Now a star in orbit, Shubhanshu Shukla was always a natural in the sky | India News

BENGALURU: He was the form of cadet who didn’t simply study to fly — he belonged in the sky. Years earlier than Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla grew to become the first Indian to board the International Space Station (ISS), he was already turning heads in the cockpit of a Super Dimona plane at the National Defence Academy (NDA). Back then, he was simply one other cadet from the Hunter Squadron — name signal not but well-known, goals nonetheless earthbound. But to the teacher watching carefully from the co-pilot’s seat, one factor was clear: the younger man had wings.“He had a natural flair for flying,” recalled Group Captain (retd) Anupam Banerjee, Shukla’s first flying teacher at NDA. “In just the first few sorties, we could tell. Some cadets struggle with the feel of the controls or spatial awareness. Not Shukla. He was confident, intuitive — a very natural flier.”It was 20 years in the past. The plane was an Austrian-built HK-36TC Super Dimona, used for ab-initio flying publicity at NDA earlier than cadets transfer on to formal pilot coaching at the Air Force Academy. Shux, as Banerjee recalled, aced these preliminary flights — an early indication of the profession that lay forward: Jaguars, take a look at pilot faculty, and eventually, a journey to low-Earth orbit on Axiom-4 (Ax-4).But what actually stood out, Banerjee stated, wasn’t simply talent. “He was sincere, extremely hardworking, and that’s a rare combination when paired with ability. I told him then — you’ll go far if you keep this up.”Years later, when Shukla was getting ready for spaceflight, he despatched Banerjee a message. He hadn’t forgotten the phrases. “He told me he remembered what I’d said: that it’s not enough to be a good flier or officer — you must be a good human being. That stayed with him. And when he told me that, it meant a lot.”Banerjee had flown with Shukla solely seven or eight instances, however the connection endured. “He always stayed in touch. Not many do. Whenever he reached a big moment in life, he’d send a message. That says a lot about the man he’s become.”Before launch, the two had one final dialog. “I knew he was about to enter quarantine, so I wished him luck. I told him life had already prepared him for what was coming. And that, a part of me was going to space with him.”Watching Shukla dock with the ISS, Banerjee says he felt one thing past delight. “It’s still unbelievable to me — that someone I trained, someone who first flew with me, is now in space. It’s not just about reaching orbit. It’s about who he is as a person. That matters even more.”In a method, Shukla’s story is a flight path traced not simply in the sky, however in character. “When your students do well, you feel proud. But when they turn out to be fine human beings too — that’s greater joy.”So sure, Shux might now be astronaut quantity 634. But lengthy earlier than he floated weightlessly in a pressurised module, he was already hovering — on talent, sincerity, and the kind of quiet metal that may’t be taught.