Kin recalls drive of IAF chief-designate

Browne studied in St Joseph’s School till high school before joining Jamuna Christian Inter-College from where he completed his intermediate. “He never thought about anything else. He wanted to join the Air Force and straightaway joined the National Defence Academy,” says Kaul,adding that he was only 17,“just a teenager”,when he left.

No,there wasn’t anybody in the family having any association with the defence forces. “It was a relative of one of our neighbours,who was in the Air Force and watching whom my brother got interested (in joining it),” she adds

But now,with his son,Omar,also a fighter pilot,the new Air Force chief-to-be has certainly started a new lineage.

Kaul recalls that it was not too difficult for the family to live with the fact that the only son was in the defence forces. “We were two sisters and one brother. And him being in the Air Force meant he would not get leave as and when he willed. But we do not remember instances where he was not present at important family functions. It was largely because our parents planned the events well,” recalls Kaul. “But for him the duty always came first”. “For us though,he was like any other brother.”

As a student,recalls Kaul,Browne was excellent in studies. “He had his set of friends. But he never had a large circle. Most of them are now settled either abroad or elsewhere in the country pursuing their own careers,” says Kaul.

The news of Browne’s appointment as the next Air Force chief came at a time when both Kaul and her mother,who normally stays in Allahabad,were not in the city. When contacted,senior journalist and Browne’s elder brother-in-law,Arun Solomon said: “She (Browne’s mother C N Browne) has gone to be with her son in New Delhi.”