So Sorry . Write up on this photo will appear iin couple of days

Velu.

Yoga and Nature lovers at Japani Garden .
Morning of 16 Oct 09.

"SABRE SLAYERS"-A Coffee Table Book .

The draft was hibernating for almost 10 months or so.Finally with great resolve I decided to complete it and blog it today.

Hope you enjoy the read .
Dear Gnat People ,

For those who attended the 21 & 22 Nov 08 do at Bangaluru, and have a copy of "Sabre Slayers " and with due apologies to those who do not have a copy of this book .

SABRE SLAYERS - A COFFEE TABLE BOOK
A commemorative book released on 21 November 2008.

I have always been fascinated and very dearly wanted to own a Coffee table Book . However the cost of such books has always come in the way of full filling my desire with a result that I have never had /owned a "Coffee Table Book" ( CTB for short). Not withstanding my love for and desire to own a CTB I had my own ideas and definition of what is a CTB . To me a CTB was and still is a book which is :-
1. Very very expensive and costs the world..
2. Very well printed on absolutely top class paper .
3. Mostly contains excellent photographs with a little bit of text to say what the photographs are about .
4. Only the snobbishly rich people purchase the CBT, not for knowledge or to read or to see the photos but for the snob value and to impress the visitors who are less fortunate then them . Generally such people do not read these books nor do they go through them because they hase the moolah to buy them but dont have the time for them .

When I got the book "Sabre Slayers " along with other complimentary items courtesy HAL, I was very happy for very many reasons . First and foremost being the book is devoted to evolution,history and feats of the Gnat in IAF and I am a "Gnat People" and very proud of the fact , .Second being this happened to be the very first and only book,which I thought to be a CTB which we happen to own

Now having come in possession of a CTB or what I thought was a CTB,I decided to make sure that I knew for sure that it was indeed a CTB !!! For this I had to know the definition of what was a CTB . Thanks to the internet . finding what a CTB was only a matter few clicks away ! This is what I found :

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia:A coffee table book is a hardcoverBook that is intended to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for portability. Subject matter is generally confined to non-fiction, and is usually visually-oriented. Pages consist mainly of photographs and illustrations, accompanied by captions and small blocks of text, as opposed to long prose. Since they are aimed at anyone who might pick the book up for a light read, the analysis inside is often more basic and with less jargon than other books on the subject. Because of this, the term "coffee table book" can be used pejoratively to indicate a superficial approach to the subject.

A group of art-related coffee-table books resting on a coffee table

From what my understanding of what a CTB was , I must add this definition . CTB " it is also a book which is frightfully expensive ". The owners who buy CTBs have oodles of money and buy them only " to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained," and purely for the snob value to impress the guests as they are entertained!! The owners themselves never ever open CTB or read them unless they happen to contain artistic reproduction of nudes .

From the above it is quite clear that " Sabre Slayers" except for a few exceptions does meet the requirements of being a CTB to a very large extent , even if it is not kept on a coffee table and I am particularly happy to own one! The exceptions are given in following paras.

1 . Sabre Slayers does not have a price tag . I have tried to find the price and no matter how hard I have looked the price is not printed any where .

2 .Every owner of the book has gone through it at least 4 to 5 times . First time just to leaf through it . Second time to see all the photographs and read their captions . Third time to see in how many photographs they themselves appear . Fourth time to confirm that their previous count was accurate . Fifth time to see how many of their buddies appear in these photos . Sixth and seventh time to have a look and savour their young and handsome visage in those photos of an age gone by . eighth time to see if their name appears in the list of Gnat qualified pilots . Ninth time to see if their buddies and friends also figure in the list .

3 . Tenth time just before writing a strongly worded mail to Gnat web site about the slip shod work done in preparing the list in that , so & so a kingpin on the Gnat does not figure in the list of Gnat Pilots etc. Quite a few of you may remember reading such letters within a few days of the get together . Such letters may have turned in to a deluge but for the mail by AD Chibbs to say how does it matter if the name is there or not and that it was childish to crib about such matter or some words to that effect . I personally feel Chibbs did a great dis service to the Gnat site by putting sudden and complete stop to such mails . I feel continued arrival of such mail would have been of great readable value and brought much more contributions for much longer time to the site :-)

4 . A large majority must have also read the book completely from cover to cover , I know because I did read it fully :) Some thing which never ever happens with a CTB.

