Elders of Kasaragod's Kovval celebrate Kerala Piravi with their maiden flight journey

Thrikkaripur: Kunjiramettan, an elderly man in his 80s from Karapathi in Kovval, could hardly contain his excitement as he gazed at the sky, seemingly within reach.

The flight journey, arranged by the Thadiyan Kovval Kairali Library on Kerala Foundation Day, brought immense joy and excitement to the elderly participants. K Narayanan, V V  Damodaran, A Narayani, and K Sarojini, all in their 70s, were among those who participated. After the round-trip flight from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, everyone felt a few years younger.

Of the 45 participants, most had never boarded a flight or even seen an airport before. The elderly unanimously agreed that the trip, complete with a ride on the Bengaluru Metro and visits to the ISKCON Temple and Lal Bagh, was a beautiful experience. They were taken to Mangaluru airport by tourist bus, from where they boarded an Indigo flight. After the joyful journey, many of them, undeterred by age, wished the return trip had also been by flight instead of by bus.

Though rich in life experience, most of the participants, hailing from rural villages, had never had the opportunity to visit major cities or go on long-distance trips. The senior citizens’ wing of the library organises various types of trips annually. This time, the elderly are already expressing their wish for a ship voyage next year.

When they landed in Bengaluru on Kerala Foundation Day, the city was in a festive mood, making the occasion even more special, a day when two states shared in the celebration. The journey was overseen by library president P P Karunakaran, secretary A Baburaj, joint secretary V M Vinod Kumar and committee members K Damodaran, K Rajeevan and K P Ravi.