From Runways to Boardrooms: Zariab Ranji’s journey from the Indian Navy to the Corporate World
In this fourth episode of Be All You Can, Zariab Ranji, from Aerospace business of Godrej Enterprises Group, reveals how the same mindset that helped him soar as a helicopter pilot now drives innovation and leadership at Godrej Aerospace.
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Feb 20, 20260:02: The aircraft at that point decided to spiral the aircraft down through the clouds in instrument
0:08: met conditions and back to under the cloud cover.
0:12: So I think mine as well as the entire crew's hearts were in their mouth because until we
0:17: got out of that cloud cover and back to safety was kind of a long, although it was probably
0:24: just 30 seconds or 45 seconds, it felt like it was 10 minutes.
0:29: Welcome listeners to another exciting episode of Be All You Can.
0:34: I'm Deepa Parab, your host today.
0:37: And I'm extremely excited and proud to introduce our speaker for today.
0:42: Our guest is someone very special, someone who has been on the literal highway to the
0:47: danger zone and unassuming test pilot in this guy.
00:52: You may find him steering meetings for the aerospace marketing team today, but he started
0:57: his career as a helicopter pilot for the Indian Navy.
1:02: Please welcome Zariab Ranji.
1:04: Thank you, ma'am, for having me.
1:06: Let's start from the beginning.
1:08: Where did you grow up and what first drew you to the skies?
1:12: Right.
1:13: So I grew up as a Bombay boy, born and brought up here.
1:17: And what drew me to the skies?
1:19: I think I have a very simple answer for that.
1:21: I just was a kid who never grew up.
1:23: I think all kids at some point in their lives look at the skies and dream about being there.
1:30: And then they and finally life catches up and their priorities change and they start having
1:36: other goals.
1:37: I probably was a kid who just never grew up and continued dreaming about being in the skies.
1:41: So I think that's that's what drew me there.
1:43: Like most of the kids.
1:45: Amazing.
1:46: So the child in us should be kept alive.
1:48: That's what we always say.
1:50: Was there a particular moment and or person that sparked your dream to become a pilot?
1:57: Particular moment?
1:59: I wouldn't be able to pinpoint.
2:01: But I would say that largely because of the kind of content that was available as a kid,
2:08: whether it was movies or whether it was some books that I would have read as a kid or just
2:15: a kid being a kid.
2:16: And as I passed through my schooling and my and my college and that after my engineering,
2:22: that that part of me never died down.
2:24: And then when I had the opportunity to apply for an interview, it's called an SSP interview,
2:29: a Service Selection Board interview.
2:31: I applied for it and cleared it.
2:33: So I think that's that was the journey to getting there.
2:37: And then once I cleared the interview, there was no looking back.
2:40: Very well.
2:42: What was a typical day for you as an armed force pilot?
2:47: Tell us about the remarkable aircrafts you have piloted and maybe which one stole your
2:51: heart.
2:52: So I started my career in 2009 with training for one and a half years, six months of military
3:01: training, followed by one year of flying training, all of which six months was with the Air Force
3:06: and six months with the Navy.
3:08: Post one and a half years of complete training is when I became an officer of the rank of
3:12: sub-lieutenant.
3:13: And I also was a qualified pilot at the same time.
3:16: So I started with helicopters in my first posting.
3:21: Luckily was Bombay itself.
3:22: So I was stationed here in Bombay for two years.
3:25: And I also did an interesting tenure of about three months doing anti-piracy operations
3:30: off the coast of Somalia while I was in this tenure.
3:33: So that was my initial stint as I entered, you know, as a helicopter pilot in the Navy.
3:40: And after my stint of two years in Bombay, I moved on to Kashmir.
3:44: I was posted to the army on depredation.
3:48: So I would say the number of stories that I have from there would probably be too much
3:54: to, you know, complete over the time that we have.
3:57: But there were definitely instances where I would just, even now, I sometimes dream
4:05: of going back there because of the kind of work that it entails.
4:09: The job satisfaction out of it is something you can't measure because your fellow soldiers,
4:15: your fellow brothers who are deployed on the line of control, sometimes not only on the
4:20: line of control, even in the interiors of those areas where operations happen regularly
4:25: with militants and you need to rescue some of them because they've got gunshot injuries,
4:31: mine blasts.
4:32: So just being there as a lifeline and getting those guys out of these kind of sticky situations
4:38: was a very job satisfying tenure for me.