5 . "Sabre Slayer" the book, may or may not be displayed. However whenever and where ever it is displayed it WONT be to impress any one . You see a Gnat pilot truly and firmly believes that his being a gnat pilot in itself is more then sufficient to impress the World !!

6 . I believe , the very people who conceived and brought the idea of "Sabre Slayers " to fruition and made this book possible had thought it be a "a commemorative book".

7. I believe it was conceived as "a commemorative book" but given a CTB look .

8 . Contains far too much text in proportion to the photographs as is normally a case with real CBT

9 . I feel it does not really weigh as much as a CTB should .

10 . There is lot of "jargaon " as compared to a real CTB .

So , as far as I am concerned copy of " Sabre Slayers " does not fit in to the definition of a CTB .

I am personally very unhappy about my own findings and conclusions as I have been very dearly wanting to own a CBT. After so many years coming in possession of a book so close to a CBT , only to conclude that it is not a CBT makes me sad :(

Will knowledgeable persons of the vast GNAT crowd like to write some words to say whether " Sabre Slayers " IS a CTB or not ? Preferably to prove that it is a CBT

VELU.

The Falcons .

I was posted to 101 Squadron Air Force , then based in Tezpur, in December 1966 . This was my first operational squadron as such I still remember it fondly .The squadron was equipped with Vampire trainer aircraft . The sqn operational role was Fighter Reconnaissance . The Vinten F-90 cameras fitted on the aircraft were of excellent quality . Photographs taken during training sorties those days included boats on the river Brahmaputra , village belles at various locations like river banks , by the water wells etc in various situations & poses , also buses, trains , bridges , wild life if spotted out side the Kaziranga sanctuary were all photographed .In fact we used to click any and every thing which caught our fancy and looked good and interesting ! Today I regret the fact that I never kept any of those photos /negatives . They would have made tremendous collection of some very very interesting and hair raising photos ! In due course I was declared "Fully Ops in F/R role" on type . We had wonderful time . But I was posted out in May 1968 . In fact all the squadron pilots were posted out as the squadron was converting to SU -7 s . Getting posted out because the squadron being re-equipped to better / newer type of air craft was not a new experience . In fact immediately on passing out in the 95 th Pilots Course almost This

Getting posted out because the squadron was being re-equipped to better / newer type of air craft was not a new experience . In fact immediately on passing out in the 95 th Pilots Course fighters guys were posted to three vampire squadrons 220,221&45 located in Pune . five of us were posted to 45 . When we reached Pune we found that other then on Flt Lt and one Fg Offr every one including was posted out as the Son was getting re equipped with MIG 21 !

To be completed

Letters to the Editor .

Here is my latest offering to the Editor of The Hitavada . I will let you know the fate of this offreing in couple of days .

Sir ,

Once the great lady Sonia Gandhi mentioned that in these hard time all need to follow money saving ways , most of the ministers and politicians have jumped on the "austerity band wagon ". Austerity has become the latest buzz word . After ensuring adequate publicity , travel by train and by "cattle class" in airlines has become the norm . Latest to join this band wagon is our respected Corporate Affairs Minister Mr Salman Khurshid who has come out with idea of placing a cap on the salaries of CEO's of India Inc.Latest statement is "display of affluence is unacceptable".
I would like to submit the following for consideration of general public , the AAM ADAMI & those in the Government .

