I Am That Boy

From the testimony of Air Commodore Surinder Singh — Indian Air Force (Education), commissioned 1983

He didn't plan to give advice that morning. Group Captain M.S. Bhatia was going for a sortie — a quick look around the station after the previous night's dust storm, then a flight, then back. He was the Station Commander at Suratgarh Air Force Station in Rajasthan, and the young officer standing before him was his adjutant. Before leaving, he paused. Almost as an aside, while walking out the door, he said: "Always convert your adversity to your advantage. When you're in the thick of adverse circumstances, don't get cowed down. Learn from them. Come out with something new."

Twenty minutes later, an aircraft went down.

It was June 1990. Group Captain Bhatia was the only pilot flying that day, and he did not return. The young officer who had taken his orders that morning was left with nothing but those last words — words that had not, at the time, felt like a lesson. Just something said on the way out.

He made them his mantra for life.

Years later, posted as Principal of Sainik School Imphal in Manipur, he found himself among boys who had never crossed the borders of the Northeast — cadets who called the rest of India "the mainland," as though they were from somewhere else entirely. He thought of Group Captain Bhatia. He arranged for a decommissioned MiG-21 to be brought from Tezpur in Assam — in pieces, in three trucks, through difficult roads — and placed on a pedestal at the school gate. Close to the cockpit, he had a line painted in large capital letters: One day I shall get into this cockpit.

One night, on his rounds at ten o'clock, he found a small boy standing alone in the dark beside the aircraft. The boy, Grade VI, was terrified. When he was brought inside and given biscuits and milk and made comfortable, he opened his hand. A crumpled piece of paper. On it, he had been copying the slogan — trying to write it down and keep it.

The next morning, he was called onto the stage in assembly and asked to read the words aloud. The school erupted. In 2011, Sainik School Imphal lifted the Defence Minister's Trophy for sending the most boys to the National Defence Academy — the first time in the school's history. He said the credit belonged to late Group Captain M.S. Bhatia.

But the story does not end there.

When he was posted out from Sainik School Sujanpur Tira in Himachal Pradesh, he made a point of shaking hands with every cadet in the farewell line, right down to the youngest. Among the last was a Grade VI boy with a bandage on his hand. He broke protocol — bent down, lifted the boy in his lap, asked what had happened, patted him, and took his leave.

After his retirement, in 2017, a call came. An unfamiliar voice. A man, now grown, who had tracked him down through the alumni network. "Sir, on your farewell day, I had an injury on my hand and was wearing a bandage. You lifted me in your lap. I am that boy."

"That is the human touch. And it should never be lost."

He had forgotten. The boy had not. Group Captain Bhatia never knew what his last words became. But the mantra he gave on the way to an aircraft in Rajasthan in 1990 reached, in the end, two boys who never met him — and both of them carried something forward that outlasted everyone who was in the room that morning.

Air Force Station Suratgarh is located in Rajasthan near the India–Pakistan border. Group Captain M.S. Bhatia served as Station Commander there in 1990. Sainik School Imphal and Sainik School Sujanpur Tira are both residential schools that prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy.

I.The Empowerment of Pips

InterviewerWhen you look back at your years in the services, what comes back first — not chronologically, but instinctively?

OfficerThere is a very strong sense of nostalgia. An urge to re-live those days. The best part of our lives is spent in the services — and whenever there is news of tension at the borders, there is still a feeling that you wish you could be called back, whatever duty assigned, regardless of age. It is impossible, of course. But the time spent in the Air Force is the time you would most want to live again.

InterviewerIf you could speak to yourself on the day of your commissioning, what would you say?

OfficerI would want to be exactly what I was. When I look back at the Air Force Academy, at the way we passed out, I feel that was the finest time. As a young man, you are full of aspiration, expectation — and naturally, a little apprehension. That element of apprehension is an integral part of that age. It keeps you on the edge; it pushes you to give your best. I carry a genuine sense of pride in how life has taken me along.

InterviewerIs there anything specific from commissioning day itself that comes back to you — an incident, an emotion?

