AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 303 of 332 21 When the IAF Trained Pakistani Pilots! Air Cmde Nitin Sathe Genre: Partnership of Convenience y association with this Indian Air Force veteran -- who does not wish to be named for this feature -- goes back a long way. Although he was very senior to me in the IAF, we spent many an interesting hour together in and out of the cockpit over the years. Calling him brilliant in flying and academics would be an understatement... but the only problem with this man was that he loved, and still loves to, remain out of the spotlight! Post-retirement and out of the cockpit, his quest for knowledge only increased manifold and it was not long before he became a wizard of sorts. With dates and names at his fingertips, he could rattle out stories about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's, Erwin Rommel's and Bernard St Law Montgomery's military campaigns and strategies. He has researched the many wars India has fought in recent times. Ask him a question and he dives into memory (which he says is fading!) -- and in a few seconds, you hear fascinating tales from history. And that is exactly what happened. I was researching a book that I am contemplating writing and decided to call the guru for information. In the next hour or so, he left me spellbound with a captivating story, which I share with you here. An Alouette helicopter fitted with a light machine gun and rocket pods provided cover in Sylhet, December 7, 1971. Photograph: Kind courtesy Bangladesh Air Force The IAF veteran first quoted from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's speech to the nation on December 3, 1971. "This is relevant to what I am going to say subsequently," the guru tells me. M