Chief of air Staff, air chief marshal PV Naik, on Thursday released a 214-page coffee table book on the Indian Air Force (IAF), titled So that others may live, at a function in New Delhi.
The opus chronicles hitherto unseen moments of succor IAF has rendered from as early as 1939, till date.
Over 250 photographs, from early years of Second World War to the present times, unfolds some of the lesser publicized role of the IAF in missions involving humanitarian aid, disaster relief and aid to civil power.
The book also offers a glimpse of the IAF’s quest to acquire dominant knowledge to look at ‘other side of the hill’ into the realm of space.
With assets, reach and capabilities growing, the IAF’s humanitarian and disaster relief missions to China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Armenia, USA including UN peace keeping missions, earned goodwill for the nation.
The book includes a chapter of the IAF operations across the seven seas.
It also encapsulates random images of some of the moments captured by few who were at the scene, not necessary for the purpose of photographing them, that came to the forefront long after the events had passed unreported in the public domain.
The anecdotal text accompanying the pictures accentuates some of the unforgettable moments like those of operation black Tornado in the aftermath of 26/11 that still remain etched in the nation’s collective memory.
The book is an endeavour of the IAF’s Directorate of Media and public relations to depict in picture and prose, the gallant and indomitable fortitude of present day air warriors, who from the days of Hawai sepoys from the bygone era have transcended from Wapiti to the Sukhoi and beyond, accomplishing missions, both lethal and humanitarian, with professionalism.