4:42: When we talk about Kashmir, I think, can you walk us through the mindset you need before
4:47: stepping into the cockpit, especially for the high risk mission?
4:51: Right, so I was flying Cheetahs over there for the army and sometimes you need to fly
4:59: these aircraft in places where there are no designated landing areas because when you
5:05: have troops deployed right on the line of control and they need to be evacuated, it's
5:10: not always possible to get them to a designated landing area for the aircraft.
5:14: So the Cheetah being a very nimble helicopter, you could land it in places, in places and
5:20: spots which were otherwise inaccessible to other larger aircraft.
5:24: And yes, sometimes we've had the misfortune of even carrying some of our troops who had
5:30: unfortunately passed away because we couldn't, you know, we couldn't reach them on time
5:35: or the injury was such that there was no way to get there to evacuate them.
5:41: So the mindset, yes, has to be a little, it toughens you up as you, as you go through it.
5:47: What's been your most challenging mission or the most memorable experience in the air?
5:52: There have been quite a few from my Kashmir tenure again, an unassuming morning.
5:58: I think it was over a weekend, maybe a Saturday or Sunday because I do distinctly remember
6:02: we weren't going to a regular workplace, but I was on duty because I was, we used to call,
6:09: we used to have designated Kazak pilots and I was a Kazak pilot for that day.
6:14: And I suddenly get a call at, I think about nine in the morning saying that there's a
6:18: casualty in a place called Inshan.
6:20: And so the weather was marginal, well, not really marginal when we took off.
6:25: So, but the thing with Kashmir is that the weather can pack up really quick, especially
6:29: in certain months.
6:31: And, and so we took off, we were two aircraft formation.
6:34: We went into Inshan, everything was fine and picked up the casualty.
6:37: And as we come back into the valley area, which is surrounded by hills, the entire
6:44: valley is packed with clouds.
6:46: So imagine you are flying over the peak of those hills and suddenly below you, what we
6:52: call as undercast, the entire valley is undercast with clouds.
6:56: And being in a VFR or a visual flight role aircraft, the Cheetah, you don't have really
7:01: that many instruments to, to guide you down in instrument met conditions.
7:07: They're called IMC.
7:08: So now suddenly being enveloped in IMC and we had to, we have a casualty with us, we
7:12: had to get him back safely and all of us back safely as well.
7:16: So the cloud cover being undercast and there have been no breaks in the clouds for us to
7:22: be able to penetrate and get back down to safe land.
7:26: We decided to go over a central point in the valley, which we knew would be clear of any
7:32: obstructions using our GPS and the instruments on board.
7:35: And as we reach that central point, me being the captain of the aircraft at that point,
7:39: decided to spiral the aircraft down through the clouds in instrument, instrument met conditions
7:45: and back to under the cloud cover.
7:48: So I think mine, as well as the entire crew's hearts were in their mouths because until
7:53: we got out of that cloud cover and back to safety was, was, was, you know, kind of a
7:59: long, although it was probably just 30 seconds or 45 seconds, it felt like it was 10 minutes.
8:04: And then once we got down under the cloud cover and we could reach the casualty back
88:08: to safety at what we call the BB camp hospital, we dropped him off and we headed back.
8:15: And, and as we landed back, we all just heaved a big sigh of relief that we were lucky to
8:20: see another day.
8:24: One of my most memorable experiences as a test pilot would be the first firing of our
8:30: indigenous anti-ship missile.
8:32: So there was an anti-ship missile that a DRDO lab called RCI, Research Center Imarat,
8:38: designed and developed.
8:39: And it was the first time an Indian organization was designing an anti-ship missile.
8:45: And I had the fortune of being the team lead on, on that first firing.
8:51: And we could successfully fire that missile in the first go.
8:55: Such a proud moment as well.
8:58: What's been one of the, one of the challenging times during that, you know, as a leader,
9:04: maybe, when you lead a group.
9:07: So can you just talk about that?
9:09: So what was interesting about, about this mission, especially was the fact that I was
9:15: not only kind of overseeing aspects on the Navy side of things, but I was also overseeing
9:23: the functionality and the operations done by the DRDO, the RCI side of things.
9:28: So it was a cross-functional team.
9:30: So I think that was the most challenging bit because you are used to how the Navy works
9:34: and you know who to reach out to, to get a certain task done.
