A Very Small World – 11 – : Mishti Dances Through East Africa

When I returned from Iraq in February 1976, the immediate family was scattered all over the country.   The eldest was in Bal Bharati Air Force School in her tenth standard.   She could not be shifted till the end of the school term.   The second and the third were with my mother and my brother in Bankura West Bengal attending a School with Bengali medium.    School term ended there in December.   Those two were thus free to move back to me.   My wife set up a small household looking after the eldest and the youngest at New Delhi while I set up another House and brought the middle three children, Sukanya Swagata and Subir with me to Tambaram.   Sukanya was all of 15 years old and promptly became the mother of the house.

A Long and Arduous Path

Some time, in our humdrum daily life, we chance upon opportunities of doing some things of utmost importance without really being prepared for it. Some times the opportunity fructifies and you are able to achieve something memorable and valuable. At some other times, you either do not recognize the opportunity and let it slip by or are unable to take up the challenge for various reasons. On some other times, you get a chance and try your best, but your best turns out to be not good enough. The opportunity dies. These occasions leave a scar on your soul that do not heal with time. My tale today is of such a chance that I could not grab and see through.

A Small Incident with Big Lessons

I had just taken over the Air Force Station at Jamnagar as its Air Officer Commanding (AOC).   My wife Leena was still in Delhi tending to the children who could not shift as they were half way through their school/college term.   Jamnagar has one of the busiest air firing ranges of the country; flying units from all over the country send detachments to Jamnagar for an intensive camp of air to ground and air to air firing practice.   Soon after my arrival, a detachment from the Fighter Training Wing (FTW) Hakimpet arrived with their Polish made Iskra aircraft for their routine armament training.    For those readers who are not familiar with the structure of the Air Force let me explain that the FTW trains new young pilots into elements of fighter flying after they graduate from the Air Force Academy.   Such detachments from FTW to Jamnagar are routine affairs and take place normally twice a year.   All arrangements are pre-set.   The instructors from the FTW are normally familiar with Jamnagar and they do their own training without any interference form the station.   Jamnagar just has to provide the flying environment and the range firing facility.   I was therefore not bothered about the presence of a big bunch of very young pilots on my base.