Captain Gopinath, an Army man, a farmer, an entrepreneur and
above all as is evident from his book 'Simply Fly' he is a fascinating story
teller. He liberally draws from his rich experience to tell his story. In the
introduction he calls his autobiography as ‘just a simple story of a poor boy who
after doing myriad things in life built India's largest airline’.
His narration starts off with his growing days by the river
Hemavathy, schooling followed by his Army days. After 1000km hitch-hiking trip
in USA, true to his adventure spirit he quits Army and takes up farming. After
a brief dabbling in business & politics and nearly ten years of farming he
moves to Bangalore. Rest of the book is all about unfolding of events from
starting of Deccan Aviation, Venturing into Deccan Airlines, its growth and
eventual merger and downfall.
Gopi's Farm days are filled with grit and a bit of wild
streak. He speaks so candidly about his farming days that one could smell the
fragrance of soil in his narration. He also humors the reader with his crazy
urge to tame donkeys. “Whether you are in the Army or in civil life, putting
your men before you, will always lead you the way" says Captain JS Verma
to him and Capt. Gopi seems to have followed it through out.
Stories during his Deccan Aviation days like the one about
Anne Sahib's grandson, who wants to revive the family tradition or Kavya's
story are heart touching. Likewise John Gray and his devotion to Swami
Kaleshwar and Pilot cum Companion Jayanth's request to Swami are amusing,
incredible and funny to say the least. Going by the book Capt.Gopinath has
natural flair for entrepreneurship and the way he makes his deals and takes
bureaucracy head on displays his keen business acumen. His philosophy of
"The way out of difficulty is not frustration, not fear nor despair"
must have worked big time for him. There is a reason why APJ Abdul Kalam says
in his foreword that "this book should be an eminently suitable guide for
entrepreneurs and could be prescribed as a text book in all the management and
entrepreneurial development institutions in the country, since it is an Indian
experience".
I personally was looking forward to read Gopinath's
association with Mr. King of good times. He holds it back till the last and
left me asking for more. Reading
"Simply Fly" was a truly enriching experience for me and I
highly recommend it.