9:38: But when you are with a sister organization who has its own nuances of functioning,
9:44: both teams functioning together was, was of optimal importance for this mission to be successful.
9:49: I think that's what I kind of feel proud of about that.
9:53: I could bring both teams together and get them working on a, on a manner,
10:00: explain to them that we're working for the same goal and finally achieving,
10:04: for the team, achieving a successful test firing of, in the first go.
10:09: So I call kudos to the team that, that could make it happen.
10:13: Yeah. Fascinating though.
10:15: For the young listeners dreaming of a career like yours, what's your best piece of advice?
10:23: Right. So I have, especially now with Ops & Root happening,
10:26: I have a lot of people telling me that, oh, we feel so inconsequential and we feel that,
10:32: or the Armed Forces is something that is, I mean, they feel inconsequential
10:37: when they compare themselves to the Armed Forces.
10:39: But I would say that we all have a part to play and we all have a role to play for the country
10:45: and for the world at large. So irrespective of what you are pursuing,
10:50: I think as long as you can proudly say that you've given it your best shot
10:54: and you've, you've done it with the idea of progressing humanity at large
11:00: in the direction that you would see it progressing, you've achieved your goal.
11:05: Absolutely. Now, to most people, the sky is the limit.
11:10: To those who love aviation, the sky is home.
11:13: You once called sky your home. How did you find your path back to earth?
11:18: And what inspired your career transition?
11:21: Right. So, you know, spending so much time in flying,
11:25: you sometimes miss being on ground as well.
11:29: So getting back on ground is not such a bad thing.
11:32: And especially after doing test flying with the Navy and the Air Force
11:37: for about five years after passing out as a test pilot,
11:39: getting back to commercial flying or civil flying was not something I was interested in,
11:44: probably because it would have not given me something new to learn
11:50: as compared to what I'd already done.
11:52: So I was, I was looking to expand my existing technical expertise
11:57: in the systems I've dealt with in a, in a different manner.
12:01: And, and so when I, when I learned that Godrej Aerospace was looking at
12:06: getting into design projects now and holding intellectual property of,
12:11: for projects that, that we would be designing and manufacturing for our customers.
12:16: That kind of really caught my attention because from traditionally being a manufacturing company
12:22: and now shifting the gaze to include design as part of the portfolio
12:27: was something that has always been fascinating for me.
12:32: We in fact have started, although small,
12:36: but a very capable design team in Godrej Aerospace,
12:40: which is headed by a design head of who's got about 20 years of experience
12:44: working in other firms in industry.
12:47: So we're looking at entering the design space and adding a lot of value
12:52: to the Indian aerospace segment by not only manufacturing,
12:56: but also designing critical systems and subsystems for,
13:00: for the aerospace segment in India.
13:02: Very true. Looking back,
13:04: what would you tell your younger self on the day you first put on that uniform?
13:09: My younger self on the day I first put on the uniform?
13:12: Well, there were a lot of questions,
13:13: a lot of doubts in my head when I first donned the uniform.
13:16: And maybe I was, I was not sure as to in which direction my, my,
13:21: my career was going to go, because honestly I was a short service officer.
13:25: Which means that I had 10 years to serve and could be extended to 14.
13:31: And till date, in fact, till the year I qualified the test pilot exams,
13:36: no other short service officer had ever been even given the opportunity to
13:40: appear for those exams and being the first short service officer to appear and
13:44: clear those exams and become a test pilot. Now that I look back on it,
13:48: I would have just told myself that, you know,
13:51: just continue doing what you're doing and you would,
13:54: you will reap the benefits of it and you would get what you want eventually.
13:58: So I was always fascinated about being a test pilot and it just came true.
14:03: Very true.And quite motivating, right?
14:07: Can you tell our budding pilots about the selection process,
14:11: the preparation, physically, mentally, emotionally,
14:14: and the challenges of the training?
14:16: Wherein you, to be a military pilot,
14:19: you have to clear firstly a service selection board interview,
14:21: which is true for all other aspects of a military career,
14:27: whether you want to be a doctor in the military or you want to be a
14:30: navigator or an infantryman, you have to clear that interview.
14:34: But after you clear that interview,
14:36: if you are an Air Force pilot entry or a Navy pilot entry,
14:41: you need to also clear something called as a PABT,
14:44: a pilot attitude battery test. A pilot attitude battery test is,
14:48: you can imagine it as a video game with a joystick.
