Trip to HAL Lucknow becomes a regular affair

My first trip to Lucknow was one of familiarizing myself with a new territory and gaining the confidence of others at not just the working level but, also at senior levels. Trust and confidence can play vital roles in any arrangement and, for this, I will always be grateful to my new boss who made me feel important.
I remember his telephone calls that would come to me by exception and, invariably, the purpose of those calls would be to test out my efficiency.

For example – one morning he rang up and gave me the part number of an item. It seems IAF wanted the item badly and they rang up to him and he, in turn, asked me to get the information about its availability. Well – immediately, I set my wheels in motion. I rang up here and there and, within half an hour, I had gathered enough information. I was like Hanuman with the Mount Rishabha, a mountain in which was hidden the herb that would cure Lakshman-ji.
My boss was satisfied and, after testing out my abilities through some more similar cases, he came to rely on my information system. That was a huge boost to my confidence.
Anyway, after my first visit to Lucknow, it became a regular feature once every three months because such interdependency between divisions of HAL was a new concept and there were innumerable hurdles to be sorted out. Therefore, a close follow-up was necessary to smoothen out the bumps.
Therefore, I would book a berth in the Kushinagar Express that originated in Mumbai and went on to Kushinagar, a district in north Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow was on its route and, hence, it was a convenient mode of transport for me. But, the timing was terrible – its arrival time at Nashik Road station was 2.30am and it reached Lucknow at 4am. (to be continued …)

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Interaction with Russians for MiG-27 work at different levels

I have had interaction with Russians for quite some time at different levels. It was to be expected because HAL Nashik was manufacturing and overhauling Russian MiG-27 fighter planes for the Indian Air Force. When I had joined in 1967, the Russians with whom I had interaction were from the shop floor – most of them were technicians and specialists in their own trades. Hence, the interactions were of technical nature.
Later, when I was in Customer Services department, the interaction was at a much senior level and involved more of tact and finesse in nit being bunt but conveying our feelings in a manner that would not be offensive.

The term coined for extending customer services to the fleet of MiG-27 aircraft was ‘exploiting’ – why such a term was used and accepted by all the parties namely the IAF, HAL as well as the Russians is still a mystery. As per signed contracts, Russia had to supply some Technical Kits for supporting the aircraft in the field. The end use of most of the items was for maintenance of the aircraft by the IAF. As a part of my involvement, I had to confirm receipt status of items, their completeness and serviceability. Therefore, the interaction with the Russians was clearly defined.
But, problems would arise when the Indian bosses had to liaise with the Russian bosses.
In those days, there used to be 6-monthly review of the status alternating between India and Russia. Therefore, when it was the turn for meeting in Russia, there used to be a mad rush to provide every conceivable information to the bosses before they left. It was the era of telexes and faxes and direct contact meant STD calls taking into account the time difference.
And, in this respect, one of these bosses used to be a terror. He would leave on a Monday and the previous Saturday and Sunday would see everyone on the edge.
In contrast, there was another boss who called over all associated officers after lunch on the Saturday. He would be in his chamber with the last recorded details of the meeting in front of him. He would ask pointed questions on the officers and make notes in the margin. And – it would all be over before pack up. He would leave, a satisfied man – we would go home happy at not having to come back on Sunday. (to be continued ..)

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Computerization is fun - to get any data anywhere

My first adventure into the world of computers encouraged me to venture further. As expected, my boss was happy with the computerized outputs of the monthly statements to Corporate Office, Bangalore. It may be noted that Mig-21 fighter aircraft were the lifeline of the IAF and there were hundreds of them operating in various bases. Some of these bases were near the sea, others near deserts and, others in mountainous terrains where the temperatures plummeted to below zero degrees Celsius.

Obviously, the wear and tear on each of the aircraft was different.
Therefore, whenever information was received about any accident or incident to any MiG-aircraft, the General Manager would want to know the history of the aircraft. Such information gets transmitted very fast to senior formations of both the IAF as well as HAL who are the manufacturers or who have carried out the overhaul and the GM wants to be ready with all possible answers.
Until the aircraft data had been computerized, this information would have to be retrieved by going through the respective aircraft file and then the data would be typewritten on a sheet of paper and sent to the office of the GM.
With the computerization of the data, it was possible for the General Manager to see the data of the aircraft on his own computer screen. But, then, new questions arose. If an accident had taken place, was it a first-off or were there previous similar accidents? Has any improvement has been thought of? Does it involve any special kits? Has IAF placed orders for these kits? Has HAL supplied any kits?
The questions were many and, there was a need to extend computerization to other related areas and make the data more comprehensive. (to be continued …)


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Getting to know the computer programmers

Since I had already had preliminary discussions with the computer people, the letter from my boss made it easy for me to proceed further. But, the boss of computers had a question. His people would get the data inserted in the computer files as a one time basis. Subsequently, I would have to arrange to keep the file updated. Then only can necessary reports be generated. I had two reports in mind.
The first report was ‘Input Output of aircraft in the month’. This was, as its name implied, details of aircraft that had been either delivered to IAF after manufacture or overhaul or received from IAF for overhaul.

The second report was about the various accidents and incidents pertaining to the MiG-21 fighter aircraft and reported to HAL Nashik.
Both reports had to be sent to our Corporate Office in Bangalore in the first week of every month. Before I came on the scene, these reports used to be prepared manually, typed and then dispatched. I wanted to create the reports through the mainframe computer.
Once we came to the same frequency, I handed over to them an initial set of data pertaining to aircraft as well as accidents and incidents along with a set of alpha-numeric codes. And – the programmer assigned to do the work agreed to write the necessary programs.
She was the daughter of one of my earlier bosses and a willing learner. I had to explain the logic to her and she would write and rewrite the programs so that the outputs were satisfactory. Moreover, she had to write programs for entry of data into the computer files – this would have to be done by the clerks in my section who are assigned to do such work manually.
She had to, also, write a program to decode the alpha-numeric codes for the sake of the reports. I had to, therefore, design necessary data entry formats for aircraft receipt, aircraft dispatch, alpha-numeric codes of accidents and incidents, specific accident to aircraft, specific incidents to aircraft etcetera. (to be continued ...)


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Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

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Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


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