I LOOK BACK with pride on the day in 1962 when I joined my first squadron at Ambala. It was a welcoming sight to see half a dozen shining Hunters neatly parked on the tarmac. Will I get a chance to fly those was the first question that came up on my mind. The Hunter-56 was one of the fastest fighter planes of that time in the IAF. My training to get operational on the aircraft went on at a slow pace and often we faced spare parts crunch. (No such difficulties exist in the IAF these days).
Post the 1962 war with China, there was a sense of fatigue all around. Yet, the attitude was positive—wondering about the next round. From then on, our military changed course steadily in the ways that they were organised, equipped, trained and fought. The 1965 war came a bit too soon—we were woefully short on military hardware and munitions. Our tactics were ancient, our aircraft lacked sensors and we had never even heard of Electronic Warfare Suit. My first air-combat was totally visual and our basic communication system gave me trouble.
In the 1970s, the government struggled to get the economy in order. The Pakistanis had the US supplied F-104 fully operational, whereas the MIG-21s of the IAF were newly inducted and their numbers were small. Our military fought gallantly in the 1971 war, defeated the Pakistanis and liberated Bangladesh.
In the mid 1990s, India changed gears on all fronts. Science and technology were given due space and importance. Yet, India remained a major importer of weapons. In the 2000s, the nation was yet to absorb the importance of self-reliance. Lack of skill combined with the urge to get government jobs made our work-force ineffective. Manufacturing sector was not given due importance. Probably it was the right time for the government to spell out its strategy of atmanirbhartha (self-reliance).
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 18, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 18, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
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RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI