Foreign Direct Investment-- Meaning,merits and demerits

FDI
FDI or Foreign Direct investment as we read in the news papers today is
Putting the money of your country in a company which is functioning in some other country.
If we invest this way then we are ‘Foreign Direct Investor’

Advantages

1 We can influence the management of the company being a part of its shareholder.

2 Helps in spurring the development of a nation as we can gain a greater foothold in the world economy by getting access to a wider global market

3 It can introduce world-level technology and technical know-how and processes

4 As FDI brings in advances in technology and processes, it increases the competition in the domestic economy of the developing country, which has attracted the FDI. Other companies will also have to improve their processes and products in order to stay competitive in the market. Hence it will improve quality of a products and processes in a particular sector.

5 The training and skills up gradation can enhance the value of the human resources.

6 Access to a larger market in the host country.

7 Ability to tap the potential of a cheap and skilled labour, making use of resources in the host country.

8 Pursuing growth goals by diversification and optimising costs.

Disadvantages

1 The economically backward section of the host country is always inconvenienced when the stream of foreign direct investment is negatively affected.

2 The host country has to limit the extent of impact that may be made by the foreign direct investment. They have to make sure that the entities that are making the foreign direct investment in their country adhere to the environmental, governance and social regulations that have been laid down in their country lest they may be affected causing the deterioration of their working system.

3 The national secret of the host country gets affected as there may be lot of things which are not meant to be disclosed to the rest of the world. This may result to be a serious security hazard to the defence of the host country.

4 The foreign policies involved in the FDI may not be liked by the workers of host country.

5 It results into loss to the countries who want to invest on their own as they are deprived of that opportunity due to competition.

6 High travel and communications expenses occur.

7 The language and cultural barrier may pose problems between the investor and the host country.

8 It may be possible that a company may lose out on its ownership to an investor company. FULL ESSAY

The Donkey Ride

THE DONKEY RIDE

It was considered to be one of the warmest place in Punjab when my Father was posted at Bathinda in 1975 after we had just moved in from Amritsar. The area was undeveloped and mostly desert with sand all around. The city was under development at that time hence was scarcely populated. It had two huge towers of Thermal power plant due to which the city had gained its importance. I was a  9 year old kid and a student of St Joseph’s Convent school located about three kms from my house. I commuted to and fro on my bicycle with my friends through a short cut route by passing the main road to avoid traffic.

My friends accompanied me while on my way to school. By the time I reached the school 4 to 5 of my friends would have joined me by then. We all locked our cycles together at the cycle stand before going to classes so that we return together and  follow the same routine during our return journey.

On our way to school Javed, his brother, khalid and Shankar would join me at the power house road. Dinesh also would accompany us at times. So we were generally five of us in our group who developed intimacy with each other with passage of time. Apart from sharing our school note books, comics and the story books we also went for the outings on picnics and shared adventure with each other.

 On the outskirts of the city was the barren land and forest area where we often ventured out for a small game with my air gun and catapults with us. We even cooked the bird game in the fields by placing it over a tripod made by joining three thick wooden sticks together and lighting fire underneath to roast the hunted dove and pigeons. The feast was then shared by all of us which we relished after sprinkling salt, pepper and lemon on it. Shankar would keep himself away from the tasting part as was a veggie but took active part in hunting for fun.

We did stunts like jumping from trees holding a bed sheet from a height of about 10 feet on  sandy ground using it as a parachute to descend down experiencing the thrill of floating in air for a few seconds. Though it was a bit risky but the act added to our fun. Such acts were a routine for us in our day to day adventures.

One day Khalid and I were pedalling on our bikes when we saw four donkeys with reins hanging on from their heads. Khalid stopped and asked me to help him take a donkey aside under a shade of a tree with the reins. I helped him and when the animal quietly walked with us a new thought struck his mind.

“I will now mount on him and have a ride”, said Khalid.

