Poonam Kumari and (right) Nazia Afreen in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

The experience of travelling in an aircraft, flying over the clouds, is one that Nazia Afreen and Poonam Kumari will not forget in a hurry.

Patna girls Nazia and Poonam were selected to go to the UN headquarters in New York last month. They spoke at an event, part of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals 2015 programme. While the journey to the US metropolis excited them, the skyscrapers and the people of the Big Apple amazed, as well as won over, the girls.

They returned to Patna on Tuesday morning. Later, they shared their experiences at a news meet.

Nazia said: “I had always heard that when an aircraft takes off or lands, it makes a very loud sound. So, I purposely checked it out when the flight was taking off from New Delhi. To my surprise, the sound was not too loud.”

The girls left for the UN programme from Delhi on September 19. They spent around eight days in New York and participated in different events, including panel discussions.

After they landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the duo were surprised at the manner every person followed the traffic rules.

“No one can be on the wrong side of the road. The people also stop their vehicles when a pedestrian has to cross the road,” said 18-year-old Nazia.

Among the things that surprised Nazia in the foreign land was the co-operative nature of the people and how the people would politely greet even strangers.

Poonam was surprised to see the skyscrapers of New York. The UN headquarters has 39 floors, while the iconic Empire State Building has 102 floors.

She said: “If someone asks me to stay in New York, I would not like to come back since the people there are so good and co-operative.”