A new entrant into sky diving, the Chief of Air Staff decided to test his skills when his predecessor S Krishnamurthi asked him what were his plans for making the next anniversary celebrations of Indian Air Force more spectacular.
"I told him that we will break the record and I will be the 73rd member of the team. Everyone laughed at me and thought I was mad," Tyagi told reporters Sunday evening as he touched down at Hindon Air Station last evening rewriting the existing record of 32 parachutists doing the same.
Tyagi, who had recieved the 'Para Wing' only last Wednesday for having five succesful solo jumps, said he was in no mood to give up his new found hobby though he feels that flying a fighter aircraft is far more "serious business".
Air Chief jumps into history books at 60
"You cannot compare flying a plane and sky diving. It's a different ball game. Flying a fighter plane is serious business. But, I am not giving it up in a hurry," Tyagi, a veteran fighter pilot with four decades' experience, said.
Ask him about the age-factor and he will shoot back, "What is in the age? If you want to do something, do it. I don't understand why you are so much bothered about my age. I will stick to skydiving even after retirement."
How was the experience? Tyagi, dressed in orange, said it was "tremendous" and "I was taught that there was a tendency to be hesitant just before the jump. I decided that I will not hesitate. It's a state of mind."