“Are you mad he will kick so hard that you will loose all your senses”, I adviced him discouraging in doing the act.

“No! No! I have done it before at Bangalore and believe me it is going to be a great fun, you hold the reins while I mount on him” said Khalid emphatically which intrigued me also  from his confidence. Fearing the kick of the animal I  approached it from the side so that even if it kicked it would be in the direction either to the front or the rear  making me safe in both the cases.

“Don’t worry he is not a cow that he will kick you in front as donkeys and horses always kick at the back”, said Khalid again.

As I caught hold of the donkey’s leash and Khalid was about to mount from the side keeping his left hand on my right shoulder for  support to mount its back the donkey got panicky and suddenly jumped ahead to save himself from the load. Khalid fell flat on his bums on the ground cursing me that I had left the reins of the donkey.

“What could I do? By the time I could tighten the grip of my hand he just vanished with a jerk for which I was not prepared,” I clarified  to him and agreed to his point to tighten the grip next time.

“We will not leave that donkey and I will show you how to take a ride,” said Khalid getting up in anguish cleaning the backside of his trousers with both his hands.

We came back to his house and the matter was discussed with Javed who was actually my classmate and elder brother of Khalid. After hearing the incident he said advising Khalid,

“We should be careful next time and catch the way we did it at Bangalore”

“Yeah” replied Khalid.

“Then we have to get those ropes, the big and a small one,” said the experienced  Javed to his younger brother with me on the listening watch.

“We have it in our court yard,” said Khalid excitingly and he wasted not a second to get it.

We were now three of us on the task; To catch a donkey and then to take a ride on it. There were two tasks and not any one of it was simple. First to chase the animal and catch it and second to mount on it and take the ride.

Javed explained that after locating a donkey two of us would hold the longer rope from its either ends and run towards him forcing him to reach a corner having two sides blocked and the third side will be blocked by us with the rope resulting him to be trapped in between the three sides of a triangle. As soon as he gets trapped between the three sides, the loop made of the smaller rope will be put in one of his front leg quickly by the third person and it will be immediately lifted up so that his balance is only on his remaining three legs on the ground as a result of which he will not be able to jump or kick as would lose balance on his two remaining legs if he plans to kick with the third leg.  It was a deeply thought of and logical plan which seemed to have emerged after a lot of experience of my expert friends.

The first task of chasing and bringing the animal to the nearest available corner available in situ was a difficult one as it involved a lot of running and chasing the animal while the second task was of courage since involved risk of getting hurt if not acted swiftly with confidence.

The target was soon located chewing the cud like a cow in a nearby field; a lovely looking donkey of pure white colour and medium height till our chest levels. He had long beautiful ears which he raised and lowered time and again moving his tail simultaneously to shoo away the flies. He was looking down towards the field where he was grazing. We located a corner with a wall of the house as one side and a fence at right angles to it  the other making a perfect place where he was to be trapped.

I and khalid held the long rope from its ends which was about 3m long and quietly lifted it up at just about one feet from the ground. On getting the signal from Javed we started approaching him quietly from his rear so that were out of his sight lest he runs away. We were about 10 m from him when Khalid indicated with a jerk in the rope to raise it further up at two feet and run towards the animal. I did as was told and we sprinted towards him. Sensing from the sound of the disturbed grass created due to our sprint he understood that something is wrong and as a result he also sprinted ahead. His two leaps took him about 10 more metres away from us and we chased and chased till we were tired. The first plan failed.

We waited for him to stop which he did and we were again on the task. He also enjoyed playing with us and would stop after two leaps, waited for us to come near him and again leaped forward as we approached him. He made us sweat and we were dead tired within a few minutes.

