Air Marshal (R) Harish Masand says…I learnt more than flying from them: AY TIPNIS

https://www.vayuaerospace.in/article/881/air-marshal-r-harish-masand-says-i-learnt-more-than-flying-from-them-ay-tipnis

04 May 2023

Very late in my service career, after almost 30 years of service, I really met Air Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis, better known in the Air Force as “Tippy”. At that time, though he was already the Vice Chief, it was not known that he would soon become the Chief since the two year extension of service had not been announced till then. Signifying this delay in our meeting, the first thing Tippy Sir asked me, when he was the Chief and I was in a spot of trouble, was how it was that our paths had never crossed earlier. I had responded with the simple statement that he had been mainly in the Western stream, as the Air Attache in France and as the Commander of the Mirage base at Gwalior while I had mainly been on the Russian stream with Su-7s, MiG-21s and finally the MiG-29 and the Su-30. Moreover, he was significantly senior to me and we had hardly ever met socially. We did briefly cross paths when he was a Wing Commander and JD Air Defence in Air HQ however, and I was on my way to Gorakhpur as a relatively junior Squadron Leader to be Flight Commander of 1 Squadron there after doing Staff Course at Wellington in early January 1983 but I doubt he would remember that brief meeting. We had met purely by chance in the corridors of Air HQ and after wishing him, I had felt compelled to ask how a person like me, who was essentially a MiG-21M (Type 96) guy, was being posted as senior Flight Commander in a MiG-21FL (Type 77) squadron. Added to that was the fact that I had limited experience even on the MiG-21 since I had spent most of my initial career on Hunters, Su-7s and as an instructor in the Air Force Academy- and while I was grateful for the opportunity, I also wanted to understand how I had earned it. As a symbol of the great influence he had on my life and future in the Air Force, instead of giving me an answer, he just smiled and asked me to come home and have a drink with him that evening. I promptly landed up at his house at the given time, and over a brief visit and a couple of drinks, he just smiled again at my questions and simply asked me to trust Air HQ in selecting the right man for the job. Quite frankly, I had never filled up the column on choice of posting in my reports earlier and even after Staff College, though one was generally given a choice posting after staff college, so that made a lot of sense to me and stayed with me throughout my career. Thereafter, I never really came across Tippy Sir until he was the Vice Chief.

Of course, I kept hearing of him in the interim on the service grapevine, particularly about his professional achievements with having topped the PAI and FCL courses earlier. I knew that he had also faced serious adversity in his personal life as fate had dealt him a rough hand with the premature loss of his wife. I also heard some good snippets about his Mirage project team leader days in France. Later, when I commanded 28 Squadron, The First Supersonics, and converted it on the MiG-29s from 1987, I read about him being a young Flying Officer when he was specially chosen and inducted into the Squadron in the first lot of young pilots in the early days in 1963-64. Our Squadron was the only MiG-21 squadron at that time, and he had flown MiG-21s in the 1965 War. When the Mirage-2000s came for trials against the MiG-29s in Poona in March-April 1988, Tippy Sir was the AOC of Gwalior, the Mirage base, but he didn’t visit Poona then and I am not certain what he heard about these trials from “Pudding” Ahluwalia. (For details, please see “Rivals from the Same Team” in a previous VAYU Issue III/1989). Immediately after these trials in mid-April 1988, we celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the Squadron in Poona, which had been delayed due to these exercises that we were involved in. Unfortunately, once again Tippy Sir could not make it and I missed hosting him then. Two things happened when he was the Vice Chief and I met him after taking over command of Poona in January 1997. Soon after the induction of the Su-30 in June 1997, I got a call from Tippy Sir telling me that one of his wild, but dear, NDA course mates, Rear Admiral Purushottam Sharma, was already on the road to Poona with his wife and dogs, having sold his house in NOIDA and having despatched the truck with his households in a jiffy without even having picked up a place in Poona. Tippy Sir asked me if I could look after him and his stuff till he found a house in Poona. Needless to say, my answer to this was a ‘yes’ without any reservations.