14:51: I'm talking about when I gave it about 16 years back.
14:53: So I don't know if things have changed,
14:55: but it's like a joystick with a control column and with some buttons and
15:01: you see a screen and you have to try and keep certain dots within a
15:06: certain area. So they're basically testing your psychomotor skills.
15:09: While you're keeping those dots,
15:11: they will have flashes of light coming on on the side and depending on
15:14: what color or what side the flash of light is,
15:16: you need to press a certain button.
15:18: And they are trying to understand while doing a primary task,
15:22: what is your situational awareness to do a secondary task?
15:25: So they're testing you for psychomotor skills because they don't have the
15:28: luxury of extending your flying training and like you'd have in a civil
15:33: environment where you could, you know,
15:35: just pay a little more and continue to get the experience of flying till
15:40: you are confident of clearing the exams.
15:43: Here they have a very strict set syllabus and you need to clear it within
15:46: that.
15:47: So they need to ensure that the people that they're taking on board have the
15:50: required psychomotor skills for being a military pilot.
15:54: So that's, that's one thing you've got to clear.
15:56: And apart from that, there are medicals,
15:59: wherein they check you for your spinal alignment,
16:03: your eyesight, a hundred things.
16:06: And I know so many friends who cleared their PABT and because of their
16:10: medicals, something, some small little thing here or there.
16:13: So you can't really predict these things actually.
16:15: Once you clear the medicals,
16:16: then you wait for the merit list to come out.
16:18: And once your name figures in the merit list, you get into the,
16:21: into training. In my case, it was six months of military training,
16:25: which was non-flying followed by flying training.
16:29: Suppose that you are segregated into fighters, helicopters,
16:32: or transport, depending on what you choose and what your merit is.
16:35: And once you get into the stream of your choice,
16:39: you start training particularly and vertically for that stream.
16:42: As you start gaining experience in that stream,
16:46: you could opt for other professional courses like a flying instructor
16:52: course or a test pilot course.
16:54: These are the two main courses that people, you know, go for.
16:57: I think that sufficiently answers the training bit of it for anyone who's
17:00: interested in joining military.
17:02: Yes, of course, because I think very well explained each aspect of it.
17:07: And what I take it from you as well is the agility of the person who's
17:13: going to be in there.
17:14: So agility could be, again, a skill that we'll be looking forward,
17:17: along with your math, physics, and other subject,
17:21: and, you know, being very mindful.
17:23: Also being very flexible with your thoughts when needed.
17:27: So very well explained each aspect.
17:29: And for that, so Zariab, thank you for your time, your stories,
17:33: and your service.
17:34: But just a minute, Zariab, we are not yet flown out of our radar.
17:39: We have some rapid fire questions for you.
17:42: So let's begin.
17:43: Your biggest inspiration.
17:46: Thinking about myself tomorrow.
17:48: What do you do in your free time?
17:51: I don't get too much free time nowadays,
17:53: but the little that I get, I do try and get some physical activity in.
17:57: Your favorite movie.
17:59: I'm sorry, but in the previous question,
18:00: I can't exclude my daughter because I have, I do, you know,
18:04: in my free time, I always try and make some time for her.
18:07: So yes, it's physical workout and daughter.
18:09: All right, we take that.
18:11: Your favorite movie.
18:13: I think that would be Munich.
18:15: Munich.
18:16: Yeah.
18:17: If not a pilot, what would you be in an alternate universe?
18:21: If not a pilot.
18:22: Well, if not a test pilot, I would probably have.
18:26: So there's one, there's one thing that I missed on doing,
18:29: was becoming an astronaut.
18:32: And, and unfortunately,
18:34: or fortunately rather it's test pilots who end up becoming astronauts.
18:38: So all the four guys were going up in space in the Gaganya mission
18:41: are all test pilots.
18:43: Maybe in another universe, I could be one of them.
18:45: Great.
18:46: And you're already associated with the aerospace now.
18:50: So we see the chances being very bright enough.
18:52: So Zariab, thank you for sharing your unique life experience with us.
18:58: Until next time, keep your eyes on the sky and your heart.
19:04: Thanks for listening to Be All You Can, a podcast by Godrej Enterprises Group.
19:10: Exploring the passion, purpose and dreams of pioneers.
19:15: Stay tuned for more stories that inspire action and impact.