Javed called and told us to wait for some more time. The next move was not to chase him but to collect some grass hold it in hand  and then lure him. We soon collected a bunch of it to present the bouquet to our friend. I took the grass and approached the donkey alone. Surprisingly he did not run, first because it was a friendship gesture, secondly he was hungry and preferred a ready made meal thirdly, he was sure that there was no rope with me to catch him and lastly that I was all alone. As I approached him he gazed with his attractive eyes into mine giving an innocent look.  I offered the bunch of grass to him. As he brought his mouth forward to get hold of the grass with his eyes focussed on me Khalid shouted,

“Catch hold of his ears”

“Shut up! I cannot do this he has approached me with a gesture of friendship how can I betray him. It would amount to cheating and be an abuse to the trust of a human being. We can resort to it later”

I replied to Khalid and continued feeding him gently caressing his forehead with smooth fur on it. My hand strokes went downwards unlike in xase of a dog where it is  the other way round.

Khalid had tried to use me as a bait with a bunch of grass to attract that beautiful donkey but it failed due to the trust which I maintained between me and that animal. It made me forget that I was to catch him. As a result of my inaction to hold his ears Khalid started to advance slowly towards me so that he comes within the range to hold that  donkey. The donkey however sensed his motive and immediately pulled the grass from my hand  jumped and ran away some distance  After taking a few steps he looked at Khalid and brayed,

“Dhaaaaaaaaaanchhooooooooooooooo” and galloped few leaps ahead indicating that he is smarter than us.

We were tired now and it was for sure that this Mr Smarty is not going to be our game for the day. Javed then pointed to another donkey who stood at the same place where Smarty was there initially. Khalid now gestured me to start over again and give a fresh try.

Inspite of being so tired I  again started off to achieve the expected  result as we had already wasted two hours. We chased him similarly but this time we brought him to the trap since he got confused where to go. This time the the animal behaved like a true donkey. Making use of the situation Javed made a lightening move and got hold of his left forelimb. He raised it in his right hand to about one feet from the ground bringing the weight on his three legs after which he did not budge. The small rope was immediately tied to his forelimb and held tight by Javed . At this juncture Khalid attempted to mount from the side but could not as the donkey was able to place his foot on to the ground since the rope loosened from Javed’s hand but was immediately pulled up as I joined Javed in pulling it back again.

Khalid now attempted mounting from the rear and managed to sit on it with a jump. He adjusted his position slightly towards the rear on the donkey.

After sitting and securing his position holding the donkey firmly by its fur on the neck he asked Javed to leave the small rope.. As soon as Javed left the rope the donkey jumped and started to gallop. Khalid was on it and must have enjoyed those three leaps after which he carefully slipped back getting down from his rear but slipped while landing on the ground falling on the loose mud. He was luckily not hurt but had his quota of enjoyment for the day. Watching him thrilled I also got inspired for having the next the donkey ride.

Next time I took the ride but my heart skipped the beat  when I took the first solo leap with him. After the second leap I carefully slid down from his rear side fortunate enough not to get a kick from his back side. I learnt it later that horses and donkeys are to be mounted and dismounted from the sides. The donkey was kind enough to all of us for not kicking us from his back.

This new sport spread like a wildfire in our group and it became a routine affair thereafter to have the donkey ride. We soon became experts in catching them and having a solo ride thereafter.

One fine day we took our friend Shankar with us to get him the ride as he also had expressed his desire to experience the same after listening to our adventure stories which we narrated in the school. We started the same exercise. Shankar had just brought his brand new cycle with him that day. The teams were divided into two groups comprising two of us in each including the ropes. Javed held the smaller rope.

We chased a donkey who somehow went towards the market side this time but we followed him to divert his move towards the trap. While he was being chased by us he took a turn from the other side astride the main road where a turban dyer shop was located. The turbans were spread in the open and its ends were tied to the trees for drying them  up in sun after dyeing.There were number of them placed adjacent to each other. The donkey was on the chase by our two teams and finding no other way to escape he turned towards the area where the turbans were hung for drying. Having no other option to escape anywhere else he went right through them tearing them one after the other in despair. I could see him running ahead thereafter from in between the torn turbans. It appeared as if some missile went past straight through all the turbans as the objects at the other end were visible through the torn coloured turbans.

