Been a while since i last saw you...in remembrance...!!!
On that fateful day in May we got news that a MiG-21 from Jamnagar air base had crashed and that the pilot's body had been so badly burnt that there was no way to identify it...the pilot it was said stayed in his cockpit trying to avoid the village below could'nt eject at the time that would have saved his life...they don't allow pilots to carry anything besides their tags...routine mission they said...close to the border they said...poor boy never even got the chance to be brought home so that his mom could say bye to him...his father had to go to Jamnagar AFB to complete the last rites...lived up to the finest traditions of the IAF they said...in time the family got rid of his clothes, the trunk, his bike... only thing that remained was the flag folded and his wings...those wings i still keep in my wallet to date...grandma cried and cried until she could cry no more...no way to console her...and just like that the tiger was gone...his friends and the entire Lohegaon ...