New Delhi, April 20 -- Pardon this exception of beginning an article with a poignant message of one of hundreds of mothers of brave aviators of Indian Air Force's combat aircraft, many of which have been flown for much longer than they should have been.

Dear Citizens of India,

Another young man is gone. Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav. Not martyred in war. Not killed in combat. But lost in a 46-year-old Jaguar jet that should have been grounded long before he was born. He died flying an aircraft that the rest of the world retired decades ago. An aircraft that, like the MiG-21, continues to haunt our skies, claiming the lives of our brightest and bravest, not because of enemy action, but because of our own apathy.

My son, Flight Lieu...