Flight of fantasy for kids

‘‘I’ve been here since May,’’ says 13-year-old Kishore Kumar Chaurasiya. And with daily hospital visits for every 21-day chemotherapy cycle, all he has seen of Mumbai is the Gateway of India, a few restaurants and Juhu Chowpatty. ‘‘So much water,’’ he exclaims, a few minutes into the 50-minute joyride. ‘‘So why does Mumbai have a water shortage?’’ asks another from behind.

Santosh Shinge is from a Kolhapur village, completing his sixth cycle of chemotherapy. He’s been in Mumbai often. ‘‘The Gateway of India looked so small,’’ says the Std IX student. Sitting next to him is Akshay Shelke from Jalgaon.

Gulshan Kumar Chowdhary from Begusarai, is less impressed. ‘‘I was on a similar flight last year too,’’ he says. ‘‘That was Air India.’’ He has had a relapse and that’s why he’s back in Mumbai, he says.

Others, like Chaurasiya, want to return in better times. As a kid waiting for his father to return from the coal mines near Jabalpur, Chaurasiya would dream of making it big in a city. ‘‘I’ll return to school once treatment is over. But maybe I’ll return to Mumbai some day,’’ says the Std IX student.