OfficerWhen you first put on your pips¹ — the reviewing officer formally presents them on commissioning day, but before that you put on your epaulettes² yourself — there is a very distinct feeling. A sense of empowerment. And along with it, immediately, an apprehension: will I be able to rise to what the Indian Air Force expects of me? That mixed feeling — empowerment and responsibility — I still remember it clearly.

Contextual Notes and Historical References

1 · Pips: Small metal stars worn on the shoulder epaulettes to denote officer rank in the Indian armed forces.
2 · Epaulettes: Shoulder pieces on the uniform on which rank insignia — pips and other markings — are displayed.

II.The Education That Never Stops

InterviewerYou pursued advanced studies in English Literature, Defence Studies, and many other domains alongside your service. How did academic learning shape the way you thought as an officer?

OfficerBeing commissioned is not the ultimate achievement — it is the beginning of your career and your life. Academic learning is an integral part of any officer's growth in service. Apart from professional training in your specific domain, there are ample opportunities to broaden yourself. I have seen officers pursue M.Tech degrees, post-graduate diplomas in HR, in management, in statistics. I myself did a foreign language course at the School of Foreign Languages¹ in Delhi, qualifying as a Burmese interpreter. These things widely open your mental horizon.

InterviewerIs there any particular course you are especially proud of?

OfficerUndoubtedly the Defence Services Staff College² at Wellington in Tamil Nadu. It is a tri-service course — Army, Navy and Air Force together, with representation from the civil services as well, from the IAS and IPS. The course strength in our time was around 425. For the first time, you carry out exercises jointly across all three arms and understand each service from the inside. And beyond the curriculum — which is very well designed and comprehensive — there is much else: horse riding, parasailing, canoeing, water sports. You interact with officers across a wide spectrum of arms and backgrounds, and that is a wonderful opportunity to grow and learn.

Contextual Notes and Historical References

1 · School of Foreign Languages, Delhi: A Ministry of Defence institution that trains military officers in foreign languages for strategic, liaison and diplomatic purposes.
2 · Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington: A premier tri-service staff college in the Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, attended by selected senior officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as civil service officers and foreign officers.

III.Breaking the Shell

InterviewerYou served as Principal of two Sainik Schools¹ in very different regions — Imphal in Manipur and Sujanpur Tira in Himachal Pradesh. How did local culture and geography shape the way you led those institutions?

OfficerBoth places shaped me profoundly, but in completely opposite ways. When I went to Imphal, many officers were apprehensive about the posting. It is in fact a beautiful place, with wonderful people — from Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Bhutan, a genuine bouquet of cultures, all highly talented. What the media conveys today is, in my view, an aberration. When you reach out to people there they are warm and hospitable. The culture is very different — the ethnic dress, the food, the role of the Meira Paibis², the powerful women's collective that shapes even government decisions and commerce in the Imphal markets. In Sujanpur Tira, by contrast, you are in Himachal Pradesh — what people call the land of gods. The community is very god-fearing, the cadets and people around them equally so. It took real effort to switch mentally between the two postings. They were poles apart. But I can say with conviction: no community is bad. Every community you have to earn a rapport with — and when you do, the bond is genuine.

InterviewerWhat was the security environment like at Sainik School Imphal, and how did it affect the cadets themselves?

OfficerThe security environment was very volatile. There were 42 underground groups³ operating in that area, and you could not step outside the school gate without an escort. Even the children lived with this reality daily. When I would speak informally with cadets — just trying to understand their mindset — they would say, repeatedly and almost casually: "Sir, I have never gone to the mainland." When I asked what they meant by mainland, they said: beyond these seven states. Main India. People outside, they told me, made fun of them. They were, as I came to see it, living inside a shell. I decided to break it.

OfficerI spoke to the GOC of 57 Mountain Division⁴, Major General L.N. Choudhary, and we arranged to take twenty boys to Delhi. They met the President, Smt. Pratibha Patil⁵, in her chamber at Rashtrapati Bhavan — twenty cadets, a cup of tea, one-to-one interaction. They were taken to Air Headquarters and met the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik⁶ — himself a product of Sainik School Satara. They went to Air Force Station Ambala, and with the Ministry of Defence's permission, flew in microlights. Those twenty boys came back and were each asked to form groups of twenty and share everything they had seen. And they said: "Sir, we were under a lot of misconceptions." That broke the shell. In 2011, Sainik School Imphal lifted the Defence Minister's Trophy⁷ for sending the maximum number of cadets to the NDA — the first time in the school's history.