Air Chief Marshal Anil Tipnis (Retd) and Molina Tipnis (Photo: corporatecitizen.in)

The very next day, the Admiral arrived in the afternoon after two days on the road and was accommodated in the VIP Cottage. I dropped in on the Admiral, and his charming wife Kavita, at tea time after games, intending it to be a short courtesy call to enquire about their road trip and if they needed anything to be more comfortable. Instead of tea, the Admiral asked me if I would be willing to share a drink with him to take away the weariness of the long drive. After that, it goes without any further elaboration that Kavita and “Phydo” (as he was known in the Navy as a carrier pilot) became great friends and mentors to my wife, Malini, and me and we spent a lot of social time together. In due course, Admiral Sharma also picked up a cottage right outside the Air Force area in Viman Nagar since he still loved watching aircraft and flying, like most pilots, and was a regular invitee whenever we put up a show in the base. Perhaps, this had an impact in my first face-to-face interaction with the Vice Chief in Air HQ in November 1997. In the intervening period from June to November 1997, while I went to Air HQ a couple of times to brief them on the Su-30 issues, I didn’t really meet Tippy Sir but dealt only with the ACAS (Ops), then AVM Mike McMahon and the CAS/ DCAS for reasons I couldn’t understand then. In November 1997, Tippy Sir called me over to Air HQ to discuss the open skies policy and opening up the base more to civilian traffic and private carriers based there. I believe a politician by the name of Madhu Dandavate had approached him based on the inputs given to him by Mr Cyrus Poonawalla, of SII fame now, and some other industrialists of Poona who had their private corporate aircraft based there. I had already been approached by Cyrus and others on keeping the airfield open to these private aircraft all night, or at least past midnight. Poona those days was manned only for one and a half shifts, that too on TBM levels, and was open to civilian traffic only till 8 pm though we did accommodate an odd aircraft returning late, generally from Bombay, as also scheduled flights which had been delayed for some reason, on a case-to-case basis. What I admired about Tippy Sir that day, on 25 November 1997, was that despite the political pressure on him, he listened to my reasoning patiently and finally agreed with my views and recommendations on the subject. I remember the date vividly due to a special reason which is not important for this narrative. When we had finished the discussion and I was about to leave, Tippy Sir said with a smile, “I believe you are enjoying yourself in Poona” hinting that he knew about my aerobatic displays. I then suspected that Admiral Sharma or someone else may have mentioned these to him. When I said “Yes Sir”, he nodded and said, “Just be careful, son”. I assured him that I would continue to be extremely careful, and that nothing would go wrong before leaving his office. This meeting showed me two things. Firstly, that Tippy Sir had an open mind and was willing to listen to different views from his subordinates before arriving at a decision, an important quality in senior commanders. Secondly, that he was willing to trust his subordinates and did not have a zero-error mindset.

Later, he visited us at the end of September 1998 when, being a keen pilot, he also flew both the maritime Jaguar and the newly inducted Su-30K that we had on the base. During this visit, I observed how friendly and easy-going he was with the men, even at the lowest rank/level which encouraged them to speak freely and tell him their difficulties and problems. This was unlike many other senior officers who found it difficult to relate to the men on a more personal level. At the end of his visit, he was also very generous to have remarked in the visitors’ book that, “AF Stn Pune is in good shape. Many improvements are visible and etc. Morale of the personnel seems to be high and everyone is proud of what what he is doing, etc”. These remarks also showed that he did not hold back in his praise and encouragement when his subordinates did well; a much needed pat on the back for their hard work and efforts. I made sure that these remarks were made known to the men which bolstered their morale even more. I mention these remarks because of the state of the morale in January 1997 when I took over command of the base in tragic circumstances after the fatal accident of the previous commander in a MiG-29 on base which naturally affected all the personnel and their families. I had mentioned this to the then CinC, Air Marshal SR Deshpande and told him that I would have to do some things that may not be quite as per the book. Deshu Sir had just said, “do whatever you have to, that’s why we sent you there but be careful”. I, therefore, decided to fly in a manner that set an example and lead from the front to reinstill the confidence of the people in the aircraft by sending the message that if this “old man” could trust the MiG-29 that much, surely they had no cause for worry. Also, that each of us had to excel in the job entrusted to us no matter how menial it may seem. With God’s grace, my low-level aerobatics once in a while, till almost my posting out in May 1999, went without an incident either from me or any of my subordinates. The squadrons did take a lead from this and both 6 and 28 squadrons kept winning the best squadron trophies between 1997-99 till I left. Even the men were inspired to excel in their jobs with a smile, as also noticed by a number of visiting dignitaries. Our maintenance and all other support services, including Air Traffic Control, were also regularly praised. This was a team that I will always be proud of, despite an odd errant or disgruntled person which is par for the course in a large base like Poona.

