Panchkula, May 23 -- Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava (retd), during his recent visit to The Gurukul, shared his spine chilling story from the 1971 Indo Pak war. The recent incident in Pahalgam's Baisaran, where terrorists demanded that tourists recite the Kalma before opening fire, sent shivers down the spine of the war hero. He recalled a similar ordeal during the 1971 India-Pak war, when he was captured by Pakistani forces. On December 5, 1971, Bhargava, then a young Flight Lieutenant, embarked on his first sortie beyond enemy lines. Taking off from Barmer Air Force Station in Rajasthan, he piloted an HF-24 Marut aircraft on a mission to launch an attack. However, his plane was hit by ground fire, forcing him to eject. Bhargava's aircraft crashed on the Pakistani side. Bhargava quickly retrieved essential items from his survival pack and buried his G-suit. He then began marching away from the crash site, adopting the persona of Pilot Mansoor Ali of the Pakistan Air Force(PAF). Ansh of Class 10 wanted to know how JL Bhargava came up with the name of Mansoor Ali. Bhargava, laughed and shared that he had grown up playing cricket with Saif Ali Khan's father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. He then continued narrating how he showed Pakistani currency to convince the people that he was indeed a PAF pilot whose plane had been shot down by Indian forces. The villagers in Pakistan offered him assistance and treated him with kindness due to his injured state. However, Bhargava's luck ran out when he encountered Pakistani Rangers in a village. One of the soldiers asked him to recite the Kalma. Bhargava's inability exposed his identity, and he was arrested and handed over to the Pakistan Army. Bhargava spent nearly a year in Pakistani captivity before being repatriated to India on December 1, 1972. He, along with other prisoners of war, was welcomed at the Attari-Wagah border by the then Punjab Chief Minister, Giani Zail Singh. They were then flown to Palam Air Force Base, where they were reunited with their families. Bhargava, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer, paid tribute to his late wife, Anu. The Gurukulites listened to Cmde Bhargava with heightened awe, utmost respect and extreme admiration. Sanjay Thareja, director of The Gurukul chain of schools, stated that facilitating interactions of students with such awe- inspiring personalities, helps pave a path for molding their personalities in the most desirable directions....