Contextual Notes and Historical References

1 · Sainik School: A network of central government residential schools across India, established to prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy and the armed forces; each school admits cadets at Class VI level.
2 · Meira Paibis: A significant women's collective in Manipur, known for community vigilance and social activism; highly influential in local governance, markets and public life.
3 · Underground groups (Manipur): A reference to the insurgent and separatist organisations that operated in Manipur and the Northeast during this period, making the region security-sensitive.
4 · 57 Mountain Division: An Indian Army formation responsible for the defence of Manipur and the surrounding region.
5 · Smt. Pratibha Patil: The 12th President of India (2007–2012), the first woman to hold the office.
6 · Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik: Chief of the Air Staff from 2009 to 2011.
7 · Defence Minister's Trophy: Awarded annually to the Sainik School that sends the highest number of cadets to the National Defence Academy.

IV.The Human Factor

InterviewerYour domain expertise is in Human Resource Development. Do you think emotional intelligence is often underestimated in the armed forces?

OfficerWhen you add the word "human" to resource management, what differentiates it from material management is precisely that: the human factor. Material can be managed — you make an inventory, handle it, issue it, create it. But a human being is not a product. He — or she — is a growing organism, shaped constantly by environment. In management there is a saying: different strokes for different folks¹. That is where the maturity and leadership qualities of whoever is at the helm come into play. If you cannot appreciate the emotional and psychological dimension of the people working with you, under you, and above you, it can be disastrous. Even in aviation: whenever an air crash takes place — even in the case of a bird strike — it is always the human factor somewhere behind it. If a bird strike occurs, it means the people responsible for controlling bird activity in that flight path have not done their job. You cannot simply call it beyond control. The human factor is always connected.

InterviewerIs there an example that captures the human factor at its most essential?

OfficerFlying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon² holds the only Param Vir Chakra³ ever awarded to the Indian Air Force. Out of 21 total Param Vir Chakras, 20 belong to the Army and one to the Air Force — and it is his. He was flying a Gnat⁴ — one of the smallest aircraft in the IAF at the time — and was confronted by a complement of six Sabre jets⁵ recently acquired by Pakistan from the United States: four engaged, two waiting. He shot one, damaged another, and engaged all six in a dogfight that was later appreciated even by the pilots who ultimately shot him down. That could only happen because of the human factor. If he had told himself: my aircraft is small, I am at a disadvantage, there is no point — then, in my view, the war was already lost before it began.

InterviewerDid you ever witness that quality directly in the men under your command?

OfficerDuring the Kargil operations⁶, I was posted at Ambala as security officer — a large base with very vital assets to protect. The vigil had to be maintained 24/7. There were periods when I spent three continuous days and nights in my vehicle, never going home. One afternoon I received a call: an intruder had been caught inside the perimeter. We rushed to find a young German national — a man of about thirty, disoriented, who had apparently come off a bus before Ambala and wandered through the villages into the security fence. The DSC jawans⁷ on patrol had caught him. When he realised he was in custody, he opened his briefcase. It contained two lakh rupees in currency. He tried to bribe them: take this money and throw me back. The jawans refused. They were in a secluded area, no one would have known. But duty and integrity were uppermost in their minds. They had not even counted the notes. They called me on the walkie-talkie. Those men were later given the AOC-in-C's⁸ commendation and a special mention in their service documents, and publicly acknowledged on the next station parade. That, to me, is the human factor — not in a crisis, but in a quiet moment of temptation, when no one is watching.

