment to appreciate these spectacular views and make your trip all the more enjoyable.