(Photo: Indianexpress.com)

Tippy Sir was quite obviously an advocate of open and transparent communications encouraging even the ranks to speak freely to senior officers/ commanders, as evident from his visits to Poona and his interaction with the men. I was already practicing a bit of this from my early days in the Air Force and generally kept an open office so that anyone could walk in and speak his mind freely. Through this open office, I used to get to know what was going on at lower levels in the base as also some good suggestions on issues that could otherwise become serious later, if neglected. Such meetings were also my sounding board for measures that I wanted to implement and how they would be taken by the men. Tippy Sir became the Chief on 31 December 1998 and soon visited Poona in February 1999. During his visit, he, once again, commented favourably on the way the base was functioning. Since I was in the habit of keeping a copy of all important documents in my personal folder, I would just quote what he wrote in the visitors’ book after this visit. “Very happy to have visited the Station and see at first hand the high morale and camaraderie that exists amongst all personnel. Good luck. Jai Hind.” The important thing was that despite many shortages, the men were happy and smiling at work. Even Mrs Molina Tipnis was just as easy going and friendly in her approach while going around the station and Malini found it a delightful experience to be with her and take her around to show her everything. As it turned out, I had detailed a young, energetic, cheerful and promising lady officer, Flying officer Tarannum Misbah, who also functioned as my Assistant Adjutant and Officer in charge AFWWA, as the Liaison Officer to Mrs Tipnis and we soon lost her to the Chief’s office. We did not really mind that since this move was better for Tarannum’s career since she was like a daughter to us and many people even mistook her for our daughter, Ruheene. Even more significantly, Tippy Sir called and asked me whether they could take her away. The inquiries against me, and I use the word ‘against’ very carefully because that is how the inquiries turned out later, were already ON when the Chief again came to Poona for a short visit in May 1999 for a function in town. These inquiries make a story of their own for a later time. Tippy Sir briefly made a mention of these and I had assured him that all the allegations in there were totally false and would soon be disproved. As for my flying, there was nothing to hide and I used to do this in front of everyone for the morale of the base, as he may have known. He left it at that. I did, however, mention to him that I was willing to continue as the AOC for another year since Ruheene was in her final year of school and needed to stay back till she completed the board examinations in March-April 2000. Soon thereafter though, my posting from Poona as Director Air Staff Inspections in Air HQ was changed to a less sensitive and less important post as Director Projects, perhaps due to these inquiries.

I reported to Air HQ in early June 1999 without Malini or Ruheene who had to reluctantly stay back in Poona. As it happened, within a couple of days of my reporting to Air HQ, Malini was detected with cancer and I had to rush back on casual leave for her surgery. On my return after a few days, I went to the Deputy Chief, my branch head, then Air Marshal Naqui, with an application requesting annual leave and furlough so that I could take care of Malini and Ruheene during the planned chemo and radiation therapy. Unfortunately, he instead emphasised that I was being considered for Srinagar to help out in the Kargil War that had just started but considering the remaining inquiry on flight safety funds, I first needed to go to SWAC, Gandhinagar and clear my name. He also advised me to go have a drink, think about it and come back to him the next morning with my decision. Well, I certainly had more than one drink that evening while planning alternate arrangements for Malini’s care and acting on my PA’s advice of leaving everything to the bigger man called God, whom I always invoked as my co-pilot. That seemed to have worked since the next morning was a total surprise to me. The Deputy Chief had me in his office as soon as I reached Air HQ and, in a total turnabout, he told me that I should go ahead with my leave and furlough but, first, the Chief wanted to see me immediately. I went up one floor and was immediately ushered in to see the Chief. Tippy Sir asked me how Malini was and when I briefly told him about the diagnosis, he asked, “What is this I’m hearing? You want furlough to take care of her? Are you that rich that you can live on half-pay during her treatment?”, or words to that effect. I told him that money was unimportant when the question was of Malini’s treatment and I was fortunate enough to have some reserves. He immediately responded with that he would have me attached to Poona for the duration of her treatment. When I resisted this generous offer/order due to the fact that on attachment, I would be hounded again for the Inquiry, as also other duties, and would not be able to provide the care that my family needed, he immediately called the AOP, Air Marshal VK “Frisky” Verma over and told him to attach me to Advance HQ SWAC in Poona with the condition that I would not be asked to report for any work. I learned later from the Air Advisor, then Air Commodore Ajit Bhavnani, that the previous evening they were returning from a visit to Bombay when the Chief asked him about Malini. Ajit told him what he knew of Malini’s condition and added that he would check with me since I was reportedly back in Delhi to seek leave/furlough.

