Jeevachhlal Yadav, 85, father of Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, director general air operations (DGAO), the architect of the air operations in the ongoing Operation Sindoor, was not aware about the backstage heroics and the pyrotechnics his son had masterminded against Pakistan till his next door neighbour called out, asking him to tune in to TV news channels on Sunday evening.
By the time he got hold of the remote and infused life into the TV, Air Marshal Bharti was already into the media briefing in New Delhi, sharing details and evidence of the clinical precision with which the Indian Air Force (IAF) struck Pakistani air bases and other crucial targets as part of Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 after the Pahalgam terror strike, killing 26 civilians.
“He did not tell me anything when he called up and spoke to me last week. He could have at least told me that he would be on TV. I would have watched the programme from the beginning,” said Yadav, ruing having lost the initial few minutes of Air Marshal Bharti’s sound byte, as he sat in his bedroom wearing a vest and a bluish small checks lungi (wraparound), with a LPG cylinder behind him, in what is a modest 1,200 sq feet single storied residence near the DIG Chowk at Srinagar Hata in Purnia, the ancestral home of Air Marshal Bharti.
An ebullient Yadav is glued to the TV since Sunday evening, not sure when Air Marshal Bharti will show up again. He was on TV again on Monday afternoon, as part of the media briefing, sharing details of how the IAF struck the Nur Khan airbase and Rahimyar Khan airbase in Pakistan and the Indian air defence system thwarted the Pakistani missile and drone attacks with minimal losses on the Indian side. Yadav watched him with glee and a sense of pride. Oblivious of all happenings, his mother, Urmila Devi, 80, was away to check for the cultivation in their fields at Jhunni Kalan village in Purnia.
Air Marshal Bharti has given his parents newfound fame and respect in Purnia.
“People are either calling up or dropping by to congratulate us. We are happy beyond words and on cloud nine for what my son has done for the country,” said Yadav.
“Though my brother regularly calls up, he never discusses anything about what he is doing,” said Mithilesh Kumar, 48, younger sibling of Air Marshal Bharti who works in a pharmaceutical firm.
“It’s easier to talk to bhabhi (Sangeeta Bharti), who hails from Kashmir and was a short service commission officer in the IAF before she got married to bhaiya in 1996,” said Kumar.
Dr Rajesh Bharti, 45, the youngest of the three siblings, a private medical practitioner in Purnea, refused to talk, saying “I’ll have to ask my brother to speak to you.”
“My son was brilliant since childhood and stood first. He never took private tuition all through his primary schooling from Adarsh Madhya Vidyalaya, Parora, a government middle school in Purnea, and then at the Sainik School, Tilaiya, now in Jharkhand, having been bifurcated from Bihar in 2000. He went to the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune, and got commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in June 1987,” said Yadav.
Air Marshal Bharti has a highly accomplished professional past wherein he topped the NDA course and was awarded the prestigious “Sword of Honour”. He also did the staff course at Wellington and prestigious National Defence College (NDC) at New Delhi.
“During his NDA days, Air Marshal Bharti was nicknamed ‘galloping horse’, as his crosscountry record there remained unbroken for many years,” recollected Group Captain Vishwajeet Kumar (retd), junior to Bharti in school and at the NDA.
“Air Marshal Bharti has been primarily responsible for planning air operations as desired by our Prime Minister to punish perpetrators of the barbaric Pahalgam killings,” added Group Capt Kumar (retd).
Air Marshal Bharti commanded a frontline fighter base and held various important assignments within and outside India. Before taking over as the DGAO at air headquarters, he was posted as the senior air staff officer (SASO), Central Air Command, Prayagraj, where he also supervised the recently held Mahakumbh. Air Marshal Bharti has had previous important assignments at Strategic Force Command (SFC), air headquarters, advance headquarters and in Malaysia.
As the architect of the air operations in the ongoing “Operation Sindoor”, he has been instrumental in planning, coordination and finally inflicting a punishing loss on Pakistan. IAF’s planning and execution of missions deep inside Pakistan, including its strategic assets, compelled it to request for an immediate ceasefire.
Air Marshal Bharti is a decorated soldier and has been awarded Vayu Sena (VM) and Ati Vishisht Seva (AVSM) medals for his distinguished service.