Contextual Notes and Historical References

1 · "Different strokes for different folks": A management idiom meaning that different people respond to different approaches; used in leadership to emphasise the need for a flexible, individually tailored style.
2 · Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, PVC: An Indian Air Force officer posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his actions during the 1971 war; the only member of the IAF ever to receive India's highest military honour.
3 · Param Vir Chakra (PVC): India's highest military honour, awarded for the most conspicuous bravery or pre-eminent acts of valour in the presence of the enemy.
4 · Gnat: A small, highly agile British-designed jet fighter operated by the Indian Air Force; despite its size, it proved exceptionally effective in close aerial combat during the 1971 war.
5 · Sabre jets: American-designed F-86 Sabre jet fighters supplied to Pakistan; larger and more heavily armed than the Gnat.
6 · Kargil / Operation Vijay (1999): India's military operation to recapture high-altitude positions in the Kargil sector of Jammu & Kashmir, along the Line of Control.
7 · DSC (Defence Security Corps): A central government organisation composed largely of ex-servicemen, responsible for guarding defence installations and assets.
8 · AOC-in-C: Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief; the commander of an air command, the Air Force equivalent of an army commander.

V.What Changes, What Endures

InterviewerDoes today's military environment demand a very different psychological approach from the one of your time in service?

OfficerThings are always dynamic. Weapons systems change; warfare techniques and methodologies change. One of the principles of war is flexibility — and that principle applies equally to how armed forces must adapt to the changing environment. Training must evolve; curriculum design is the fundamental element in any training academy, and the quality of the officers it produces depends on what you have designed. You cannot have a curriculum that is obsolete. The fundamental change today is that technology has advanced dramatically — space-based warfare and artificial intelligence are the new realities, neither of which existed in our time in the same way. Data in a war scenario now has to move in real time at extraordinary speed. Tactics must keep pace. The nature of warfare has become much swifter and far more lethal than it was. We have to keep on changing and evolving — that is the mantra.

InterviewerWhat was the hardest part of leaving the uniform behind?

OfficerEvery person who joins the services must one day hang up their boots — and doing that is a very difficult thing. But then you have to embrace the change and move on. The transition to a civil environment takes time. My aim after retirement, however, has been to give back — for whatever was given to me, in whatever way I can. My domain throughout was training: I retired as Command Non-Technical Training Officer, looking after all of the Air Force's training academies in my last tenure. That entire body of experience, that value system — it should not get buried with you. It must be passed on. So I open my doors to any youngster who wants to speak with me, and I go to universities to interact with young men and women aspiring to join the services. Interacting with them is, even now, a learning experience. Even at this stage and age, you don't stop learning.

InterviewerBefore we conclude, I'd like you to narrate one story from your time in the services — something that should be passed down and not forgotten.

OfficerI'll share two things, because for me they are one story. The first is from early in my career. I was posted as a young officer at Air Force Station Suratgarh¹ in Rajasthan, close to Ganganagar, near the border. It was, I believe, 11th June 1990. The Station Commander was Group Captain M.S. Bhatia, and I was his adjutant and security officer. The previous night had brought a severe dust storm, and in the morning he told me he would go around the station to check for damage, then go up for a sortie. Before leaving — almost in passing, walking out the door — he said: "Always remember: convert your adversity to your advantage. When you are in the thick of adverse circumstances, don't get cowed down. Learn from them. Come out with something new." And he went. After about twenty minutes, I saw an aircraft going lower and lower. Within minutes I had news that it had crashed. He was the only pilot flying that day. It was a fatal accident. He was my station commander and my mentor, and those last words stayed with me for the rest of my service. I made them my mantra.

OfficerWhen I went to Sainik School Imphal, those words were ringing in my mind. We arranged to bring a decommissioned MiG-21² from Tezpur in Assam — in knockdown condition, in three trucks, escorted through several state borders in difficult conditions. As it passed through Imphal city, people on motorcycles, cycles, scooters followed in a procession. At the school gate, the school band played a welcome. The aircraft was assembled by the Air Force over twenty days, painted in camouflage colours, and placed on a pedestal at the school entrance. And I decided to write a line near the cockpit, in bold capital letters: One day I shall get into this cockpit.

