Member of Parliament Dayanidhi Maran was in for a big surprise when he recently boarded IndiGo flight 6E-864 from Delhi to Chennai after attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Estimates Committee.
Member of Parliament Dayanidhi Maran was in for a big surprise when he recently boarded IndiGo flight 6E-864 from Delhi to Chennai after attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Estimates Committee.
Maran was seated in the front row of the aircraft.
Shortly after the cabin crew announced that the boarding had been completed, Maran heard a familiar voice.
"So you are travelling in this flight as well," said the flight captain.
Because the flight captain had his mask on, the parliamentarian could not recognize who the former was. He nodded, still wondering who it could be.
"So you don't recognize me," the flight captain said with a smile.
It was then that realization dawned upon Maran that this was the same person with whom he had intense discussions at the Estimates Committee barely two hours ago.
The flight captain was fellow Lok Sabha MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
Maran was surprised at Rudy's transformation from a politician to a pilot and expressed his sentiment with the latter.
Rudy laughed and said, "Yes, I noticed that you did not recognize me. I fly frequently!"
Terming it as a flight to remember, Maran took to Twitter to share his experience and say that he was "honoured to be flown by his good friend and colleague."
He also recalled that Rudy had served as a Minister of State when his father was the Union Minister for Commerce.
"How often does a sitting Member of Parliament captain a commercial flight? I am sure I will be talking about this for a long time," Maran said.
On Wednesday, Rudy responded to Maran, saying: "Thank you, Mr Dayanidhi Maran. After our meeting in Parliament, I was surprised and happy that you came as a fellow passenger on flight number 6E864 from Delhi to Chennai. It is noteworthy that you have been a successful aviation entrepreneur and Union Minister. Your father was the late Minister of Commerce and Industry under the then Prime Minister Vajpayee's NDA government."
"I consider it a privilege to have worked with Murasoli Maran. I had the privilege of attending the Doha Summit of the Fourth World Trade Organization. I express my heartfelt appreciation for your hospitality," he added.