LIEUTENANT COLONEL GURCHARAN SINGH CHANA STATION COMMANDER KENYA AIR FORCE/CAPTAIN GURCHRAN SINGH CHANA BOEING INSTRUCTOR KENYA AIRWAYS. lieutenant Colonel G S Chana was born in a poor family. Whilst in school it was his desire to become a pilot. After finishing his education he briefly worked for a bank and at the same time acquired a Private Pilots License. He then decided to join the Kenya Air Force. He completed his officer training with the Royal Air Force in England and on his return he was commissioned by the Late President His Excellency Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. As he progressed in the Air Force, as a pilot, he was the first Sikh to be awarded the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Kenya Air Force. Subsequently he was the first Kenyan Sikh to acquire the position of Station Commander Kenya Air Force. After serving for 20 years in the Air Force, he retired in 1985. He then joined Kenya Airways as a pilot and having flown most of the aircraft in Kenya Airways he retired as a Captain and Boeing Instructor. He has flown a total of 15 different types of aeroplanes. He also had a deep passion to go into music and he learned Tabla at the age of 6 years from the great Gurus in India. He practiced regularly and today is regarded as the top percussionist on the Tabla in Africa. He has accompanied the great King of Ghazals Jagjit Singh, Sitar Maesto Ustad Basharat Khan. Ustad Mehdi Hassan and Parvez Mehndi. In addition he has also given numerous musical performances with most of the leading professional artists in the World. Chani, as he is more prominently known was very close to Jagjit Singh. One of his great moments was when Jagjit Ji came to Nairobi and invited Chani to perform with him on the stage. Chani is married to his charming wife Jaswant Kaur (Jassy). She has been a Head Mistress of various schools and holds a Mentessori Diploma. They have two daughters namely Taninder and Maninder and a son Ishwinder, all Southampton University Graduates. Their grand daughter Sahiba who is at the tail end of her higher education is a very talented musician. Both Chani and Sahiba have already produced two CDs and two DVDs. Chani says most people say that Flying and Tabla playing is a very strange combination. It is not, because both Flying aeroplanes and Playing Tabla is done with precision.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 09:37:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015