Seeing the turbans tear into pieces the shopkeeper first looked towards them as if was watching some action movie but after coming to his senses and realising that the turbans belonged to his customers he ran after the donkey with a stick to shoo him away. It was too late as the animal was already hundreds of yards away from him by then. He looked at us holding the ropes in our hands and understood the complete story within a fraction of a second. He ran towards us and gave us a good chase. Since he was too fast he caught hold of Shankar and started abusing him in punjabi of which Shankar could not make a head or tail of it. He confiscated his new bicycle and asked him  to call his Father to whom he would return the bicycle after taking the cost of damages incurred. Shankar was shocked and very depressed. He pleaded to the shopkeeper time and again to return his brand new cycle but all in vain. Shankar did not cry but returned to the next crossing where we all were waiting for him. As he narrated the whole incident we all became very tense.

How much money do you have in your pocket?” asked Javed from me.

“Five rupees” I said.

“And you?” he asked Shankar

“Three” replied Shankar

“What about you Khalid?”

“I just have fifty paise left” said Khalid

“And I have about eight rupees, which makes it to a total of Rs 16 and paise fifty” said Javed.

“How much does a turban cost? Javed asked me.

“Hey! I have not yet started to tie it nor have any idea of its cost” I replied.

Nobody amongst us had any idea of the cost of  a turban. Our young minds were under the impression that we would be able to reach the cost price by our collection and resolve the matter at our level to get Shankar’s bike released from the shopkeeper. Everyone feared that if the matter reached our parents we surely would land up in a serious problem.

Shankar was the most tensed as his property was confiscated and hesitated to go back home. It was getting dark and our playtime was also coming to an end so was Shankar’s patience. Not being able to hold on any longer he said,

“Lets go to the shopkeeper and ask him the cost”

“Are you mad he only has your bicycle and if we go to him he will keep one of us as security and create a ruckus, maybe he may report to police to get his money,” said Khalid discouraging his idea to be implemented.

“Yes we should not go now,” added Javed to his statement

“Ok then we should go to some other shop and ask the cost of turban,” I put forward my advice to them.

My advice was accepted and we proceeded to another shop. When we came to know the actual cost of a new turban we all were shocked as it turned out to be about Rs 150/- each. We were not knowing how many of them were torn by our friend; the donkey. Even if we calculate for three of them it would be a minimum of Rs 450/- and we were planning to sort the matter out with just Rs 16 and paise fifty only. So there was no point hiding the fact any longer and we adviced Shankar to narrate the whole story to his Dad. We also suggested him to add in his narration that the donkey went on his own and we did not have any role in it to be on the safer side. Shanker with great fear and hesitation had no choice but to agree. With great difficulty we persuaded him to move towards his house without his bicycle.

We all waited at a distance from his house as were not interested in sharing the gifts he was expected to receive from his Dad. After some time we saw Shankar coming out of his house along with his Dad hurriedly. They both went on a scooter and we followed them from a distance. They reached the spot where his bicycle was parked near the turban dyeing shop. His Father went to the owner and was having a chitchat with him which slowly turnout to be heated conversation. The discussion was loud and we clearly heard the shopkeeper conversing in punjabi blaming us all for forcing the donkey to run through the turbans converting them into bits and pieces of rags.

“What do I do with these and what reply do I give to my customers when they come to collect their turbans from me” pleaded the shopkeeper to Shanker’s father.

“But the donkey ran on his own so why do you blame the children?”argued his Dad with him.

“Sir! Do you think I am so mean that I would confiscate their bicycle for it if they were not to be blamed. You please ask your son and his friends who were with him. They all were having a fun game playing with the donkeys chasing them” replied the shopkeeper to his father truthfully.

His Dad looked at Shankar and understood the case.

“Are you sure that it was their fault?” asked Shanker’s father to the shopkeeper for the last time in his south Indian accent.