OfficerOne evening, during my night round at about ten o'clock, I saw a small cadet standing close to the aircraft in the dark — a junior boy, class 6 or 7. I called him. He was terrified, caught by the Principal at that hour, and he was crying. I took him to my house, gave him some biscuits and milk, made him comfortable. Then I said: "Show me what you have in your hand." He opened his fist. A crumpled piece of paper. On it, he had been copying the slogan. He was trying to write it down and keep it. I told him: don't worry, we will not tell your parents. The next morning, I called him onto the stage in assembly and asked him to read those words aloud to the school. He read them. I asked: would you like to get into that cockpit? The response was like a war cry. And in 2011, Sainik School Imphal lifted the Defence Minister's Trophy³ for sending the maximum number of cadets to the National Defence Academy⁴ in its history. The credit I give to late Group Captain M.S. Bhatia. His last advice — probably not even meant as advice, just something said on the way out the door — became the mantra that took those boys to the NDA.

OfficerThe second part. When I was posted out from Sainik School Sujanpur Tira, on the farewell day, I made it a point to shake hands with every cadet in the line — not to wave from a distance, but to actually reach each one. The Grade VI boys stood at the very end, being the junior-most. As I was about to leave the column, I noticed a boy with a bandage on his hand. I broke protocol. I went to him, lifted him in my lap, asked what had happened, patted him, and took my leave. After my retirement, in 2017, I received a call. An unfamiliar voice. A man, now grown, who had tracked my number through an old boy of the school. He said: "Sir, on your farewell day, I had an injury on my hand and was wearing a bandage. You lifted me in your lap. I am that boy." I had forgotten. He had not. That is the human touch — and it should never be lost. In a school, one does not command; one leads. And to lead, you must sometimes come down to the level of a Grade VI boy.

Contextual Notes and Historical References

1 · Air Force Station Suratgarh: A strategically important Indian Air Force base in the Suratgarh district of Rajasthan, close to the India–Pakistan border.
2 · MiG-21: A Soviet-origin supersonic jet fighter that served as the backbone of the Indian Air Force for decades; many aircraft were decommissioned and preserved as gate guardians at air bases and schools.
3 · Defence Minister's Trophy: Awarded annually to the Sainik School that sends the highest number of cadets to the National Defence Academy.
4 · National Defence Academy (NDA): The tri-service officer-training academy at Khadakwasla, Pune; entry through competitive examination is among the most prestigious routes into the Indian armed forces.

In His Own Words

Vintage MiG-21 Aircraft Versus the Young Minds of Sainik School Imphal — written by Air Commodore Surinder Singh (Retd)

“After his departure, I casually straightened that piece of paper. He had copied the words from the aircraft: ‘ONE DAY I SHALL GET INTO THE COCKPIT.’ The impression gathered by the young cadet moved me. A pilot was in the making, I mused.”

Read the full article

Some time ago, there was a nationwide debate on whether a decommissioned tank, a war trophy, or an old aircraft shell has the ability to inspire young minds. Can a decommissioned aircraft or military tank win a “battle” of minds? The answer is an emphatic “YES”. Let us read on to know how it did, at Sainik School Imphal.

I was posted at Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, as Senior Directing Staff when my posting orders came, moving me as Principal of Sainik School Imphal. The news descended like a bombshell. My daughter was due to be admitted to Class Eleven, with almost no educational facilities available for an outsider. My wife genuinely believed that I had been virtually dumped by Air HQs in the North East. But as a soldier, a sense of duty beckoned me to take the challenge head-on.

After joining Sainik School Imphal in April 2008, I found the security environment to be gravely hostile. Movement was highly restricted. With numerous underground groups operating in the state, normal life usually remained paralyzed due to frequent bandh calls, road blockades, IED blasts, and kidnapping. The worst aspect was that schools could not openly celebrate National Days — these were designated as Black Days by insurgents.

I got a rude shock when some cadets used the word “mainland” for any visit to a region beyond the North East. I realised that my top priority would be to remove these unfounded apprehensions before we could focus on preparing them for the National Defence Academy.