1. Marriages of sons/daughter : We all have seen photographs and news coverage of marriages of sons and daughters of these elected representatives . I am sure all will agree that austerity was the last thought in these worthies mind when they were celebrating these functions!
2. Costly cavalcades .Between April 2005 and March 2008 ministers and officials of 44 ministries travelled over 11.40 crore KMs locally and spent 58.54 crores or Rs 7.9 lakhs per day . An Average sarkari car travels 157 km per day . ( Source : India Today October 5 , 2009 .)
3. Jumbo Cabinet : India had 18 Ministries in 1947 . Nehru's cabinet had 22 ministers.Must the Government have 78 Ministries? If 20 ministries which are outdated and where the onus of implementationis is with the States are wound up the Government could save over Rs 75,000 crore. ( Source : India Today October 5 , 2009 .)
4. Palatial Plots : Between 2005-09 93.5 crore was spent on the up gradation of houses of MPs and Ministers . Since June 2009 eight ministers have renovated offices for Rs 78.41 Lacs. Should they be put up in bangalows valued at over Rs 100 crore . ( Source : India Today October 5 , 2009 .)
5. Gross leakage : This year Rs 1,24,000 crore will be spent on rural development and poverty reduction.But do the benifits reach the poor . Rajeev Gandhi had said only 15 paise of a rupee reaches the poor . To deliver subsidised grain worth Re 1, Govt spends Rs 3.65. Why this can not be fixed . ( Source : India Today October 5 , 2009 .)
6. Project Delays.: As of May 2009, 310 of the 591 Government projects are delayed. While the sanctioned costs have already gone up by nearly 10 per cent to Rs 5,74,429 crore, final costs are estimated to go up by 38 per cent or Rs 1,70,000 crore . ( Source : India Today October 5 , 2009 .)
7. Pay & Perks of an MP .:On paper, the salary of an MP in India is Rs 144,000 per year (about $3,200), which works out to just Rs 12,000 (about $266) per month.

But it is meagre only if you don't consider the numerous allowances and freebies an MP is entitled to. Here is a look at the allowances and perks that every MP -- India has 790 of them -- enjoys.

Each Indian MP gets:

• Rs 14,000 (about $311) for office expenses every month, which includes Rs 3,000 for stationary items, Rs 1,000 on franking of letters and Rs 10,000 for secretariat services.
• A monthly constituency allowance of Rs 10,000.
• A daily allowance of Rs 500 when Parliament is in session. Parliament has three sessions every year. The Budget Session (February to May), Monsoon session (July to September), and Winter session (November and December).
• A daily travel allowance of Rs 8 per kilometre.
• Each MP and his spouse or companion are entitled to unlimited, free, first class railway travel anywhere in the country.
• They can also travel anywhere in India -- with a spouse or companion -- 40 times by air free of cost every year, business class.
• An MP gets a sprawling bungalow in the heart of New Delhi [ Images ] for which he pays a rent of just Rs 2,000 (about $44) per month.
• Each MP gets near-free electricity of 50,000 units every year. And free water.
• The MP's bungalow is furnished -- with air conditioners, refrigerators and television sets -- free of cost. Maintenance of the house -- including washing of sofa covers and curtains -- is done free of cost by the government.
• MPs are entitled to three phone lines and 170,000 free local calls every year.
• When an MP travels abroad officially, he is entitled to free business class air tickets. He is also paid a daily travelling allowance, which varies depending upon the country being visited.
• Most medical expenses of MPs are taken care of by the Contributory Health Service Scheme of the Union government.
• Each MP also gets Rs 20 million (about $434,782) each year from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Fund. But the MP does not get the money directly. Instead, it is transferred to respective district headquarters where projects are being implemented.
• After an MP completes a term in office, he is entitled to pension. The basic monthly pension amount is Rs 3,000 (about $66). But it goes up according to the number of years an MP has served in Parliament.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India last year alleged that many MPs have violated norms in the usage of this money. ( Source http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/dec/13spec.htm )

Those in the Government, Ministers , MPs ,MLAs , MLCs , The IAS cader et all will do well to do some thing about the above mentioned factors and lot more aspects of similar nature before opening their mouth about the word AUSTERITY.

PM Velankar, Nagpur .

