Today, I got back to sorting out my family’s past, picking up where I left off 10 days ago, when I had fallen so ill, I could not get up from the bed. I had finished 3 trunks, a few suitcases (Delseys), a dozen crates, and some large cloth bags of photographs (and reduced them to 3 small cardboard boxes, which I shall keep, discarding the rest) when my body cracked last. So, on a bright, breezy, cool summer’s afternoon in Pune, I returned from a nice ride and chit-chat with some rider friends over coffee, and asked Vikas, my right-hand man, to hit me with what he’s got. Turned out it was a large cardboard box that said, rather simply, ‘Diaries’ on it.
These are Baba’s diaries from 1965 to 2013, after which he took to keeping his records electronically using Google calendar (of which he used to take print-outs at the end of every year, because he did not trust Google, probably rightly). These print-outs, that filled an entire Delsy, I had already tossed out (shredded and burnt, to be precise) some time ago. So, I was prepared to just throw these away. I don’t know what prompted me to read them, but read some of it, I did. And it once again brought home why this man was, and remains my hero. This was highlighted further by the next box we opened. This contained his flight notes, you could call them professional diaries, from his very first flight with Air India, till his last.
Now, I would be doing it an injustice if I were to say these were meticulously, and sometimes, obsessively recorded, prolific, and detailed to a point of ‘do-we-really-need-to-know-this’ level of detail. Indeed, this was a fanatic, almost neurotic level of detail. In his personal diaries, every single day (let me repeat that, because the diaries start from 22 March 1965 and have a very rare blank page) was chronicled with descriptions of the smallest relevant thing that happened. This was supplemented with smaller, but equally comprehensive, entries in pocket diaries later in his life.
But that was nothing compared to his flight notes and logs, which not only had the professional stuff about his flight but also things like his room numbers and what he paid for coffee or a pastry or if a celebrity was on board. He had designed the format specifically for himself and used to get it cyclostyled/photocopied in bulk to use. He would fill a ‘rough’ one previous to the flight, and then fill one up with ink before leaving home, and then keep adding to it until he returned. I also saw his reference charts and maps, which were so beautifully personalised and kept current that anyone who sees this should have no problems believing why his students still write to me telling them that what they learnt from him has saved their lives (and the lives of hundreds of passengers) on multiple occasions, and that they consider themselves blessed to have him as their teacher.
I will leave you, dear reader, with a conversation I had with his Air India colleague and dear friend, Capt David, now unfortunately no longer with us. This is sometime circa 2000, if I am not mistaken, a good 22 years ago, but my memories of this are as fresh as if it occurred last night.
It so happened that Capt David had, in his IAF days, served with the Panthers, 23 Sqn, which was based in Suratgarh in 2000 and Abhi was posted there and appointed as his point man/escort when he (Capt David) visited it for a reunion or something. When he came back, he and his lovely wife, Rajani aunty, dropped in for a drink at our place. He was telling Baba how impressed he was with Abhijit when he saw me standing there. He called me, put his hand over my shoulders, and took me aside, saying he wanted to tell me a secret.
It went something like this: ‘Kedar, let me tell you something about your father. He has thousands of hours of experience. He has flown all kinds of aircraft, military and commercial. He has seen the world and is always up to date on aviation news and happenings. But, and listen carefully because this is important, he somehow manages to retain the excitement and joy of a young boy on his first solo for every flight I have ever taken with him or seen him take. If he sees an aircraft take off or land, even today, after 10,000 hours and hundreds of landings under his belt, he stands there, transfixed at the sight, as if he is seeing it for the first time. His curiosity and exuberance about all things aviation know no equal in my view. He prepares for every flight as if it is his first. He turns up with the enthusiasm of someone who has just been released solo. He approaches everything with the optimism we, his friends, have rarely seen in others. And you know what, your brother, Abhijit, has inherited this. I am so happy to have met him and noticed that he is his father’s son. I hope you are too.’
I know it is mostly fathers who are proud of their sons and daughters, and not the other way round. But in my case, I am so proud that I am my father’s son. I love you, Baba. And I know I have said it again and again, but I have no shame in admitting it here once more that if I were to manage to be half the man you were, I’d consider my life well-lived.
Baba’s Diary 1965 – Day 1 of Air Force Academy.
He spent Rs.8 out of 23 on 2 photo rolls in 1965. That is how crazy we are all about photographs. (Seems he spent another rupee but forgot to take it into account, since the amounts only total Rs.22)
A car battery was charged in New Delhi for Rs.5 in 1984.
The level of detail he would chronicle was mindboggling.
Baba’s first visit to Washington DC in February 1992.
17 September 2001, when he received the call about Abhi’s crash.
He commanded his first B747-400 within 15 days of Abhi’s death, and kept it professional. I repeat: I wish I was half the man he was.
17 September 2002, he records Abhi’s death anniversary dispassionately and goes on with his day.
Some of Baba’s diaries, from 1965 to 2013, meticulously maintained, giving a view into his life, and generally, a small part of the society as it existed then.
Baba’s flight notes from his first Air India flight to his last.
Baba’s Paris return flight 04 to 08 December 1991 front pages – Look at the level of detail.
Baba’s Paris return flight 04 to 08 December 1991 back pages – Look at the level of detail.
Baba’s preparation for each flight was legendary.
Baba’s preparation for his retirement flight on his 58th birthday.
Log of Baba’s retirement flight on his 58th birthday.
Baba’s neat and clean Air India logbook.
Even after retirement from his regular job, Baba continued to fly on contract with Air India till 31 January 2006.
His logbooks, licences, passports, and other commercial flying paraphernalia.
The life membership receipt of The Bombay Flying Club.
His favourite Dakota wheel with his ‘driver’s’ notes.
Inside the ‘DC-3 Driver’s Holy Book’.
Inside the ‘DC-3 Driver’s Holy Book’. Notice how the pages are cut at the headings to manually create the manual.
Just something fun I found. 23 Were these Baba’s syllabus books or did he just acquire them for personal use? These are pre-WWII.