“Sir I do not have any proof except asking the donkey as kids will not agree being scared of thrashing. You may ask the donkey if you so desire” the shopkeeper said with a smile.

Shanker’s Dad looked at the donkey wondering how he could have torn the turbans while we looked at his next reaction.

The donkey meanwhile brayed again and ran away from there indicating to Shanker’s father that what the shopkeeper is saying is pure truth and nothing else so he should pay the bill and finish off the matter.

Probably Shanker’s father received his message and asked the shopkeeper

“How much is the damage?”

“Sir the donkey has torn four turbans but since they were not new ones I’ll ask for only three hundred rupees.”

His father immediately gave three currency notes of Rs 100/- each from his purse and handed them over to him.

We saw Shanker holding his bicycle with a sense of relief on his face. He was happy and quietly pedalled his new bike following his Father on scooter while they proceeded towards their house. We also followed him to console him and say sorry for the inconvenience caused. We stopped about hundred metres from his house and soon after 10 minutes Shanker came out after locking his bicycle in his house.

We all met him as fans meet their favourite film star for getting the autographs. He narrated the conversation of his Dad with the shopkeeper word by word while we listened to him with raised eyebrows. After he finished I said on behalf of all of us,

“Now we will not play such games as it has led to so much of loss.”

“Next time we will not carry our bicycles if we have to resort to such adventures” said Khalid while we all looked at him.

From Romeo to Juliet via Laila, Majnu, Shree and Farhaad.

From Romeo to Juliet via Laila,Majnu, Shree and Farhaad

Just by your presence You made those moments of my life so joyful

Without speaking a word You made it so fruitful

Without any food in my mouth

You made it so tasteful

The time went off so fast
That in no time it was just the past

Which I tried to hold it tight
Applying all my might

But it slipped and slipped and slipped
And I could do nothing

But I held the thoughts from going away
Those beautiful ones
Which I cherish them even today

Remembering them again and again and again
I wrote them in my book to preserve them
To remind you of the times when you have a look at them

I also placed them safe in my website, on my blog,
So that you do not have to slog

When tired from the book if you are not in a mood
I placed them in my mind, in my heart and in my soul

To keep them safe and available
So whenever you wish to recall them
Just touch my mind, my heart or my soul
You’ll see that you need not refer to anything else in the world

No turning of pages, no fingering of keypad, no writing with pen
They will come to your mind as and then
As you had left them

Just keep refreshing it as you do on your computer
To refresh a file
But just remember, I am not a file
But a person who had shared with you
Those beautiful moments for quite a while

Its a thought now, a history and will ever remain the same
For its a dream when we meet again
At the same place, at the same time,
With the same face and the same name
Our hearts will definitely chime

If ever the history repeats itself maybe some day
When the sun rises from the west to set in the east
Say it to her that we may not be same
What we were then

But our thoughts are still the same at least
The moment we meet
In thoughts so sweet
Before we go to sleep

