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Patna, Feb. 18: Lalu Prasad’s feeling may be at all-time low after a disastrous Assembly polls in 2010 but his elder son Tej Pratap is flying high undeterred by his father’s electoral embarrassment, literally.
Tej, a student of Bihar Flying Institute, Patna, has turned out to be one of the most disciplined students of his batch. He is pursuing a course for obtaining a commercial pilot license (CPL).
“Tej is a very disciplined and punctual boy. Whenever he is late he keeps his instructors informed on the phone,” a source in the flying institute, who refused to be named, told The Telegraph.
At present, Tej is undergoing the pre-solo stage of training during which a trainee flies an aircraft with an instructor on board. Depending on the learning abilities, this phase of training normally lasts when a trainee has completed 30 to 40 hours of flying.
Tej has so far added over seven hours of flying into his experience kitty by flying the Cessna 172 aircraft used for training purposes by the institute. The sincerity of Lalu’s son can be gauged from the fact that he has, so far, been found lacking just once as far as following the instructor’s word during flying is concerned.
“As is the practice, a trainee failing to adhere to the instructor’s word has to undergo punishment and the same was done in case of Tej too,” said the source adding that Tej was asked to make one round of the hanger area as punishment.
What surprised the instructors most that despite being Lalu’s son, Tej didn’t throw any tantrum and readily obeyed the orders. He also gave in writing the details of mistake, which he had committed while flying.
Apart from flying, Lalu’s son has also impressed his instructors in theory classes. “His performance in the theory classes is satisfactory and he remains very attentive in the class,” said the source.
A media-shy Tej was not available for comment on the good rapport he has developed in the first six months of training with his instructors, but sources, close to Lalu’s family, are not surprised about the good impression of the boy.
“He has been a disciplined boy since childhood and the hours he spends these days worshipping Lord Krishna has added to his good qualities,” a source close to Lalu’s family said.
Tej, along with six other students, was selected for the course in July 2010. The selection of candidates was made for paid seats of the institute and those admitted to it would have to pay Rs 3,720 for each hour of flying. For obtaining a CPL, a candidate has to fly 200 hours and thus Tej, like other trainees, would be paying a little over Rs 7 lakh for completing the course.
Incidentally, Lalu is not the only politician whose son has taken admission in the flying institute. Gyan Prakash, son of Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, too had enrolled with the institute and finished his CPL course in March 2010. BJP senior pro Rajeev Pratap Rudy, too, is a product of this institute.
The institute, set up in 1940, was earlier known as Bihar Flying Club before the state government took over it in 1974. Apart from the political clan, the school has produced some of the well-known faces of India’s pilots’ fraternity.
Dhruwa Banerjee, the first Indian woman pilot of a commercial flight, was a student of the institute. Same is the case with Nivedita Bhashin, the first Indian woman check pilot and instructor of Airbus 320. Dipak Mazumdar, who held the post of Air India’s director (operations) and also instructor examiner of Boeing 747 aircraft, was a student of this institute.
