“Born to Fly” by Nitin Sathe - The saga of the fighter pilot M.P. Anil Kumar who came to be known as the “Stephen Hawking” of India

'Born to Fly' was written by Air Commodore Nitin Sathe and it was released by the then Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Publishers Vitasta needs to be appreciated for bringing out this amazing work. The book shares amazing details connected with the life and times of M.P. Anil Kumar who became a quadriplegic after a freak accident at the age of 24.

He survived another 26 years and the author calls him the 'Stephen Hawking' of India. Anil was born to N.Panchapakesan and S.M.Kamalamma as their first child in the year 1964.

The soothsayer had stated that Madanavila Panchapakesan Anil Kumar would achieve greatness and he did. The family was blessed with Sheeba, Sheeja, and Jayakumar over the next couple of years.

The father Panchapakesan indulged in local politics and his political mates included A.K.Gopalan, known as AKG. The family had once boasted of having been blessed with erudite Sanskrit Pundits and Panchapakesan remained devoted to the Chirayinkeezhu Panchayat all his life. He did a bit for the poor and also for the infrastructure of the Panchayat.

The author Nitin Sathe needs to be lauded for this labor of love. A part of the royalty from this book will be channelized towards the formation of M.P.Anil Kumar Foundation which will aim to better the lives of paraplegics and quadriplegics in India. Nitin Sathe had known M.P.Anil Kumar for years and used to often visit him at Pune until the great soul traveled into eternity. It’s really heartening to learn that Nitin had visited Anil's family and spent some time with them as part of his sojourn connected with this book. He had also time off to experience the school which had educated M.P.Anil Kumar. Nitin was born in a military family and his parents are Col B.K.Sathe and Usha.

He is happily married to Pallavi and their son Akshay is in the merchant navy. The daughter Aishwarya has done M.A. Economics and is pursuing her M.B.A now. Nitin had seen much while at Congo on a UN Mission and is now the Senior Instructor at the Defense Services College in Wellington. 

The book 'Born to Fly' was rated the best in the non-fiction category by the Sivalik Hills Foundation and was given an award during the event 'Valley of Words'. The narrative gives the reader a brief overview of the Sainik Schools in India and the objective of the one who initiated the process of establishing them - V.K.Krishna Menon who was part of Nehru's cabinet as India's Defense Minister. MP as Anil Kumar was known studied at the Sainik School Kazhakootam (SSKZM) and his first two years were at the Veluthampi House. While talking about the life of MP at the Sainik School the author Nitin literally educates the reader by sharing the details connected with the style of education at such schools. Prem Nazir, the legendary Malayalam actor was MP's favorite during his younger days says the author.

Besides sharing such details he tells us about the regimen, care, and infrastructure that existed in the school. The school had 11 football grounds, 8 hockey grounds plus a lot of sports infrastructure. MP spent 9 years at the Sainik School before moving over to the National Defense Academy (NDA) at Pune.

The NDA has always been a microcosmic representation of India and the 8022-acre Khadakwasla campus was an amazing facility which made not only MP but every cadet full of energy and enterprise. The author has taken the pains to talk about everything, from boxing to the maroon bicycles found in the campus. The cadets went through the academy thanks to their rigorous training. The activities included swimming, gymnastics, boxing, cycling, exercises, March past training, horse riding etc., MP seems to have done well and later got a special trophy for aerobatics. 

However, the brilliant flying career was cut short unfortunately due to an accident on the 28th of June 1988. The great man may have reached a pinnacle by now. MP had to endure a lot for he had become a quadriplegic. His head was the only functional part of the body and the author tells us that MP underwent hell by the time he reached the rehabilitation center which was to be his abode thereafter. Surgery, ICU care, counseling, medication etc., made him survive.

However, MP stated later that his Sainik School and NDA regimen had helped him to go through the numerous challenges that were faced by him. It was at this time that Sarah came into his life and offered her unstinted support and the author has pursued this part in an interesting manner. Many others did their bit too. The good work of the Government in this center was of immense help to MP and the iconic care has been helping many more. 

MP did not take it lying down and he was quick to reorganize himself says the author. He learnt programming, wrote with his mouth and also used the computer with his mouth while wheeling himself around the center. We learn that he was in touch with about 500 people over email and his words saved the lives of many who wanted to kill themselves. He was really helpful to a number of people and he spoke for the rights of quadriplegics. MP had read all the 12 volumes which contained the works of Swami Vivekananda and had also read a lot of Aurobindo. The author has literally lived the moments and was keen to share some aspects while discussing the book over lunch at the Airforce Officers Mess in Coimbatore.

“MP amazed people with his knowledge. He knew things from sports to politics to technology. He was able to discuss everything under the sun. Thanks to his interest, MP was able to write for a number of publications. However, all this began after he wrote an article 'Airborne to Chairborne' and won a prize. The MP Anil Kumar Fan Club is one initiative and it grew by leaps and bounds. MP had become a hero and the lives of the people touched by him got better. Several sick people became better on reading the book or listening to his story that was being read out by their attendants. The book has become a miracle book now for its offering inspiration to several people. It has been translated into other languages and hopefully will reach every corner of India. MP fought for the Sainik Schools and his campaign did well for these institutions which were languishing. His representations and influence helped the world of paraplegics too. He was an inspiration for youngsters and his essays are part of textbooks in a number of places. 

The very fact that he could connect with people made him great. He is a hero of our times and though he lived for a short time, his words and deeds have made his life great. I never thought of writing this book when I met him but things changed as I began to spend more and more time with him. I hope the kids of our times learn more about his fortitude for it will help them go a long way in life. I am just trying to do my bit and earnestly hope that the story of M.P.Anil Kumar is found in all our languages in the near future, “stated a committed Air Commodore Nitin Sathe. The author has more to his credit, for he has also penned -Tsunami 2004, The IAF Story: A Few Good Men & the Angry Sea. Nitin Sathe has really used this opportunity to let the novice reader acquaint himself or herself with things like the 'Colgate Calendar' and several other attributes which were official and unofficial. 

He has taken care to share the motto of the NDA.... 'To train and develop future military leaders to possess the requisite qualities of leadership, integrity, character and intellect through broad-based military, physical and academic education.....' The hero of this book M.P. Anil Kumar writes further about the NDA and its cadets thus, 'The cadets at NDA are a microcosmic representation of India. The academy's fundamental objective, therefore, is to weave this heterogeneous collection into an organic whole with Indianess as its soul... The NDA is a true crucible of the manifold constituents that make this great nation., where sub-identities are coalesced to yield a national identity. Though we hailed from diverse backgrounds, spoke multiple tongues, we never judged anyone by his religion, caste, creed, parentage or such pigeonholes.' Great words indeed and many more can be discovered in this lovely book which will enthrall the reader for good. It’s sure to turn every reader even more determined and patriotic. The readers will also understand much more about the sacrifices made by the defense personnel in our interest. 

The book is unputdownable and sure to draw the reader towards doing something good. Nitin Sathe has done a great service by writing the story of our own 'Stephen Hawking', M.P.Anil Kumar whose life will forever serve as a beacon light for one and all.