Mingling of Slogans

Mingling of Slogans
We had to connect two freshly cut roads between two adjacent hills directly by constructing a Bailey Bridge between them while I was posted in BRO somewhere in 1995. It was a remote location ahead of another remote place called ‘Pongchau’ in Arunachal Pradesh . After the construction of abutments was completed on which the bridge was finally to be rested we started to construct the bridge. Constructing it was not as simple as we do it in sapper courses under strict guidance of experts as the same was to be constructed by illiterate labour who were not conversant with any common language known to us for acting as a lingua franca. They were from the tribes who followed the jungle rule. The only person who could make them understand of what is to be done was their own mate. I had only a JCO(junior commissioned officer) with me who with some difficulty was able to converse with that mate to make him understand what is to be done.
We first created a backspace by cutting the home side hill for days together with a bulldozer where the counterweight of the bridge was planned to be kept. For executing the job I would first pass the instructions s to the JCO, which he would pass it on to the mate and who would finally translate it to his work force after which the work was actually executed on ground.
They termed the Bailey panel as’ Khey’, lifting the panel on to their forearms as’ eeee’ and pushing it as ‘OOOOO’ of what I understood. They initially had problems of handling such a heavy load but after a few hours they grasped the technique which we take 6 months to do in our YOs course. It took me 3 days to make half of the bridge as we kept on joining the panels and pushing it ahead on the rollers so that the 110 feet long bridge would get completed some day. We would work for 2 hrs at a stretch doing Khey, eeeeee, oooooooo and would then rest a while in which they had fried crabs which they ate with a pinch of salt while we had our tea made in situ. This carried on till such time that the day finally came when I had planned to land the nose of the bridge on the rollers at the far bank side abutment. They did not know the significance of the nose of the bridge for first two days but when the bridge was about to land on the rollers on the far bank side it was a great excitement for them and sense of satisfaction for me. I only feared that there should be no mistake in deciding the counterweight in the restricted space or else the bridge could fall down 100 feet below into the gorge. That day I prayed and finally passed orders after carrying out all my safety checks saying,
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
Ahead went the bridge along with my heart and with a thump it landed on the far bank roller saving my heart from sinking down.
Everyone jumped around as it was a great achievement especially for them. In the excitement I being a Bengal Sapper shouted the sikh slogan at the top of my voice,
“Boleeeeeeeeee Soooooooooooo Nihaaaaaaaaaaaal!”
My ears expecting to hear “Satsriiii akaaaaaal” instead heard
“KI JAI” in a loud voice which shaked the valley. It was a reflex action on excitement on which I was tuned to in the unit hence not my fault.
I did a tenure as a OC of a Park in MES at Allahabad in UP where we had Mandir Puja every Monday ending with the OC shouting the Hindu slogan (as per the old traditions going on there)
“Bajrang Bali Ki-------------“
followed by the troops replying in chorus ----------------“JAI”
My ears would not have been surprised if they had heard “Satsriiiiiiiiakal” instead of “JAI” this time as they already had such an experience.

Punishment

THE PUNISHMENT
It was in 1995 when I was posted at a place called Tissa in Arunachal Pradesh. It was  centrally located from where two routes bifurcated in two different directions both about 60 to 70 Kms away to the farthest point from there. There were no proper pucca (permanent) bituminous roads then and the hill was freshly cut with bulldozer, left for 2 to 3 years for the soil to settle down for finally paving them subsequently.

As a result of these uneven freshly cut roads the speed limit was restricted to 10-15 Kmph resulting into increase of travel time to 3 hours one way. One road led to a place called Wakka and the other to Pongchau.
Midway to Wakka was a place called ‘Nginu’ where we had a detachment for meeting our administrative requirements like fuel, water, rations etc with some road construction stores : Bitumen drums, tools etc. This detachment had one in charge with  6 to 7 men under him to look after it. The detachment was completely secluded from my location at Tissa and  higher Headquarters except on a link with a radio set which remained non functional most of the time keeping us out of contact with each other.

When the detachment in charge wanted to relax and not be disturbed he would switch off the radio set or spoil it by short circuiting it and sleep to glory.

In order to deal with such situations we followed a Phantom style of communication of a ‘Tom Tom’ runner system, where a labourer would be given a leather bag slung across his shoulder with the necessary document containing messages in it and was asked to go running to the next detachment for handing over the same to another person waiting for him who would continue this relay race till the message finally reached its terminal destination. This would take 6 to 7 hours. 

