According to sources a bad attitude that is what Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman said in an eight year old video when asked what it takes to make a good fighting pilot. Meanwhile a brave mother too, should perhaps be added to that list of attributes, going by the accounts of those who know the pilot’s family well.
Accordingly retired Group Captain Tarun K Singha, who has known the family for decades, said that the image of a calm, composed Abhinandan that many saw after his capture by the Pakistani Army just shows the genes that Abhinandan inherited from his mother, Dr Shobha Varthaman, who has worked in many conflict zones all through her career as a doctor with Medicine Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders).
Moreover she said She has encountered life-threatening experiences during the second Gulf War, in Iraq, where she was the only anesthesiologist serving at the time. “For security reasons, those outside the blast area were radioed to remain indoors. But since she was the only anesthesiologist, somehow or the other, they thought utilizing me for work is more important than security. Even the surgeons were inside their hotels”.
