A whirlwind tour to AF Station Kanpur where MiG-21s were stored

It was a whirlwind tour to AF Station Kanpur where MiG-21 aircrafts used to be stored and, coming back to Kanpur was a sort of homecoming for me – I had worked here for two years.
The reason for my coming was because the Commanding Officer was facing difficulties. He had approached Air Headquarters in New Delhi and, from there, a phone call had come to our General Manger. He was a Punjabi and a bit overweight – but, still, he managed to climb the steep flight of stairs to the upper floor office in the hangar to meet my Boss.
My boss was the Wing Commander who wore a wig. He had just reached his office when the General Manager walked in. He told my boss to send someone immediately to Kanpur because a high-level Air Force delegation was supposed to come down to Nashik and the problems of MiG-21 storage aircraft in Kanpur would be in their agenda for discussion.
The General Manager wanted his rep to be in Kanpur before the team landed up in Nashik and my boss decided that the rep would be yours truly.

This was the first time that I had to move out on short notice. I managed to wrangle a reservation in the Punjab Mail through a travel agent. I was supposed to be in Kanpur for three days and, on arriving at Kanpur I booked a return journey ticket in First Class. I was No 1 in the Waiting List. Then I took a cycle rickshaw and went to the Air Force Mess.
It was a much changed Kanpur – I had left it in 1966 and had returned to it after 20-years. Obviously many of the landmarks of Chakeri and Lal Bungalow were missing.
In between my interactions with the Commanding Officer of the storage depot, I managed to contact a couple of my old friends and met them to revive a few memories.
When I came to the railway station for my journey back to Nashik, I was in for a surprise – my Wait List number was still No 1!! Therefore, I had to plead with the TTE to allow me to remain in the First Class compartment. I assured him that I would sit on my suitcase in a corner of the corridor and would not be a hindrance to other passengers.
He had pity on me and agreed. When I landed back in Nashik, I was suffering from loss of voice. The words were just not forming. I had an infection in my throat. Therefore, after reaching home I had to run to the hospital and the duty doctor prescribed a course of SP or Strepto-Penicillin. (to be continued ..)


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Indian Airlines flight from Kolkata to Tezpur

Air Force Station Tezpur was a remote location and had been created to provide an eye in the skies for the eastern regions of India. All journeys to Tezpur were by air and, in the year 1982, the only available airline was the Indian Airlines. It operated a Fokker F-27 daily and I had to go to the offices of the airlines in Central Avenue to book my seat.

As luck would have it, I had to wait only one day to get confirmed seat on the flight which took off early in the morning at around six. In those days, the check-in was simple because there we no terrorists to guard against.
When I got down from the aircraft, I was wondering how to find my way to the Air Force base when a gentleman approached me. He introduced himself and I was delighted to learn that he was a Bengali and the Service Engineer of HAL Koraput. He had come to know that I would be arriving and used to make a visit to the airport to receive me!!
He had come by scooter and I rode behind him to the Air Force Mess. He knew that I was supposed to take over the Service Engineer inventory of Nashik from the earlier incumbent who I had left behind at Bareilly.
He had promised that he would join me in Tezpur – but, he did not turn up even by 31si December. Hence, I made a list of all documents, drawings etcetera available and got it signed by the HAL Koraput engineer.
I had stayed at Tezpur for three days and, finally, boarded the return flight to Kolkata and from there to Nashik. (to be continued …)


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Temporary Duty at Bareilly Air Force Station

The bus journey from ISBT to Bareilly was a memorable one. For those not in the know, ISBT was the short firm of Inter State Bus Terminus and it was a massive affair – the time was December 1982 and the route passed through forests and dangerous terrain. There was an armed guard inside the bus and, along the route, there were policemen on horses. It was assuring because the region was notorious for dacoits. Anyway, we reached Bareilly early morning and my colleague took me to his house. Both of us were tired and fell asleep and when we woke up it was quite late. We finished a hurried breakfast – and, here also, there were chapatis with curd and pickles. It was similar to the combination that I had in Delhi – curd and pickles for breakfast even in winter is something that the north Indians relish.

Breakfast over, both of us came to the Air Force mess where I kept my suitcase. Then we went to the office of the Service Engineer. It was a single room assigned to the Service Engineers of HAL Nashik Division and HAL Koraput Division. The engineer of Koraput Division had to give coverage for the engines. He was a Bengali and my colleague introduced me to him and left to finish some unfinished work. And, the two of us spent the rest of the day taking stock of the inventory of various papers, drawings, documents that were being held in the custody of my colleague. However, my colleague did not turn up for the rest of the day. Neither did he come to office next morning. Therefore, in consultation with the Koraput service engineer, we decided to complete the handing-over taking-over formalities. He signed as ‘handed-over’ and I signed as ‘taken-over’. Then I had my lunch and took a cycle rickshaw to Bareilly railway station. I had to now proceed to Tejpur to take over that inventory as well. And, for my journey to Tejpur, I had to first reach Kolkata and from there take a flight to Tejpur. (to be continued ..)


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