Invitation Cards : 5 B R D A F

It has been a very long time since I wrote last in contributions or to Gnat 50 Years addresses. One reason was that I was put off by the fact that my reports on the proceedings on 21 , 22 November did not see the light of the day and were never published . I finally put them on my blog which you can visit at this site http://velusr.blogspot.com/. The heading for this piece is

Invitation Cards for parties in 5 BRD circa 1978 to 1983.

During the spring cleaning and getting the house painted for Diwali we found few invitation cards for the parties held at 5 BRD which Priti and I had made , with the help of Nanku and had preserved them all these years due to their sentimental value . Those cards have inspired me to sit on the key board again and write this piece.

I did two tenures in 5 BRD spread between the period 1976/78 to 1984 . I was doing the post production , Storage and calender Air Tests on Gnats , Kiran Mk I , Cheeta , Chetaks , HT-2 . For the choppers Nanku Pande , my course mate and a chopper TP was great help and taught me quite a bit about helicopter flying !

As during most of the year flying was minimal , it picked up only by November or so of the year and or may be for other reasons as well about which I remained ignorant, during most of my stay I was PMC , Entertainment Member , Library Member ( by choice ) .

Conducting Ladies Night and Husband Night parties were couple of highlights of the Officers Mess Social life . We , Naku , Priti and I spent long hours thinking different and innovative invitation cards for these occasions . Some of the cards found from the old saved papers were badly damaged and I could not do any thing with them . The photos of three of the invitation cards which were in reasonably good condition are a attached . If any of the Gnat / 5BRD old timers of those days remember those glorious days I will consider my efforts well rewarded .

After having a look at the photos it will be realised as to the efforts which must have gone in to making them and why I consider it worth writing about them :)

Invitation Card 1



This was a card for husbands night party . Unfortunately I now find that date of the party is not mentioned any where on the card . Now of course I can not think how such a slip -up had occurred still it should be around years 1979 to 1981.. Getting 40 odd identical plastic photo frames itself was problem . Brother Officer's cooperation in providing their photograph and their wedding dates was commendable . Alongside the photo couples wedding date was given . The party itself we had erected KalayanMandapam and conducted marriage ceremony of Ashish Naik ( Bridegroom) and the young doc as Bride , Poor fellow had to shave off his mu stash of which he was quite proud.

Invitation Card 2


This was another card for the Husbands Night party held on the Independence Eve of the year 1982.It was a scroll printed on satin cloth mounted on wooden baton turne out by the carpentry shop of the unit and had provision to hang it for display , if one had an inclination to do so we had done it for some time ! It was " designer card " ( a term not in vogue in those days ) , in the sense that the card was made specifically for "A" lady whose photo in the left seat of a Cheeta Helicopter was affixed to the card . A Cheeta was positioned on the tarmac and all the ladies were taken to the tarmac for the photo session . One has only to imagine the efforts it must have taken to get all the ladies with family and kids on the tarmac at the appointed time on the appointed date . So Photo Section , the Carpentry Shop the MT Section , all were involved . Needless to say that all this was possible only because of the support and the backing of the C O .

Invitation Crad 3.



This was made for a " Husband Night " party to be held on 17 March 1984 . As was appropriate it was made by the ladies . We , the men folks were not involved as will be also apparent from the material and artistry used in making of the card . If I recollect rightly the idea and "manufacture " of cards was done under the supervision of Mrs Sanjeevan .

Invitation Card 4



As can be made out from the material used , dry decorations , fevicol , stiff paper , etc that this card was also made by the ladies for "Husband Night " party to be held on 23 Jan 1982 . This was also a " designer card " in the sense it was made "Rank Specific " The photo here is a card for an officer of the rank of "Squadron Leader"( yours truly a S/L at that time ) . You will notice that all the rank tapes are not similar . That is because some where some time in all these years the top flying officer's rank tape had gone missing and I found the card with bottom two tapes one of a P/O and one of F/O tape only . As getting a fresh F/O's tape was just not possible I used some imagination and used coloured felt pens to make the additional tape to make it a S /L "rank" . Priti tell me the idea for the card and making of it was done under the guidance of Mrs Ramdas .

PM Velankar " VELU"