It’s holiday season. And maybe this is the right time for it.
Skytanking
Skytanking. Sky tanking. Seriously? Skytanking?
I didn’t know this term till I took a flight early this October, and looked out of the aircraft window.
The plane was refuelling before we were to take off and as an early ‘onboarder’ I saw this process.
Large letters on the fuelling tanker proclaimed it.
Sky tanking. In two bold, distinct colours to denote them as two separate words.
But I thought, skytanking as one word was so delightful.
Isn’t it pretty much what we do when we fly?

In my earlier workdays it was such joy when we were requested to put our cellphones off. Yes off. Not airplane mode. Just. Switch. Off.
What a relief that was.
No frantic emails from random colleagues asking for urgent responses to seemingly irrelevant and unimportant issues.
No reminder mails on statutory compliance from HR.
No unexpected leave information from colleagues not from your team – thankfully.
There was just blissful silence.
And you read a book. Or listened to music. Talked to a fellow traveller. (On rare occasions, mind you.)
But mostly sat in the company of yourself and had conversations with someone you knew best and should get to know better – you.
And -my favourite – rested your head on the window and drifted off to sleep.
I’d presume that that would be skytanking.
Coming back to it – you are aboard this vehicle of sorts, cordoned off from all external influences.
Imagine- you even have your own personal atmosphere that you carry with you. Breathe. In. And out. Pause. Your air. Your sky. Your clouds. And you.
Uncomfortable?
No such joy to have an interrupted conversation with yourself.
I remember, one of the best lines for The Economist hoardings was – Would you sit next to you for dinner?
Exactly. Would you?
How good of a person are you to converse with?
To traverse with?
To be well versed with?
Difficult to chat with yourself?
You’d never make small talk, would you? Not without judging.

That Gollum-like creature is still sitting on your shoulder hoarsely whispering pres-shuss critiques in your ear. Go on.
Hear his lisping tones wanting to shush the sibilants that sound even more sarcastic in the sky.
Listen to his relentless remarks, his tireless tirade, his angry accusations of how you are and how wrong you are. And watch your confidence nosedive and plummet downwards spiralling towards a certain crash into the depths of despair.
Or.
Simply turn around and with a deft flick of your thumb and forefinger dislodge him from his shoulder perch – it’s your shoulder, remember – and watch him crawl away on all fours and sit simpering in the corner wailing, whining and whinging to, presumably, the Gollum-Gods, how you will not listen to his provocative preshusness.
And then?
You can turn your head, chin up and with a graceful toss of your hair – or lack thereof – focus on looking up to where the white clouds of wisdom are supporting you, enveloping you with non-judgmental softness, embracing you in the welcoming arms of acceptance.
Now the sky is the limit.
The sky is also your playground.
Without limits. No barriers. No fences. And yes, no barbed wires.

And you rise.
And the only direction you choose now is up, up, up.
And out here in the rarefied atmosphere everything is possible.
There’s nothing that can hold you down anymore.
You’ve left reason 30,000 feet below.
You have suspended disbelief. It’s you, your thoughts and all the possibilities you can imagine. And all the dreams you can see etched out in stratospheric clarity.
And you can only think of what you can do.
Not how.
And somehow so many things come to mind. And all of them are possible.
Because now it is you, plus your friend: you, and your greatest supporter: you.
And none of you can go wrong here.
Not at this height. And not after this climb.
And surely not after peaking over (and peeking over) Cloud Nine and possibly brothers Ten, Eleven, Twelve.
You have tanked up, haven’t you?
Now you’re ready for the descent.
A gentle deliberate glide south followed by a soft touchdown.
Ready to reach a welcome terra firma that’s just the starting block to a new race into reality that you’re so charged up for.
And never mind the tiredness and the fatigue that will set in after a while.
Never mind the Gollums waiting to jump back on your shoulders.
Just practise the flick of the fingers and that model-like hair toss, get back to your breath.
Because you can choose to skytank when you want, can’t you?
I wish you the best of skytanking this season and through the coming year!
This is so superbly written. Lived it!!
You’re the BEST in this field.
Wish you higher than just 30000 feet!
Wish you all the very best! 👍🏻
This is so superbly written. Loved it!!
You’re the BEST in this field.
Wish you go higher than just 30000 feet!
Wish you all the very best! 👍🏻
Thanks so much! Yes… my wish to to up and stay there! And I wish every one could just for a bit switch off! Wish you both a joyous and peaceful holiday season
Superbly written! You’ve uped the upward quotient Vai! Wish you more accolades and even higher skyward cruising!
Thanks so much Alka! Really appreciate it coming from you. Yes… cruising is what we all need to do now, isn’t it?
Oh so very preshusss🥰
Beautifully written & so true. These spaces of solitude are soooo rare these days. Even on a flight, while the phones are mercifully off, the never-ending in-flight announcements can easily deplete one’s tank! I remember the old cartoon caption “Sometimes I sits & thinks. Other times I just sits.” Cheers, V.
Thanks so much! And you’re so right about that line. “Sometimes I sits & thinks… ” Nowadays it’s Sometimes I sits and scrolls and sometimes I just scrolls!
You’ve given a great and relatable meaning to skytanking 😎, the namesake company could use this angle for branding too!
Have always loved your writing and been inspired by it!
Thank you! May my writing inspire you too skytank this year! And maybe I should send this blog to the said company! Thanks for being the perfect business partner always.
Am reading this while tanking up! Cheers! Seeing the boundlessness above and the Cloud-Cotton carpet below, presents endless possibilities, while sitting in an Aluminum tube, above all the birds. The clarity of vision does banish many Gollum thoughts.
Tanking up? Okay… 🙂
Beautiful Vaishakhi! Like good wine will need to relish the article several times.
Thanks Mukul. Ready for the next one?
Excellent Vaishakhi, looking forward to many more writing from you ..
Thanks Sangita! The next one is up already! Would love your feedback!