<p>With us today is the man who got the middle class to fly and created a revolution in air travel. Captain G R Gopinath has worn many hats: An officer in the Indian Army, a silk farmer and an entrepreneur. But he created history by the launch of the first budget airline, Air Deccan. Actor Suriya's must-waiter film "Soorari Pottru" that was released on Amazon Prime releases today is based on G R Gopinath's book "Simply Fly". Let's listen in to what Gopinath has to tell us.</p>.<p><br /><br />Nina C George: Sir, tell us a little about your growing up years. You grew up in a small village in Karnataka. From there you reached the global stages. What was the journey like?<br /><br />Captain G R Gopinath: I have vivid memories of my village. Very fond ones. The village was well known because my grandmother's brother was a well known short-story writer and novelist called Goroor Ramaswamy Iyengar, who has immortalised a rural Kannda village. So people know that village, much before me. My father was a school teacher in a local school and he also had a landholding there. He was greatly influenced by Gandhi, Tagore and our very own Shivramkarant. He never put me to school until my 5th standard. He said in any case you are bound, regulated and put in a kind of school prison. So he said, learn from home and learn from nature...</p>.<p>To know more about the conversation, listen to the podcast.</p>
<p>With us today is the man who got the middle class to fly and created a revolution in air travel. Captain G R Gopinath has worn many hats: An officer in the Indian Army, a silk farmer and an entrepreneur. But he created history by the launch of the first budget airline, Air Deccan. Actor Suriya's must-waiter film "Soorari Pottru" that was released on Amazon Prime releases today is based on G R Gopinath's book "Simply Fly". Let's listen in to what Gopinath has to tell us.</p>.<p><br /><br />Nina C George: Sir, tell us a little about your growing up years. You grew up in a small village in Karnataka. From there you reached the global stages. What was the journey like?<br /><br />Captain G R Gopinath: I have vivid memories of my village. Very fond ones. The village was well known because my grandmother's brother was a well known short-story writer and novelist called Goroor Ramaswamy Iyengar, who has immortalised a rural Kannda village. So people know that village, much before me. My father was a school teacher in a local school and he also had a landholding there. He was greatly influenced by Gandhi, Tagore and our very own Shivramkarant. He never put me to school until my 5th standard. He said in any case you are bound, regulated and put in a kind of school prison. So he said, learn from home and learn from nature...</p>.<p>To know more about the conversation, listen to the podcast.</p>
