It is the month of spreading joy and cheer, the month where malls across constantly blast Let it snow and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer to make you feel good in the 34 degree heat.
I saw my first christmas tree last evening, a tall, ornament decked and a well lit tree outside a shopping mall. Tourists flocked around it to pose for a Facebook moment. Clearly celebration was in the air. It reminded me of 8 days in the December of 1999 that changed the life and destiny of 178 passengers who were returning from a holiday in Kathmandu.
What was to be a return back home from a holiday in the mountains became a source of grief. Five heavily armed hijackers took control of an Indian Airlines Airbus A300; IC 814 (VT-EDW) on route from Kathmandu to New Delhi.
The plane was forced to fly to Amritsar, Lahore, Dubai and finally landed in Kandahar. It exposed various chinks in our armour; the poor preparedness of the Crisis Management Group, the total absence of decision making from various government agencies and a wait and watch attitude that only resulted in a high tempers for the hostage families.
The commander of the flight, Capt. Devi Sharan was an epitome of grace and calm. landing in unknown airports and that too with a gun pointed at his head. Even when Lahore airport switched off their runway lights making it impossible for him to land, he attempted to make a visual approach on what he thought to be a runway only to discover that it was a road in the city. He had to threaten the Lahore airport authorities of crash landing and only then were the runway lights turned on. A few years ago, I was traveling from Chennai to Delhi and had the honour of being flown by this brave pilot. I noticed that the inflight announcements discreetly mentioned his name as "Capt D Sharan". I reconfirmed if he indeed was the same hero of IC 814 and had a chance to shake hands with him.
13 years have passed and we now prepare to welcome another Christmas and a New Year, but not a single December has gone by without me remembering this incident.
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Recessional by Rudyard Kipling
The commander of the flight, Capt. Devi Sharan was an epitome of grace and calm. landing in unknown airports and that too with a gun pointed at his head. Even when Lahore airport switched off their runway lights making it impossible for him to land, he attempted to make a visual approach on what he thought to be a runway only to discover that it was a road in the city. He had to threaten the Lahore airport authorities of crash landing and only then were the runway lights turned on. A few years ago, I was traveling from Chennai to Delhi and had the honour of being flown by this brave pilot. I noticed that the inflight announcements discreetly mentioned his name as "Capt D Sharan". I reconfirmed if he indeed was the same hero of IC 814 and had a chance to shake hands with him.
13 years have passed and we now prepare to welcome another Christmas and a New Year, but not a single December has gone by without me remembering this incident.
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Recessional by Rudyard Kipling
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