The humane side of Tippy Sir came immediately to the fore and he reportedly reacted pretty strongly to this by remarking whether we had come down to this level where someone with a serious problem had to be left to his own without any help from the organisation. He accordingly saw me first thing the next morning and his decisions were undoubtedly a major help to me in that difficult period. The concern for his subordinates was so very obvious from his actions. Actions that, in my opinion, motivate subordinates to do whatever is asked of them, and more, by such leaders, including laying down their lives on the line. Tippy Sir’s compassion and concern for his subordinates did not end there. After a month or so in Poona, the SOA of SWAC, Air Vice Marshal HP Singh, called me and requested me to attend the Inquiry which would now be shifted to Poona from Gandhinagar due to my inability to travel. I realised why this was being asked and done but still accepted, since I also wanted to clear up the mess and disprove the allegations against me. However, I clearly mentioned the condition that I would only be available from 0800 till 1330h on days that Malini was not required to be taken to hospital for any treatment. Accordingly, the Court assembled in a hurry but the very first day, I was kept till 1900h without even a lunch break. Obviously, I told the Presiding Officer, Air Vice Marshal CK Krishnatri, who knew me well but was obviously under pressure from SWAC, that I would not come the next day if these kind of hours continued. Unfortunately, this repeated itself over the next few days till I put my foot down and both of us were summoned to Air HQ to the Chief again. After hearing both of us, Tippy Sir spoke to Krish Sir separately without me. Thereafter, I was not held beyond the specified time and could rush home in time to look after Malini’s needs. That was his way of resolving issues. However, it must be said that my state at that time, both physical and mental, was taking a toll on Malini also and she even asked me to resign and leave the Air Force. I managed to convince her that I could not leave with a blemish against my name and reputation thus playing into the hands of the people who were just waiting for me to break. I also told her that I could handle all such pressures as long as she stood by me and remained strong. That she bravely did over the next 13 years till she passed away, including the time when I was compelled to approach the court for justice in 2004.

By about November 1999, I returned to Air HQ having disproved the allegations against me in the Inquiry. During my cross-examination, the moment the accuser had no choice but to confess that he had levelled false allegations about finances against me, the Inquiry was closed thus confirming that it was actually a witch-hunt against me. By that time, Malini had also finished the planned treatment and was slowly recovering with her mother and sister to take care of her in turn. Here is when Admiral and Mrs Kavita Sharma came out with tremendous support for us in all possible ways. Around that time, the Inquiry on my low-level aerobatics had reached Air HQ and I was given “a minor rap on the knuckles” only because the CinC wanted some action, as I got to learn later, since both the VCAS and the Chief reportedly remarked that I was known for my flying. Reportedly, the consideration was that even Air HQ knew about such flying and the Command should have certainly known about it and should have put a stop to it right in the beginning, if they were against such flying.

