I want to FLY!

Since the time I was a kid, I always wondered how the world would look in the future. When I was 6 years old i participated in a drawing competition where the theme was about the future. I merrily drew pictures of flying cars and buildings with wheels. I was also certain man would fly like superman soon. Fast forward 28 years later. Does the world look anywhere close to what I imagined then? It's nowhere close to that. Never mind. It still doesn't deter me from imagining that man would fly on his own someday. Have you also ever wondered what would really happen to this world if man started flying? Here is what I think....

Man & the machine

Early this year I was stuck in a traffic jam outside Pragati Maidan in New Delhi where the annual auto expo was going on. This expo has some of the latest and the best cars from around the world. Millions are spent on developing them and billions will be spent on running them when they are out on the roads. I was outside, burning precious fuel and wasting my time while waiting for the traffic to clear. That's when the thought of the flying man occurred to me again. Why did all these multinational giants spend billions on developing fancy cars that still needed fuel and had the same four wheels and one steering wheel? It was so depressing. Couldn't they get more innovative? Maybe create a suit like Iron Man has, so that we could fly on our own. How cool would that be?

What if?

It has still not been invented but let's just assume for a moment that man did invent the flying device. Maybe using a combination of nuclear power or something sci-fi like that. Each man having the power to flying on his own without the need to depend on any other means of transport. What if?

There would be no more Vehicles, Petrol Pumps, Bus stops, Railway Stations, Airports of any kind anywhere. Maybe there would be few, only for the purpose of cargo. Never to transport any humans again. Wow! Just imagine a world like that. Never have to book a ticket again, no more reservations, summer holidays and Christmas travel would be so much fun. Entire families could fly like birds. Our world would not be the same again. There are a million other things that might happen. Imagine, no more roads cause there will be no more vehicles. And when i say no more roads, think what else could change as a consequence. I can continue this list and go on forever.

But then?

I know, you are thinking what I am speaking is all nonsense. How can this ever happen? Think again. The past is always a good indicator of how the future would shape up.

Go back in time just a 100 years back. What was the world like then? How many people knew about automobiles, electricity, telephones? leave alone talking about aeroplanes or internet. Ghosh! Internet would have been the biggest butt of jokes if anyone thought of it then. Don't you think so? The future always tends to surprise and shock us.

How I wish!

At the current rate of development in technologies am certain the day is not far away when we will see a new world emerge. A world we would never imagine sitting here today. Just like the one I mentioned above. No automobiles, no roads, maybe no boundaries and inturn no countries. Man is free to go anywhere he wishes to. No visa no passport. I can go on and on and on. Let's see what you think about how our world will turn out to be in future? Ok, this is too tempting, imagine, no more lifts or staircases, how would that impact our buildings? Won't our world change beyond imagination. Just one simple invention is enough to start this revolution in our evolution. I would love to hear your comments too and make this a fun discussion.

Before I sign off. I have to tell you this. I wrote this post in flat 1.5 hours on my iPhone, 30,000 feet above the ground while flying in an aeroplane :) Maybe i will miss these flights one day.  Cheers!!!