Since all the time round the clock vigil could not be maintained so they had adequate opportunities and freedom for doing mischievous acts at times.
The area was very remote and people were years beyond civilisation of modern India so much so that they moved nearly nude. All a male person wore was a small cloth around his lower body just bare enough to cover his genitals (like a langoti) in the form of a belt inside which he would tuck in his 'Dah' (about one and a half feet steel blade fixed over a two feet long bamboo shoot) with which he did all his work right from making smallest art pieces of wood to hunting of wild animals. They belonged to the traditional ‘Wanchu’ hunter tribes.
Their rules and regulations were very strict and everyone worshipped their village Chieftain, whom they addressed as 'Raja' like a God. He could even order the harshest of the punishments to those found guilty: even death by execution as there was no one to check them. Although the area was divided beat wise by the police but generally neither did any policemen visit such a remote location nor they interfered in the village administration as they were themselves part of those places. They moreover  faced a resource crunch with no vehicles to ply on those roads. If the vehicle went off road one was at the  mercy of God because no civil transport was available for help.
Police only intervened in very critical cases and that also after taking help from the local Army, Border Road Organisation and Assam Rifle units. So jungle rule prevailed but one could rely on their system as was speedy, fair and just unlike our modern system taking years to impart justice. If you had left your wallet or dropped important item while travelling you would still find it there unless some wild animal had disturbed it.
The females also sailed in the same boat as they wore what the men wore with no exception to cover upper part of their body except the local jewellery made of bones and bamboos. Their breasts were openly visible since were not covered by cloth or animal skin either and it looked very odd especially to the newcomer in the area when he watched them running with their dangling organs.
Visiting a civilised area after a considerable gap would astonish everyone on noticing clothes on human bodies as we were used to seeing half naked bodies all the time. In fact it gave a feeling of being out of place during leave or on temporary duty when we ventured into civilised areas.  The ladies carried conical basket of bamboos on their back containing 3 to 4 pieces of huge bamboo hollow shoots filled with water inside it. One bamboo shoot had enough capacity to hold about two to three buckets of water inside it. The womenfolk were very hard working like ants and did the major household work. The men were lazy: they would only do hunting and fond of drugs but were basically warriors and every old one of them had killed at least two to three other men of other tribes during their routine fights. After the fights they tattooed equal no of lines as per their kill on their chests in the form of V akin to a lady’s necklace. These were considered as their medals of bravery which were  clearly visible on their chests.
They (both men and women) covered their teeth with a thick black shiny coating in order to preserve them making them no longer look white in colour. The younger generation who were out in the cities however were devoid of this custom due to being slightly educated.
 The house of Raja was built in a day if required. The manpower for such a work would involve participation of each and every person of the village in hundreds who worked together in an organised way. The work involved cutting a huge tree trunk, placing it as the pillar at various places equidistant from each other in a single line and there after covering the roof with thatch on the already made wood rafters with their Dahs. The whole process finished by evening.
The size of the hut would be not less than 70 to 80 m in length and about 7 to 8 metres in width. It had lot of rooms inside it like a steamer ship with a cabin for each queen of the Raja. The Raja had a privilege of keeping about 15 to 20 wives as a custom.
There would also be a place for the cattle in the same hut and a big room at the entrance with a fire burning in the centre of the room around which all the queens and the accomplices of Raja sat on a specially elevated place with their guests. A big animal game properly skinned down would always be found hung over the fire like a barbeque which was continuously smoked to keep it in ready to eat state taking care of the hygiene aspect also.
All the side walls contained huge bison (Mithun) skulls hung systematically all around. The men and their ladies would eat and drink their special wine called ‘Lopani’ (some would vomit on smelling it) of white colour made of rice and what not. They had a peculiar tradition; All the young boys and girls of the complete village slept in a long hut made for them and after the girl got pregnant would be married to the so called illegal Father in our language.
We had to employ local casually paid labour(CPL) for our work so the right source to ask for them for the manpower would be this Raja who would sent a team of his men for enrolment for work like clearing of landslides, road and bridge construction etc.
It was his local law that one person of Raja would always be kept on the rolls whether he works or not but in return he helped us in all the administrative and management matters related with the labour force and provision of firewood for our use which proved beneficial for the organisation so no one tempered with that old tradition.
