It has been explained time and again in this program that this is
not about ‘dead pilots’ but those ‘warrior pilots’ who truly knew the meaning
of life…and lived it their way! It is a memorial from which we shall all draw
inspiration for living, and hope others that come after us, especially the
younger ones, too look at it in that way.
Abhijit was truly the ideal brother. I would have likened him to Laxman,
but that would assume the qualities of Ram in me! So, I am stuck to find an analogy that describes him as he was, except for simply stating the fact that he was, indeed an amazing human, a great son, a true officer & a thorough gentleman, a loving husband, a professional pilot, a fierce nationalist & patriot and for me, the best brother & friend in the whole wide world. I had some great times with him and have but one thing to regret about a bad decision made by me on the day that he died.
Let me talk about my dad for a moment. No, in fact, let me talk about my dad’s family. Many years ago, my great grand-mother, with a clutch of sons and a daughter, left Konkan, a widow, without a paisa on her and with no hope or future, for the city of Pune, hoping to give her children a better future than in her own small village. In effect, she truly and practically grew wings…and encouraged all her children to do so. My grandfather, the late Pandit Amarendra Gadgil, in fact, not only did many things that even today, inspire and guide me, but also were, in his times, truly revolutionary and forward-looking. In his case, he too flew free of the various ruts that bind us to a well-trodden, safe, risk-free path.
About my mom, my Aai, my Maa…what can I say? When she was our mother, she was nothing else: she was a full-time mother. When she was a professional, working in the woman-unfriendly environment of a place like Delhi, she was a thorough professional AND a mother, when she was running her summer camps, she was a teacher, a leader, a professional AND a mother. I am sure that in her various roles as wife, friend, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, mother-in-law, well-wisher, mentor and guide, she was all of them AND a mother. For us, she will always be Maa, and I speak for both, Abhijit and me…you know that Maa, don’t you?
The most beautiful woman in the world, the woman from whose womb we came, the woman who we owe our lives to, to whom we are bound by that unseen, inseverable umbilical cord, even when the real one is cut at birth.
This brings me to a rather ironic thought: Think about it with me for a moment will you…all of you? No, really…I want you to think with me here. OK, here goes: I am sure you have seen the film ‘Rang De Basanti’, truly well made, isn’t it? An amazing story, professional acting, well written, well-directed, beautiful songs, everything that an engrossing story must have. I loved it, I was affected by it; in fact, I was touched by it. However, there were some people who said that the mother in the film is shown in a coma till the dead pilot’s friends make things right and extract the so-called ‘revenge’ for their friend who gave everything to his country but was humiliated in death. A bit unfair, people say, since it is truly based on Maa’s struggle…and she did and achieved all that and more by using purely non-violent means and probably with far more tact and prudence, while the rest of us were in a coma.
That brings me to the conclusion of this talk. I already have said that Abhijit was a true fighter pilot and lived and died for his profession and passion. As I said earlier, it was quite evident where the PILOT part of Abhijit came from, definitely from my dad and his genes. What was a revelation…well, actually not so, had I cared to look closely, was where the FIGHTER part came from. In hindsight, it is not very difficult to see that it came from Maa!