Scale Aeromodelling

I have often wondered what makes this hobby so special to me. I "guess that, above all other reasons, it helps me connect with my childhood and the many things that were so special about being a kid." It all started when my Dad took to me to an airshow in Pune, at the Lohegaon Airforce Base, in 1971. I will never forget the impression it left on me.

On that day, I bought an ancient balsa wood model glider of a Spitfire. I cannot remember how many times I broke and repaired that model, but it kept me occupied, out of trouble throughout that summer, and hungry for more.

As I look back on those years, I realise that building all those models served many purposes. It gave me an outlet to express my fledgling creativity. I can now look at a basic stripped-down model and picture it as a finely detailed model, simply by changing the picture in my head. It honed my skills at following instructions to assemble things, discerning spatial relationships, and basic problem-solving. It instilled a sense of symmetry and organization...All these attributes serve me well in life today as a practicing executive.

I write this as we are in the process of losing an entire generation of modellers. The next generation is growing up on electronic games, and will never benefit from all that model building can bestow upon a young mind, propelling it toward success.

I write this also in an effort to re-introduce creativity, imagination and ideas in our lives, and to remind all of us that there is still a childhood to discover as we grow older!

Get in touch if you want to know a little bit more about being a kid! Meanwhile, get to a toy shop, pick up a Rs. 100/- airplane model, and put yourself in the cockpit!

For more information e-mail me at saha@bangalorebest.com

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