'Heroes motivate me to do more': Man who designed Rafale patches wanted to become IAF pilot

It was Saurav Chordia's childhood dream to join the Indian Air force as a fighter pilot. He could not do so because of medical reason. He will, however, remain forever the part of the IAF for another reason. 

Chordia has designed patches for pilots who will fly Rafale fighter jets. The patches designed by him will feature on the overalls of Rafale pilots. 

Speaking to WION, he said it has made him proud as they are worn by his "heroes". 

"I always wanted to join the Air Force but could not due to medical reason. But I do this (designing) as a hobby and was passionate about the Air Dorce. It gives me immense pleasure when I see them being worn by the heroes and motivates me to do more," he said. 

"Patches plays a significant role in infusing moral. They may look simple but they contain things like Aircraft type and some time unit name and motto," he added. 

Most of these patches are approved at the Unit level.

Explaining the design of the patch, he said, "Golden Arrows patch has got the motto written in Sanskrit on the outer ring of the patch which means “Arise Ever”.

The patch was visible on the flying overalls worn by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last year during his sortie and the Indian pilots who left France on Monday on the five Rafales which are coming to India.

All the five Rafale aircraft landed safely at the Al Dhafra airbase in UAE on Monday after a sortie in excess of seven hours, the Indian Air Force said. 

In a long-awaited development, five Rafale fighter aircraft took off on Monday for India from an airbase in France to join the Indian Air Force fleet in Ambala.

The fighter aircraft were flagged off by the Indian Ambassador to France from an airbase in Merignac where he interacted with the IAF crew. The five aircraft flying to India include seven Indian pilots including the commanding officer of the 17 Golden Arrows squadron.

The aircraft would make their first stopover at a French base in the United Arab Emirates on their way to India and would be refuelled by the French Air Force tanker aircraft somewhere around Greece or Israel over the sea before landing there.

After a stopover, these will then proceed towards Ambala and reach by July 29 morning.