India, Oct. 7 -- Lara Dutta lost her father wing commander (retd) LK Dutta (84) earlier this year. On Air Force Day, the actress shares memories of her late father, the environment she grew up in and how her sister is carrying on his legacy.

Lara belongs to a family of three generations of aviators. Her grandfather was a commercial pilot for the British overseas airways corporation. She says, "My father was commissioned very young as a flying officer straight out of NDA. He won two vayu sena medals, one for gallantry during the 1965 Indo- Pak war. During the 1971 war he was the commanding officer of his helicopter unit and was awarded the vayu sena medal for gallantry again. When dad retired he was flying for Mrs Indira Gandhi, the Prime...