I am saddened by the loss of two good friends.  Vinoo Ubhayakar passed away recently in Mumbai.  I had known Vinoo for many years prior to my leaving Air-India and India but we had kept in touch.   A true gentleman and a great ambassador for India’s Tourism.  Ken Bloom, a retired Judge of the Superior Court in New Jersey also passed away in nearby Naples, FL.  We were golfing partners and he and his wife Janet came to India to attend the wedding of our older son, Akhil with Sunanda.  Too many good friends have left this world and Manju and I will miss them.

And now I learned that one of my heroes, the legend of boxing - Muhammed Ali - has passed away.  I met him in 1989, four years after I had assisted him in making a rather secret trip to Israel.  

I was, at that time (1985), working with Kuwait Airways as their Regional Manager - USA and Canada. My Sales Manager, Washington, DC - Bob Sensi - asked if he could visit me and when he came, asked me to confirm what he had heard and that was that I was a good friend of David Schneider, the then U.S. Head of Israel Airlines.  I was intrigued as David and I go back 25 years to 1960, when he was with the Tariffs Branch of BOAC in New York and I was visiting New York to file our Tariffs with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board.  David and I had kept in touch and the next time we met was when I moved to New York and we met at an airlines cocktail party.

I interrogated Bob and he confirmed in strict confidence, that my friendship with David Schneider was known to the Intelligence Agencies of the USA and that his current mission was to enlist our friendship to arrange a secret trip to Israel for none other than Muhammed Ali.  He also stated that under the Official Secrets Act, knowledge of this trip had to be “kept under wraps”.

I called David and he came over to my office on Park Avenue.  I cannot disclose any more except to state that David was very helpful and we arranged the trip for Muhammed Ali and his party under anonymous names.

Moving the clock forward to 1969 when I was now working as General Manager - USA & Canada for Air Mauritius and once again received a call from Bob Sensi who was still with Kuwait Airways in Washington, DC.  This time, Bob wanted me to meet him at a location in New York city where I was introduced to the boxing legend.  Muhammed Ali said that he had always wanted to personally thank me for the assistance that I given four years earlier and apologized for the delay. 

To say that I was take aback by his words would be a great understatement.  I had finally met “the greatest” and to be personally thanked was truly overwhelming .  He had a photograph taken at that site which he signed after making a boxing ring in the top left hand corner.  I still have this highly prized photograph in my home, although the lines of the ring and his signature have been blurred by time.

Moving on, sometime in 1976, I was taking a flight to Europe and as per my usual manner, ran up the stepladder to the aircraft, carrying my briefcase.  We did not have aerobridges in those days at Bombay airport.

Half way up, I felt a heaviness followed by a dull pain in my left arm and after a brief stop, walked up the remaining steps.  On my return to Bombay, I saw our Medical Officer who conducted some tests and determined that I may have developed angina.  I mentioned this to Mr. Dastur who spoke with Mr. Unni, our then M.D.  Mr. Unni referred me to one of the specialists on our Medical Panel who, frankly speaking, did not inspire much confidence in his abilities. 

I was treated by this doctor who will remain nameless for two years but the angina pain became more acute; so much so, that I had to give up playing golf.  I could no longer walk 18 holes.  It was at this time, that this specialist confessed that he was only a chest specialist and not a heart specialist.  I had wasted two years chasing a dream.

My golfing partner, Amar Singh, President of Wyeth Laboratories suggested that I consult a heart specialist and recommended Dr. Ashwin Mehta.  Dr. Mehta confirmed the diagnosis as angina, but said that this could develop into a heart attack if not treated correctly.  

To cut a long story short, Dr. Mehta did not have confidence in the medical facilities then available in India and strongly recommended that I consult heart specialists in the USA where the treatment of patients with my problem was far more advanced.  He asked if Air-India would cover the cost of open heart surgery, in case such a procedure was necessary. 

By then, we were in 1978 and I spoke with Mr. Appusamy who had taken over as M.D.  Without hesitation, he told me to go to the USA immediately.  Dr. Deepak Chopra, my wife’s brother-in-law was practicing medicine in Boston and with his assistance, I secured an appointment with one of the top cardiologists in the USA - Dr. Roman DeSanctis.  After examining me, he determined that the best course of action was open heart surgery.  His office sent me a detailed proposal with the estimated costs.

By then, Mr. Appusamy had also left Air-India and Dr. Vijay Kumar, our CMO, discussed it with Mr. B.S. Das who had taken over and also with Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal, our Chairman.  They approved the budget that Dr. Kumar had prepared and Manju and I left for Boston.  Vijay followed a day later by which time, I had been admitted at Mass General Hospital.

I had triple by-pass surgery and recuperated for one month in Boston before returning to India.  I was fortunate that we could stay the entire month at Deepak and Rita Chopra’s residence.  Before leaving Boston, I was reexamined by Dr. DeSanctis who advised me that, in his considered opinion, my heart problems were the result of the stress that went with my occupation and strongly recommended a slower pace of life, even if it involved a change in job.

Upon my return to India, I took some more time off and went to Kashipur where my in-laws had a farm and recuperated.  It was here that Manju impressed upon me to give serious thought to leave Air-India.  She reminded me of Mr. Appusamy’s advice to “look for another job”.  She even gave me a book to read; the theme of which was that you could not fight City Hall.

I told Manju that while the culture in Delhi had indeed changed, we were experiencing some stability with ACM Lal and Mr. B.S. Das at the helm and that once I got back to work, I would give myself an year or so to see if in fact, there was a need for me to make a change.

Little did I realize that soon after I resumed duty, both ACM Lal and Mr. Das would be summarily removed and we would get a CMD with no airline or commercial background.  On April 1, 1980, Mr. Raghu Raj, a former banker with ties to the Gandhi family was appointed CMD.  It is pertinent to mention here that one of his daughters was married to the son of one of my first cousins (Incidentally, I had 54 first cousins).

Soon after he took over, I invited Mr. and Mrs. Raghu Raj for dinner at our apartment along with their daughter and son-in-law.  My colleague, C.L. Sharma and his wife were also present at the dinner.  On being introduced to the CMD’s son-in-law, CL asked - so you are the Chairman’s son-in-law?  to which, he answered - Yes, but I am Inder Uncle’s nephew first.

I will speak of my short association with Mr. Raghu Raj in a later Blog as this was the crucial period of my career when I had to make a decision of far reaching consequences.