This first appeared on LinkedIn.
Air India Capt Anil Gadgil (my late Baba) with his younger son (my late brother) Fg Offr Abhijit Gadgil.
A friend was speaking about the joy of flying during his youth. It brought back some memories of my father, who, having flown well over 13,000 hours since 1967 himself, from Dakotas to Jumbo Jets, used to be so fascinated by aircraft that till his last day, whenever an aircraft passed overhead, or he saw one take off or land, he would crane his neck and watch it till it passed from sight. That is how much flying meant to him. I grew up in such a family.
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return”
By the way, till around 2012, I used to dress up in a suit and tie to travel by air. My father insisted. In our family, we believed in Mark Twain’s dictum, ‘Clothes make the man.’
Recently, when I started running the Jet Orientation Training courses post his demise on 08 August 2019, I noticed a paragraph in the “Joining Instructions” he used to send to the Trainee Pilots (TPs) before they arrived. I reproduce it here for the understanding of my readers how much this meant to him, and why. This would give an insight into the thinking of a professional who has to perform his duties partly or fully in the glare of public, and how important appearances are (and not just for the public). Perhaps, we entrepreneurs can learn a lesson or two from it.
…The idea is to be prepared, not just for the training, but to learn and be an ‘aware crew’: smart, confident, and above all, professional. Please LOOK and BEHAVE like a professional and a gentleman/lady aviator/aviatrix. This is going to be a life-long pursuit. Your uniform not just fills you with confidence and reflects in your gait, posture, and language, but also projects a professional aura giving comfort to your passengers that you know what you are doing and may be relied on to reach them safely to their destinations without incident. Recognise this, and practice it in your life. You do not transform into someone else when you step into your cockpit. What you are outside the aircraft will be who you are inside. Taking care of yourself, including your dress, whether or not you are on duty, will automatically transfer and permeate into your job as the pilot of the flying machine, carrying hundreds of souls who depend on you to be proficient in your task. It is important that you look it too. Remember that your machine and equipment are not just the aircraft and the various switches and panels, but your own mind and body. Those are equally, if not more important to keep in shape, and to demonstrate as such to people looking at (and up to) you.
So, do clothes maketh a wo/man? I certainly think they do to an extent. In the 21st century, maybe this means something else and one may be forgiven for thinking that it does not apply. However, I do believe it does, except in another way. After all, wearing clothes hasn’t gone out of style, and humankind has not yet adopted a uniform for everyone. Thankfully!
