'He has remained the leader of our course all through 40 years, not allowing his energy and enthusiasm to fade. And through all his achievements, he has remained grounded.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) salutes his NDA coursemate Amar Preet Singh as he takes over as Chief of the Air Staff.

As Kolkata marches towards modernity, it is hard to imagine its streets without these cabs, notes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).

'There cannot be anyone like Air Marshal Keelor -- he was so difficult to emulate.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) salutes War Hero Air Marshal Denzil Keelor PVSM, KC, AVSM, VrC who passed into the ages last month.

'We had been deceived by the clouds, taken to the brink of death, but saved by the Almighty.'

'Just because of my background and poor academic qualifications, most people disbelieve what I have done.'

Bullets fly, the noise becomes unbearable and the plot finally ends with the hero doing an unbelievable leap on to the ski of the helicopter aka Schwarzenegger, flown by our pretty heroine. UFF UFF! Squirming in my seat, I ponder over what I have been through, sighs Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).

'My adrenalin kicked in and the happiness returned! It was time to go in for the kill again.' IAF Veterans Group Captain Dilip Kumar Dass tells Air Commodore Nitin Sathe about how the IAF decimated tanks in the famous Battle of Longewala.

'For god's sake, portray the armed forces in the correct manner,' asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe after watching Tejas.

Valhalla is undoubtedly enriched by the presence of Unnikrishnan Gangadharan Kartha. He would have already convened the 'fall in' and regaled his friends with tales of the distant land that they once inhabited.

'With butterflies in our stomachs, but confident of our mission, we took off for Jaffna on the morning of 24 July 1987.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe recalls a conversation with Air Vice Marshal Harpal Singh Ahluwalia (retd), then a wing commander and mission leader for the clandestine operation.

'I was quite taken in by the adept handling of a simple (yet complicated!) subject and had my share of laughs and tears by the time the curtain fell,' observes Nitin Sathe after watching the superhit Baipan Bhari Deva.

This is not a train for the regular commuter, evident from the number of large sized bags in the overhead bin, observes IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.

'I was a young pilot in the IAF and Tom Cruise (with his genuine Ray-Bans) was now an icon with his sensational performance in Top Gun.' 'The IAF, maybe influenced by the movie, decided to 'issue' pilots Ray-Bans as part of their flying kit,' remembers IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.

IAF Flying Officer Jawahar Lal Bhargava was forced to stayed in the POW camp at Rawalpindi for the year that followed only to be released in December 1972.

''I heard from the Pakistani brigadier that Flying Officer Pradeep Apte had been killed after he ejected safely and tried to escape. This news sent a chill up my spine. I had been lucky so far...'

All of India welcomes the Light Combat Helicopter into the Armed Forces arsenal and wishes it a safe tenure and happy shooting. May it rule the skies and ensure that the enemies are given a fitting reply when the need arises.

'Not a single bullet was fired, but we were warning the enemy not to continue with their antics!' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe finds out how the Light Combat Helicopter, which will be inducted into the IAF on October 3, was designed, developed and flown.

'I have never seen such a large parade being commanded with such precision just by a vocal word of command.' 'I would like to import this technology to England.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), then a final year cadet at the National Defence Academy remembers Queen Elizabeth II's visit to NDA in November 1983.

'... To ensure that the vast Indian Ocean Region remain peaceful.'

In a record time of 13 years, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant is now ready for formal induction into the Indian Navy.