BRAHM BABA OF
BAKSHI-KA-TALAB
 |
| shrine |
It was
December. The weather during this part of the year at this part of the country
is generally hazy with many days not fit for good flying. As a figter pilot of
air defence fighters we had to engage
ourselves in operation readiness platform duties with aircraft ready to take
off at very short notice to engage intruders or intercept civil airliners who
strayed from defined routes. While engaged in one such duty, in the morning,
after breakfast, I was busy playing scrabble with my buddy, the phone rang……the
flight commander was on the other side.
-
Chato
(as I am called in the airforce) we need to send four aircraft to
bakshi-ka-talab to assist the air defence college to complete the training of
the young trainee fighter controllers. He said.
-
When
is that? I asked.
-
Today.
We need to set up our team there by the end of the day and from tomorrow the
task need to be undertaken.
-
That’s
fine, who all are going?
-
You
have been chosen by the CO to be the detachment commander. Three more pilots
are coming with you.
I was quite thrilled. Being a middle level flying supervisor,
this was my first opportunity to manage a flying detachment away from parent
base and at a different command. Bakshi-ka-Talab (BKT hence forth) airforce
base is close to Lucknow. As I was aware, there was no active flying being
conducted there for some time. Time was premium. It was already half past nine.
We will have to take off at two, post lunch. I quickly instructed the team
members to get going with various preparations for the ferry. Got briefed by
the flight commander and the CO. Wify and daughter was a little upset for such
unscheduled move.
-
When
are you going to be back? My wife enquired.
-
I
really don’t know. As and when the syllabus of the trainees finish, it may take
eight to ten days. I tried to be optimistic.
-
Papa,
come soon. Said my daughter of three and a half years.
-
I
will dear, be good and take care of mama.
I picked my aircrew bag and other
staff. The, aircrew van was waiting. Soon I was in the met office getting the
briefing. BKT is known for very poor visibility during this time. It’s only at 1 pm in the afternoon that the visibility
improves beyond 3 km. The flying time is roughly more than an hour from our
base near Ludhiana. I have been flying
for about ten years now. I had been inducted to the MiG-23s right after
training which I have been flying currently. In between I had a stint of flying
MiG-27s and a tenure as a flying instructor. I was very comfortable with the
swing wing fighter. The men were ready, the receiving party was already on its
way. We got going. Two ac each will fly in formation with a gap of fifteen
minutes. Shakthi was to follow me as my number two.
We roared into the sky as per the
schedule settled at an altitude of 8 kms and headed toward Lucknow. We made
contact with BKT air traffic control. Soon we were cleared to descend and call
downwind. There was no navigation aid at BKT except for an NDB that to it was
not in line with the runway. As we descended below 2 kms I was shocked by the
poor visibility. We could hardly see things.
-
Sakthi,
keep me in contact and maintain behind ! Urgency was evident in my R/T call to
my no 2.
-
Roger.
He replied.
Though it was quite scary, we managed
a tight circuit and landed safely at BKT. On ground while taxiing to the
dispersal, I cautioned the other two and told them to use all their knowledge
in order to execute a safe landing. A little letter all four of us while
sipping tea were discussing the poor visibility, our feelings, the technique
and of course the alien airfield where none of us operated before. We soon
learnt that all the support services have been augmented from the nearby bases
for our operation. We all were briefed by the local officers of the station.
One very
peculiar thing I noticed was a cluster of trees between the aircraft apron and
the taxy track. It was seemingly unusual for any airbase to have some trees at
such places as the entire taxiway and adjacent areas need to be free of any
tree or vegetation.
-
That’s
the Brahm baba sthan. He had taken Samadhi there few hundred years back. Said
one local officer.
-
Very
interesting, I must visit the baba.
I got up and walked towards the
trees. It was nearing sunset time. As I closed in I saw a magnificent pepal
tree, a massive one. Below it were a few small temples. The area was a bit
dark. As I entered the shrine area, I felt peace of mind. I was amazed as the
size of the tree, its branches, the trunk! Some branches had detached from the
main tree, but these have revived themselves and are growing amidst jungle of
basil plants. There seemed no one else present at the area at that time. There
was a round platform around the trunk. The Samadhi sthal was marked by a small
temple like structure made of marble. There was a Shiva-linga next to the
trunk. In that semi darkness, quite and pious atmosphere I felt good. There
were thousands of bells of various sizes that adorned the branches which are at
the reach.
-
Namaste
sahib! I was greeted by the priest who had just arrived. So, you have come with
these planes, said he with a smile. This base havnt seen any fighter flying for
quite some time now. He seemed informative.
As we had learnt, the base had been
last active in 1992. We were in December 96. That makes about four years. I
was, by then, more interested to know about the shrine. What I could gather
from the priest goes some what like this. Brahm Baba, a sage, was renowned in
the area when Prithviraj Chouhan ruled Delhi( 12 century AD ). People of
neighbouring villages visited him by thousands. He took Samadhi below this tree
and this spot became a prigrimage place. Anyone who asked a fovour from the
baba, received it. Once the wish came true, the devotee would tie a bell next
to the shrine. British, during their
rule set up an airbase here which was actively used during World War II as a
transit point for allied airforces. Since then the shrine got into the confines
of the airbase. During sixties, when the new runway was to be constructed, the
tree was to be cut. The night before the activity was to commence, the base
commander got a dream….a man in a white robe with a flowing beard asking him to
construct the runway away from the place “I will look after you all”. The base
commander, however, went ahead with the tree cutting. The saw touched the trunk
and blood oozed out. Some strange force pushed everyone away and the process
halted. Most of the people associated with the activity along with the base
commander meted with ill fate. However, the base commander managed to convince
the higher-ups and the runway was shifted away from the shrine. The main tree
along with a number of other trees got saved from the axe and the adjacent area
became an area of importance even for the people in the arms. There has been a
number of squadrons that operated at BKT. Accidents have happened, but no one
has lost their life. One major aircrash of a fighter plane had occurred. The
pilot was saved miraculously. He had felt that someone in a white robe and
flowing beard held him in his arms when his aircraft crashed in a field some
distance away from the base. The priest had pointed to a very big sized bell
attached to the branch with chains….that’s the one which he had offered to the
baba for saving his life. I returned with a heartful of joy….a destination that
is worth the visit.
