Kavita "Maa" Gadgil

Kavita Gadgil was born in Mumbai and was educated in Pune. She always had a high regard for people in the armed forces. In 1971, she married Anil Gadgil, who was a Flying Officer with the Indian Air Force. She was enthralled by the Air Force life and has travelled all over India along with her husband. Since her husband was away quite often on call of duty, she focused on raising her two sons, Kedar and Abhijit, and taking care of the household. Her husband retired as a Wing Commander and joined Air India in 1986.

Leaving the Air Force life behind, when Kavita arrived in Mumbai in 1986, she was looking forward to embark on a productive and meaningful enterprise. Her forte is, and has always been, the ability to inspire and motivate young children and this was ascertained in the stint she did with NCC in Belgaum. The natural course of events lead to starting 'Tejas Kumar Melawa', which is a youth orientation camp for careers in the Defence Forces.

Through Tejas Kumar Melawa, Kavita introduced what was then a new concept, of consolidated interaction with youngsters through lectures, workshops, slide-shows as well as actual hands on interaction with the Defence Forces officers. The main objective was to dispel the ignorance towards careers in the Defence Forces. The idea of a ten day long summer camp away from home being exposed to something exciting and career oriented was received enthusiastically by the children and the parents. This camp was targeted for children in their formative years, mainly in the age group of fourteen to fifteen years to expand their vistas, by exposing them to career opportunities in the Defence Forces and instilling them with a sense of direction.

The camps were conducted from 1986-1995 at Mumbai, and then later in Pune at a dedicated camp site in Khanapur. The highlight of the ten-day camp was the camp-fire event, where the parents were also invited. In most cases the parents were totally astounded to see their children buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm. There are between 500 to 600 boys and girls out there, who proudly carry the certificate of being a 'Tejas Kumar' or 'Tejas Kumari'. To this day they benefit from the time they spent in these camps and the multifaceted exposure they got to various careers, other than their fields. Many children have been encouraged to join the Defence Forces, some as late as 2005. When a particularly driven youngster, Sushant Gokhale was commissioned in the Indian Army at Dehradun, Kavita was present at the event, along with the proud parents. And even today Kavita continues to correspond with her ex-Tejas Kumars and ex-Tejas Kumaris.

Considering that this was a one woman show, conducting such camps was not an easy task for Kavita Gadgil. The camp size was within a range of fifty to sixty youngsters. But that did not deter this strong willed woman, who loved the challenge of channelizing the enthusiasm of the youngsters participating in the Tejas Kumar Melawa.

Kavita was instrumental in helping her son realise his lifetime ambition of being a fighter pilot. Unfortunately for all, Abhijit was an unnecessary martyr to the country when he met with a fatal accident, in a MiG-21 crash, on September 17, 2001 in Suratgarh, Rajasthan. This was yet another one in a series of many tragic accidents in which young MiG pilots were losing their lives needlessly. The Air Force initially passed off the incident as caused by “'Pilot error”. This distressing state of affairs drove Kavita to form a movement named after her son Abhijit, in an effort to address the air safety issues.

The AASF is now a registered trust and a permanent national memorial for all the soldier-pilots who have lost their lives in the course of flying duties in war or peace.

Not only is Kavita the voice of all mothers who have lost their sons, but also one determined woman, who is ready to stand up for her beliefs. Every year she pays homage to Abhijit’s accident site in Suratgarh, and is actively in touch with the families of  those who have lost their lives.