Born into a family of fighter pilots, Sugandha Sukrutaraj grew up with a deep interest in aviation. As it happened, she would go onto to become the face of India's first ever Aero Show, Avia India, back in 1993. Fellow enthusiast, former PM Rajiv Gandhi, had always dreamed of an international air show, which was then conceptualised by his Doon school classmate, Anand K. Sethi. Sugandha recalls the iconic journey and the pioneers who helped make it happen.
Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that he was a pilot himself, but the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was said to be always keen on holding an international aero show in India and he got his wish in 1993 when Avia India, the country’s first aero show was conceptualised by his Doon School batchmate , Anand K Sethi, the managing director of Conventions and Expositions (CONVEX).
“It was Rajiv’s dream to organise a spectacular international show and exposition on aerospace and aviation in India and Anand stuck his neck out to make it happen. It took a lot of courage to do what he did,” says Mrs Sugandha Sukrutaraj, who, as the then regional manager of CONVEX, became fully involved in organising India’s first international aerospace and aviation exposition.
From a family of fighter pilots, the event was right up her sleeve. “My father, husband and son are pilots. Aviation is in my genes,” she says proudly .
Recalling how accessible the former chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal N C Suri, was in the run-up to the aero show that was soon to make a history, she adds, “Air Chief Marshal Suri not just organised the venue for the aero show, but went with us to meetings with the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to the Karnataka government to help us get just about everything we needed for Avia India ’93. Air headquarters was always just a phone call away.”
16/02/19 Aksheev Thakur/Deccan Chronicle
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Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that he was a pilot himself, but the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was said to be always keen on holding an international aero show in India and he got his wish in 1993 when Avia India, the country’s first aero show was conceptualised by his Doon School batchmate , Anand K Sethi, the managing director of Conventions and Expositions (CONVEX).
“It was Rajiv’s dream to organise a spectacular international show and exposition on aerospace and aviation in India and Anand stuck his neck out to make it happen. It took a lot of courage to do what he did,” says Mrs Sugandha Sukrutaraj, who, as the then regional manager of CONVEX, became fully involved in organising India’s first international aerospace and aviation exposition.
From a family of fighter pilots, the event was right up her sleeve. “My father, husband and son are pilots. Aviation is in my genes,” she says proudly .
Recalling how accessible the former chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal N C Suri, was in the run-up to the aero show that was soon to make a history, she adds, “Air Chief Marshal Suri not just organised the venue for the aero show, but went with us to meetings with the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to the Karnataka government to help us get just about everything we needed for Avia India ’93. Air headquarters was always just a phone call away.”
16/02/19 Aksheev Thakur/Deccan Chronicle
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