Simply Fly -- A Deccan odyssey

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.