In June 2009, a group of selected cadets visited Rashtrapati Bhavan and had one-to-one interaction with the then President, Mrs Pratibha Patil. They were also very graciously invited by the then Chief of Air Staff, ACM PV Naik, for informal interaction. Thereafter, they were taken to Air Force Station Ambala, where the then Chief Operations Officer hosted them. This set the ball rolling.

As a corollary, I wrote to Air HQs, New Delhi, for allotment of one old aircraft shell. Within three months, I got a reply that an old MiG-21 shell had been allotted from Air Force Station Tezpur, Assam, and would be delivered at Air Force cost. When I broke the news at morning assembly, the whole school burst into ecstatic jubilation.

When the convoy of three trucks reached the outer periphery of Imphal city, a large number of local youth started accompanying them — some on bikes, some on foot — in the form of a procession. The school cadets lined up on both sides of the road from the entry gate, accompanied by the school ceremonial band playing “Sare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara” to welcome the aircraft.

During the next couple of days, the aircraft was assembled by IAF technicians, painted in iconic camouflage colours, and mounted on a beautifully designed platform. Alongside the cockpit, we wrote in bold letters: “ONE DAY I SHALL GET INTO THE COCKPIT.”

A few weeks later, during my night rounds, I noticed a cadet of Class VII at around 2230 hrs standing alone and still, facing the aircraft — well past lights-off time. When he saw me, he got scared. He was holding something in his hand and trying to hide it. “Don’t be afraid, my son. Just show it to me,” I told him softly. He handed over a crumpled piece of paper and started sobbing, pleading not to be punished. I took him to my residence, offered him biscuits, and told him he could go back. He again pleaded: “Sir, please do not inform my parents.” I assured him I would not.

After his departure, I casually straightened that piece of paper. He had copied the words from the aircraft: “ONE DAY I SHALL GET INTO THE COCKPIT.” The impression gathered by the young cadet moved me. A pilot was in the making, I mused.

The next day, during morning assembly, I made that boy come up to the podium and read the words aloud. Then I asked the assembly: “Would you all like to get into the cockpit as a pilot?” “Yes, Sir! … we shall … we shall!” — the hall reverberated for a long time as 560 cadets yelled in unison like a war cry. The honesty and sincerity in their voices were unmistakable. Deep down in my heart, I knew that the mission was accomplished.

In the year 2011, Sainik School Imphal bagged the coveted Defence Minister’s Trophy for sending the maximum number of cadets to the National Defence Academy among 24 Sainik Schools of the country, for the first time in the history of the school. The young minds of Sainik School Imphal had turned the tide in their favour. The decommissioned, vintage MiG-21 had also played its role magnificently.

Air Commodore Surinder Singh (Retd) · Ex Principal, Sainik School Imphal

Service Record

View Service Record

Commissioned

22 December 1983 · Indian Air Force (Education Branch)

Retired

30 September 2015

Qualifications

MA English Literature, Punjab University · MSc Defence Studies, Madras University · B.Ed, IGNOU, Delhi · Foreign Language Interpreter in Burmese, School of Foreign Languages, Delhi

Service Courses

Defence Services Staff College, Wellington · Advanced Security Course, Pune · Advanced Intelligence Course, Pune · PG Diploma in Management, MDI Gurgaon · Junior Commanders’ Course, Air Force Administrative College, Coimbatore · Para Troopers Course, PTS, Agra

Appointments

Command Education Officer, Western Command, New Delhi
Joint Director Education, Air HQ, Delhi
Principal, Sainik School Imphal, Manipur
Principal, Sainik School Sujanpur Tira, Himachal Pradesh
Inspecting Officer, Sainik Schools Society, Ministry of Defence, Army HQ, Delhi
Command Non-Technical Training Officer, Training Command, Bangalore
Senior Directing Staff, Air Force Academy, Hyderabad

Awards

Commended by Chief of Air Staff (1995, 2004) · Commended by AOC-in-C, Western Air Command (1993)

Air Commodore Surinder Singh

The full story, as I was told it

The Shape of Memory

I.The Empowerment of Pips

II.The Education That Never Stops

III.Breaking the Shell

IV.The Human Factor

V.What Changes, What Endures

The Keystone

Writing & Service Record