Posted:
I found this hilarious article by a flight attendant who had encountered many film stars😆
"Somewhere in the early 1980s, my wife, my four-year-old son and I were returning home from London after a three-month long 'temporary-posting' (to operate trans-Atlantic flights). It so happened that Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and his family were also traveling on the same Lon-Del-Bom flight. Mr. Bachchan, accompanied by his wife Jaya Bachchan, eight-year-old daughter Shweta and six-year-old son Abhishek, was presumably returning from a family holiday.
Amitabh Bachchan was already a big star by then, having delivered quite a few hits like Zanjeer, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Sholay, Namak Haram, etc. My wife was thrilled to see such a distinguished star and his family in the Heathrow Airport waiting lounge. Amitabh Bachchan was grace and modesty personified. He delivered a polite nodding smile to both of us and lovingly patted my little son Apu on his head.
We reciprocated with an equally courteous smile and I too patted his kids affectionately on their heads. Jaya Bachchan was of a slightly different disposition. She looked a little grimly towards us and did not seem to feel the need for common courtesies like returning smiles or greeting people. However, the children ' Apu, Abhishek and Shweta ' became friends instantly and were running around the crowded lounge, jumping over people's hand-baggage.
While the children played, Amitabh told us about some of the places they had visited during their short holiday in the U.K. and we shared our experiences of living in the capriciously mercurial climate of the great city of London.
When it was time to board the aircraft and we had roped in the kids, I called out to the children. "Come, let's go" and as they came back I only heard Abhishek repeating, "Let's go, let's go, let's go".
On boarding we were separated from the Bachchan family as they proceeded to First Class. We stumbled backwards into the economy where I had managed to procure four comfortable seats with extra large legroom. As all the crew members knew me well; they tried their best to make us as cozy and relaxed as possible in our allotted seats.
After take-off I received a request from Amitabh via one of the crew. He wanted to keep a teddy bear in front of our seats, against the bulkhead, as the flight was full and there the coat closet was too narrow for such a large toy. The humongous 'teddy' was roughly 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide and Amitabh was worried that the toy would be squeezed out of shape in the closet.
Compromising on our personal comfort, we agreed to his request. Amitabh accompanied the flight purser who escorted the huge teddy from First Class to our zone. With an extended arm, a very grateful Amitabh said, "Thank you so very much. I really regret the inconvenience this might cause you all." I rose from my seat to shake his hand, and said, a little falsely, "Oh no, it's no problem at all Mr. Bachchan." The actor was about to return when Abhishek came running after his teddy screaming "Teddy! Teddy! Teddy!" Papa Bachchan turned to my wife and said, "I hope you don't mind Abhishek being here; he likes his teddy very much." "Not at all," replied my wife. "After all, both the boys get along."
Big Teddy took care of the extra legroom and extra seat I had used my good offices to wrangle out of the friendly London airport airline traffic staff.😆
After half an hour of adjusting our legs uncomfortably to accommodate Big Teddy, my wife and I hatched a plan to squeeze the toy into the coat closet. But we knew that young Abhishek would be very upset if he saw us move the toy.
I involved a senior air hostess as a co-conspirator in the business of kidnapping Big Teddy. "Just distract Abhishek," I requested, sinisterly. The hostess spoilt the kids with all sorts of toys, games, eatables and soft drinks galore, but Abhishek could not be lured away from Teddy. Suddenly the hostess had a brainwave. She picked up the Teddy and said to Abhishek, "Let's play hide-n-seek. I'll hide teddy and you boys find him. Isn't that a good idea?"
Abhishek panicked and started running towards his father's seat shouting at the top of his voice, "Idea! Idea! Idea."
PS- some one commented that 'now we know how 'idea' was born"😆
other articles on page -2 , 3
"Somewhere in the early 1980s, my wife, my four-year-old son and I were returning home from London after a three-month long 'temporary-posting' (to operate trans-Atlantic flights). It so happened that Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and his family were also traveling on the same Lon-Del-Bom flight. Mr. Bachchan, accompanied by his wife Jaya Bachchan, eight-year-old daughter Shweta and six-year-old son Abhishek, was presumably returning from a family holiday.
Amitabh Bachchan was already a big star by then, having delivered quite a few hits like Zanjeer, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Sholay, Namak Haram, etc. My wife was thrilled to see such a distinguished star and his family in the Heathrow Airport waiting lounge. Amitabh Bachchan was grace and modesty personified. He delivered a polite nodding smile to both of us and lovingly patted my little son Apu on his head.
We reciprocated with an equally courteous smile and I too patted his kids affectionately on their heads. Jaya Bachchan was of a slightly different disposition. She looked a little grimly towards us and did not seem to feel the need for common courtesies like returning smiles or greeting people. However, the children ' Apu, Abhishek and Shweta ' became friends instantly and were running around the crowded lounge, jumping over people's hand-baggage.
While the children played, Amitabh told us about some of the places they had visited during their short holiday in the U.K. and we shared our experiences of living in the capriciously mercurial climate of the great city of London.
When it was time to board the aircraft and we had roped in the kids, I called out to the children. "Come, let's go" and as they came back I only heard Abhishek repeating, "Let's go, let's go, let's go".
On boarding we were separated from the Bachchan family as they proceeded to First Class. We stumbled backwards into the economy where I had managed to procure four comfortable seats with extra large legroom. As all the crew members knew me well; they tried their best to make us as cozy and relaxed as possible in our allotted seats.
After take-off I received a request from Amitabh via one of the crew. He wanted to keep a teddy bear in front of our seats, against the bulkhead, as the flight was full and there the coat closet was too narrow for such a large toy. The humongous 'teddy' was roughly 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide and Amitabh was worried that the toy would be squeezed out of shape in the closet.
Compromising on our personal comfort, we agreed to his request. Amitabh accompanied the flight purser who escorted the huge teddy from First Class to our zone. With an extended arm, a very grateful Amitabh said, "Thank you so very much. I really regret the inconvenience this might cause you all." I rose from my seat to shake his hand, and said, a little falsely, "Oh no, it's no problem at all Mr. Bachchan." The actor was about to return when Abhishek came running after his teddy screaming "Teddy! Teddy! Teddy!" Papa Bachchan turned to my wife and said, "I hope you don't mind Abhishek being here; he likes his teddy very much." "Not at all," replied my wife. "After all, both the boys get along."
Big Teddy took care of the extra legroom and extra seat I had used my good offices to wrangle out of the friendly London airport airline traffic staff.😆
After half an hour of adjusting our legs uncomfortably to accommodate Big Teddy, my wife and I hatched a plan to squeeze the toy into the coat closet. But we knew that young Abhishek would be very upset if he saw us move the toy.
I involved a senior air hostess as a co-conspirator in the business of kidnapping Big Teddy. "Just distract Abhishek," I requested, sinisterly. The hostess spoilt the kids with all sorts of toys, games, eatables and soft drinks galore, but Abhishek could not be lured away from Teddy. Suddenly the hostess had a brainwave. She picked up the Teddy and said to Abhishek, "Let's play hide-n-seek. I'll hide teddy and you boys find him. Isn't that a good idea?"
Abhishek panicked and started running towards his father's seat shouting at the top of his voice, "Idea! Idea! Idea."
PS- some one commented that 'now we know how 'idea' was born"😆
other articles on page -2 , 3
courtesy - Coffee Tea and Bollywood by Manu
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