THE MAN WHO MADE NEW INDIA FLY
Captain GR Gopinath, pioneer of the nofrills aviation sector, writes with verve about everything from the DGCA to corruption in India
When I flipped open this book, the first eight words in the introduction brought on a groan: “Oh, not one of those!” The boring words were: “This collection of essays from my published writings…” I look askance at tedious collations of already published stuff. I’m likely to have read some of the contents in the original so why waste time reading it again? Thankfully, the snigger was premature. Captain Gopinath is no littérateur but he certainly shoots from the hip and almost always hits bull’s eye. The bulls in this book comprise politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, godmen and a slew of other targets. Each shot is accurate and contemporary, largely datelined post 2014-15.
The average citizen remembers Gopinath, if at all, as a pioneer of India’s no-frills aviation sector. Pioneering ventures, conceptually brilliant though they often are, are tenuous. Some survive. Some don’t. Gopinath’s didn’t. With eyes wide open and a heart brimming with hope, he launched Air Deccan on 25th August 2003 with one old, used, leased ATR aircraft flying from Bengaluru to Hubli. His dream was to “provide a service that would allow millions of middle class folks to fly.” In 45 months, Air Deccan deployed 45 aircraft connecting 69 towns and cities daily. Of these, 30 were first time destinations. “A new India was flying,” Gopinath enthuses.
Later on, though, Gopinath laments: “The cloud on which I was sailing evaporated and I saw that I had no parachute.” Read on to know why he sold a 46 per cent equity stake to Vijay Mallya for Rs 1,000 crores only to crash land penniless with Kingfisher. (Too many court cases are pending to elaborate on Mallya.)
Gopinath lambasts the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which “is happily enforcing aviation rules enacted in 1937.” Yes, that’s 80 years ago. “DGCA uses discretionary powers to indulge in arbitrary whims and fancies, choking the sector.” Shooting from the hip, as I said.
Gopinath could have said a great deal more about civil aviation in India but he moves on to four other themes. Edited excerpts follow:
ENTERPRISE: Why is India Inc silent on corruption? Why are immensely successful business leaders... not speaking up against the corruption some in their community perpetuate? Corrupt business leaders... are like rogue elephants.
SOCIETY AND GOVERNANCE: TV channels scream their heads off, blaring scandalous stories, exposing scams in quick succession. Anchors are in a frenetic race to break both news and sound barriers... leaving confused and bewildered people wondering whom and what to believe.
POLITICS: People feel cheated, disappointed and let down because all political parties are the same...Modi must take charge. He must do the right thing, not the politically expedient thing. He must listen to his conscience rather than the party coterie and remember doing bad to others ends in bad things happening to you...
MUSINGS: Let’s be honest. Almost all of us... have dealt with black money at some point barring, of course, the poor... Corruption is in our DNA. A farmer receives 20,000 rupees in cash. It is white; his income is not taxable. The farmer goes to a doctor and pays 5,000 rupees, it becomes black. The doctor goes to a five-star hotel and spends it on dinner, it is billed and becomes white. Black and white money are inextricably intertwined.
These vignettes show Gopinath is a man of many parts. To conclude, I sign off with Lord Meghnad Desai’s words: “You cannot miss this wonderful book!”