My New Title

Friday I was in the office and the Human Resources lady, who has her office at the airport office, came in and referred to me by a new (to me) name. They have always called me Captain Dan since I first came, since they call all of their pilots captain over here, but Friday it was Captain Dan gee. So, I was now curious what this new title that had been assigned to me was about. I asked one of the other people who spoke Hindi in the office about it and they were all saying that it was a sign of respect for like the senior guy in the outfit or the one who commands the most respect. The chief pilot and the CEO had given me a conference call the day before, asking me about my total flight hours (15,150) and my time in the Citation XLS (3000+) and time in the Citation CJ (2000+) so, after that conversation with them I think there was some discussion about me in the office since I wasn't there, that I was the high time pilot in the company. Of course, they have had my resume and total times for months but I don't think anyone paid too much attention to it until they were doing our ARGUS audit here recently and then it began to be clear. Of course, the other thing is that I am the second oldest guy in the outfit after Dhaka, who is out right now after his gallbladder surgery last week. Dhaka has me by 8 years but still I realize that I am not getting any younger here. So, I have called Karen and told her that I now would like for her to know my complete title in India so she can refer to me with the proper name - Captain Dan gee. It has a ring to it, but, as she says, this country does mess you up in many ways. Dr. McGhee was in church today again and he said the closest thing we have in English would that would equal gee is Sir. Now, since all men are looking for respect, I can now get all I need with just that title, Captain Dan gee.

It has been an interesting week as we try to rebuild the flight department and make the corrections necessary to get in line with the DGCA regulations and with our own Standard Operating Procedures. Several departures have occurred and now we are looking to hire some more pilots in order to properly staff our department. For a period of time last week I felt like I was playing a real life version of Survivor.

Fortunately, I have church on the weekends and it is a nice change of faces and venues to get my mind on other things and to be with other people at least for short periods of time. This week I have been priveleged to be with Dr. John McGhee, who is leading a public health teaching drive in Northern India for a few weeks here. He stayed with me for a few days. Then, I also had Edgar Pena, a pilot with our company, who was in Delhi for a week or so. I also met a pilot named Tom, who is a Japanese British citizen and has an American wife, so calls Seattle home. He flies a CJ2 for another company and we are thinking of putting him to work with us since his current contract is about to expire. We have recently become friends and since he is an accomplished organist we like talking about music since I was a music minor in college and loved the mathematics of music composition and also enjoy my piano, trumpet and occasional guitar. Now, one by one, the company has headed off and I am again alone. Karen is busy getting ready to come over and I still believe we will be together in a month or so.

We had another going away party last night for a departing member of our Tuesday night Bible study group. The hosting couple has the nicest house in Gurgaon, with a terrace roof that has grass and hedges and the temp was just perfect last night. Kathy, another American pilot from Austin, Texas was there. So, in lots of ways, it was kind of an informal pilot meeting on one side of the terrace. Fun!! Ricky is the departing one and he is headed back home to New Orleans. At the meeting I was again impressed with how supportive everybody is, while still calculating how long they have been in India or how long they have til they go home. Hoby, who taught the class last Tuesday is also headed home for Austin, even though he wasn't working here, he is Kathy's better half and she works hard as a pilot for another charter company here. Hoby has been through the "Emmaus Walk" program, which is quite similar to "Tres Dias", which I went through about 9 years ago in Tennessee. It has made a huge difference in Hoby's life and he is hoping to eventually bring it to India from Texas. For those of you who are wondering, it is a high intensity weekend spiritual retreat that is unlike any other retreat program that I have ever been through.

Tomorrow I have to go to church to hear a friend sing, then hurry over the the US Embassy for a Mela (kind of festival) program that will probably have US style food and entertainment. That should be a wonderful time to connect with other Americans in the area. Then, I have to leave there in order to get over to Muan's church and speak to his young adult group. Muan is a member of our Tuesday night fellowship group and he and Ricky have been here to minister to Burmese refugees in India. He wants me to come talk to his young adults but I don't have to worry about the topic since he assigned me a text to talk about that pretty much keeps me on that topic.

Now the conversation about the ex-pat pilots in India goes to an important meeting in January of next year that will determine the possible outcome. Looks now like it might be July, 2011 before we are ushered out. I still find it difficult to believe that they will have made enough preparations to go it alone, but we shall see. Now we are promised that our company will have an American component in case we have to leave India that will allow us to continue our careers in company. If that all works out, this might be my last job...........Dan