Thiruvananthapuram: Born to Fly, a biography of the late M.P. Anil Kumar, the fighter pilot who fought severe physical disability and motivated the youth through his writings, was released on Tuesday at Sainik School Kazhakootam, his alma mater. Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, who was his course mate at National Defence Academy, is the author of the book. Air Marshal S. Neelakantan, the Air officer commanding-in-chief who released it in the presence of Kumar's mother S. M. Kamalamma, his relatives, classmates, senior officers and students from various schools, said, “The book gives an insight into the grit and determination of a warrior who fought against all the odds.”
The promising officer who met with a freak accident at Air Force Station Pathankot in 1988, spent rest of his life, 26 long years, wheelchair bound at the Paraplegic Centre in Pune. He was paralysed neck down. But he began to write holding a pen between his lips and reached out to the world outside and his saga was part of Class X English textbook of Maharashtra and Class IX of Kerala school board. The book is replete with anecdotes from his life and excerpts from his articles which had a telling effect on the reader. His tagline remained as “disability need not defeat you” till the end of his life. Air Vice-Marshal G Amar Prasad Babu, another batch mate at NDA along with Col A Rajiv, principal of SSK, also attended the function.