Next day, I went round the airfield
area. Most parts were covered with jungles and thick vegetation. There were
hordes of bluebulls, pythons etc. The runway was ok. The visibility was not. We
used to report for work by nine in the morning. The visibility cleared to about
three km by about one in the afternoon. We all used to start up the aircraft
and I used to get airborne, circle the airfield, checked that the visibility
was ok for the junior pilots and cleared them to take off. The task of practice
interception by the trainee controllers sitting on the radar scope at Memaura
commenced. I visited brahm baba daily and prayed that we have an uneventful
flying opeartions.
On one such day, after I took off I
felt that I shouldnot have taken off. I asked others waiting on the ground to
go back to the apron and switch off. The visibility was indeed very poor. Below
2 km may be and I knew I had difficult times ahead. At the circuit height I
could see nothing ahead and nothing on the sides clearly. I decided to climb to 2 kms. While climbing I
could see the three km long runway below me. It appeared as if it is submerged
in dirty water. I set up an orbit overhead the runway and begin to think. I
will probably have to divert to either Bareilly or Agra. In the meantime, three
helicopters enroute from Gorakhpur to Bareilly decided to land at BKT due poor
visibility. I was further taken aback. Generally, helicopters manage in poor
vis; it means the condition was really bad. After about twenty minutes, having
deliberated the sequence of actions that I would take before diverting I
remembered Brahm baba and in my mind asked him for help. I could do a very
tight circuit keeping the white portion at the beginning of the runway in
contact and land. I went down to try this option. It did not work as the white
portion went out of sight. I climbed back to 2 kms. This time, I started
looking for prominent landmarks in line with the runway. There was river Gomti
meandering approx two and a half km from the runway. There was a very prominent
bend in the river which was aligned to the runway. I thought that if I manage
to head for the runway looking at my compass from the bend, than most likely I
will be able to make it for a landing. We in the MiG-23s begin the approach at
speeds of 450 kmph and gradually reduce
speed to 300 kmph by the time we are about to touch the ground. I declared my
intention to the ATC and in a tight orbit over the river descended to
appropriate height. Selected undercarriage down and flaps for landing and very
carefully headed on the direction of the runway using the compass. It was
totally hazy in the front. Slowly I began to descend and reduce speed. All the
while I was ready to initiate a go around at any moment. I was frantically
looking for the white portion at the undershoot and praying silently. Finally,
I spotted it slightly to the left. Thereafter,
I used all my skills and executed a safe landing. My overall was wet
from my sweat in in that winter cold.
Once I reached the apron, I thanked
Brahm baba before I switched off the engine for having given me the right idea
at the appropriate time. The commander of the helicopters that had landed was
well known to me and a senior flying instructor at the Airforce Academy where I
had served under him as an instructor. We were meeting after a few years. He
greeted me.
-
Hi
Chato! Nice to meet you. I heard u on R/T and it struck me it must be you, but what
were you doing in one and a half km visibility?
-
Nice
to meet you sir! I said. Well it was one case of a misjudgment of surface
visibility. Come let me take you to someone but for whom we would have probably
met in Bareilly once you reached there.
I took him to the shrine. I thanked
Brahm baba profusely.
Our task was
achieved in two weeks and we safely flew back to our parent base in Punjab.
Before going, I urged Brahm baba with two very specific wishes. Within a year,
these were fulfilled. I never expected to get posted there. Later in 2004, I
commanded a squadron there. That time the airbase was active again abuzz with
flying activity. I initiated a lot of renovation to the highly regarded shrine
and we visited it almost every day. Itinerary of all my visitors had Brahm baba
shrine in it. Some of our bells have
found there place in the shrine amidst numerous ones.
Overcoming obstacles
A Chatterjee
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| the tree next to the shrine!
The Liquid of Joy!
|
My wife purchased a bottle of Jonny
Walker Blue Label Whisky for me! Actually, she took the trouble of getting it
from a duty free shop in the airport through one of our good friends from a
trip abroad. She hid it from my eyes and
kept it for a special occasion.
I was due for promotion. With my
background records known to us it was very probable that soon the precious
liquid will be consumed on a joyous occasion. She, very eagerly waited for that
day. The day finally arrived! Pall of gloom descended on us. I had not made it.
Shocking news! World came crumbling down and 24 years of sincere hardwork
appeared to have gone in vein.
Despite the terrible misfortune, in
the evening my wife took out the lovely looking box and unveiled the treasure.
We were about to celebrate our misfortune…or the beginning of the road to
another life…more beautiful?
My wife from the beginning of my
career as a fighter Pilot, been on my side. She had shed her aspirations for
mine and been an excellent wife and a very caring mother to our daughter. She
loved my job and loved to be a part of the Air Force family. Probably, my
failure pained her more than mine! Nevertheless, here she was cheering me up in
one of the worst of our adversities in life! With the golden liquid! My respect
for her grew stronger……we learnt to celebrate life even in pain!
