PATNA/PURNIA, May 12 -- Jeevachhlal Yadav, 85, father of Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, director general air operations (DGAO), the architect of the air operations in the ongoing Operation Sindoor, was not aware about the backstage heroics and the pyrotechnics his son had masterminded against Pakistan till his next door neighbour called out, asking him to tune in to TV news channels on Sunday evening.

By the time he got hold of the remote and infused life into the TV, Air Marshal Bharti was already into the media briefing in New Delhi, sharing details and evidence of the clinical precision with which the Indian Air Force (IAF) struck Pakistani air bases and other crucial targets as part of Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 after t...