Tippy Sir’s sense of fair play came to the fore again soon since now it was time to consider my applications against the CinC and for protection of the confidential report on me for that period. While he was visibly happy that I had cleared my name, Tippy Sir asked me why I was in such trouble despite having a record that almost anyone would be envious of, adding whether I was “bucking” the CinC? He again gave me a patient hearing wherein I showed him all the documentation to prove that this was not the case and even these allegations against me were false, emphasising communications and honest advice that I gave just once for consideration of the commander(s). Tippy Sir, after two meetings on these issue, told me to go without saying anything but I got the impression that he would resolve these issues in his own way. Once again, his belief in fair play was evident since, concurrently, on the recommendations of the new DCAS, Air Marshal S Inamdar, he placed me in the important post of Director ASR from Projects in December 2000. Unfortunately, soon afterwards in 2001, in the board for promotion to Air Vice Marshal in 2001, some new allegations were made against me about my time as a Squadron Leader in 1 Sqn almost two decades earlier and I was again called to his office. This time, I told Tippy Sir that I was tired of such false allegations and offered that I would not even touch upon the legalities of such belated allegations at all but would request that my report for that period, when I was Flight Commander of 1 Sqn and had lifted it from a nonoperational status to Operational in quick time, be checked. If there was even a hint of any remarks supporting such allegations, I would not even question why these were not communicated to me at that time but resign from the Air Force immediately. However, if there was no such remark in the report and the person concerned did not stop me from further promotions or report this alleged conduct, he had no business to be an Air Marshal and raise the issue almost 20 years later. Tippy Sir smiled as usual and took this argument in the spirit it was made and told me that he was clearing me for my promotion but if I ever let him down even after he had retired, he would be the first one to hang me. Well, all I need to say is that he has not hanged me yet. In the winter vacations of 2000-01, our daughter Ruheene was visiting us from her college in Manipal and I got permission to bring her along for an informal event in Akash Mess. Soon after she was introduced to the Chief and when we were by ourselves, Ruheene remarked that we had a very handsome and charming Chief. Much later, after he had retired, I mentioned this to Tippy Sir and I thought I saw him clearly blush at the compliment; another indication of his humility and modesty. Sometimes, I remind him of this even after all these years of retirement and he reacts almost similarly trying to act nonchalant and gruff over this. Fortunately, by the grace of the almighty, the Air Chief Marshal and Mrs Tipnis continue to look good even now, as I saw in Gwalior recently, but are modest about it and take such compliments with the right touch of humility and grace.

In April 2001, Tippy Sir took me along to Brazil for his visit and I got to know both Molina Ma’am and him better at the informal level. Both of them were truly easy to be with and we had a good time even socially, apart from the educative professional engagements. It was my birthday the evening we landed in Rio de Janeiro and I offered to take them out for dinner along with our Indian Ambassador in Brazil who had come down from Brasilia to be with the Chief. It was an informal evening and his interaction with the Ambassador made me feel proud to be serving under such a fine officer and gentleman. With the Brazilian Air Chief and the Air Force personnel we met and flew with, as well as the President of Embraer, Tippy Sir obviously made a great impression and their respect towards him was obvious in all our interactions. One evening, I suggested that we go to the Brazilian barbecue place, called Churrascaria in Portuguese, that I knew about. Tippy Sir was feeling a little tired from the day-long official engagements and excused himself but Molina Ma’am took up the offer and their AA, Air Cmde “Bingo” Gokhale and I escorted her that evening. After a samba show and dinner, we all even visited the famous night flea market on Rio’s beaches though it did get a little late. Next evening, Tippy Sir remarked that we obviously had a good time, as must have been conveyed to him by Molina Ma’am, so we would repeat it with him. We did just that that evening and had a wonderful time again. Truly remarkable people who know when to let their hair down and enjoy the moment without breeding any over-familiarity.

The author of this series: Air Marshal (R) Harish Masand seen here at Aero India 2009 at Yelahanka, Bangalore.

Once again, in 2004, when Tippy Sir had already retired and I was fighting my promotion case in the High Court, we met occasionally in Gurgaon at the golf course and they always made it a point to enquire about Malini’s and my well-being. I do not really know what he thought about my going to court but they never let it come in between our conversation or the way they treated me. Later, when the Air Force decided to go in appeal to the Supreme Court, some rumours were planted and were circulating questioning my very loyalty to the Service and the nation. Tippy Sir asked me about it on the golf course one morning and I requested him for a little time in the evening when I could come over with the relevant documents to disprove whatever was being spread. He was gracious enough to give me a patient hearing again that evening which seemed to convince him that this was yet another canard against me. I did not pursue this further since I was already deep in court cases and did not have the time or the resources to start another defamation case against the people concerned. All in all, I think I was a huge problem that arose in Tippy Sir’s life, pretty late in his career too, and he would have been more than justified to decide to have nothing to do with me and all these complications. Instead, he chose to give me a patient hearing time after time and then do the right thing. For his sense of justice, fair play and strengthening the values of the Air Force, we would remain eternally grateful. Their humility and compassion is also remarkable. I only wish we had more leaders like him. Leaders like him are rare and come along once in a lifetime, and I am grateful and humbled to have crossed paths with Air Chief Marshal Tipnis in this one. In the end, I can only wish the Air Chief and Mrs Tipnis what they truly deserve; good health and every happiness in a long life.