At ‘Nginu’ there was a person named Ashok who although was good by nature but would remain the same only in presence of his detachment commander. On getting an opportunity of being left alone he would make best use of it to his advantage not bothering whether the action done by him was right or wrong. The men living in the detachments were away from their families so longed for leave to go home. Although all attempts were made as per the policy guidelines in vogue to send every person on leave on regular basis after every 3 to 4 months to reduce their frustration but some of them still found it difficult to control their emotion at times. There was no other source of entertainment in the middle of the jungle except for playing carom and cards in the spare time for their recreation or to watch TV for a short period of time with the help of a truck battery. There were no dish TVs in 1995 in those days. The men therefore spent their time after the day’s work in such activities after taking a bath in the evening to finally end their day with a drink and dinner before going to sleep.
Ashok had a habit of watching the local ladies passing in front of our roadside detachment (det) and felt restless after starring at their naked body parts. He looked forward for the first opportunity to contact them. On noticing them approaching he would at once come out near the gate and start sweeping the area in front of it from where these girls passed in order to cover up his act  utilising the opportunity to watch them more closely. The girls would simply laugh at him and run away in shyness.
One day when the det Incharge was away for some work, Ashok happened to be alone with some two old personnel in the det. When the girls passed carrying water on their backs Ashok made some remark and beckoned one of them to come near him. Noticing this the girls also responded with a smile and one of them beckoned him in reciprocation just for the sake of fun. Seeing her response he went near her and could not resist himself embracing her due to the momentarily created emotional outburst, the action in which he also fondled with her breasts. As a result of this sudden unexpected move she got annoyed and shouted. All her mates who were accompanying her jointly pushed and hit him hard with whatever they had in their hands supplemented with kicks and blows all over his body. Later they all ran away from there throwing away their stuff. Ashok quietly came back, had a drink and lied down to sleep.
After about half an hour there was  village crowd which quietly besieged the det from all the sides. Their head came to the gate shouting for the det in charge. Since the in charge was not present at that time so the next old man went out to inquire about the matter and when he came to know the purpose for which the villagers had gathered there, he was shocked.
The villagers did not listen to him and threatened that they would take him instead if the right person is not handed over to them. So fearing this he called everyone out. As they saw skirmishes on Ashok’s head they asked him to confirm what it was caused due to and what had he done to their village girl. He instead of apologising himself blamed the girls for provoking his sentiments hitting him in a group. This was enough to convince and identify the culprit. So without saying a word further they tied him up with jute ropes and forcibly took him to their village to produce him in front of their Raja.
The old man who was officiating as the det in charge could do nothing but request them to pardon him but they did not pay any attention to his pleadings. Unfortunately the radio sets were also down and there was no labour available for carrying the Tom Tom phantom message even although one of the labourer was present but he refused to go fearing the Raja as it was now a matter of village prestige. The old man thus had no choice and started to walk down to cover a distance of 12 kms in order to get help from Tissa leaving just one other old man behind to look after the det.
He started off at night all alone by himself for Tissa with no weapon but just a lathi (a big stick) and a torch in his hand to deal with the wild animals. While he was on his way about 4 kms ahead from Nginu towards Tissa he met three labourers who were coming towards Nginu det itself not knowing about the incident. He immediately told two of them to return, take the written message and handover to the officer at Tissa. He explained the gravity of the situation to those runners by mentioning that the message is very urgent as someone is lying unconscious in the det needing immediate medical attention and police help. Hearing this both the runners immediately started back towards Tissa for handing over the message to me late in the night.
Meanwhile the old man returned to the det with the one remaining labourer. On the way when he narrated the actual incident to the labourer accompanying him but in turn  he got petrified with fear as the local labourer further frightened him explaining that in such cases the Raja orders killing by Dahs (long blade) and if something is not done soon he may be killed by next evening as the time between verdict and execution is generally kept very less in such cases.
Someone knocked my door at about 11 pm in the night. I got up and after opening the door saw a Tom Tom runner with a message who narrated me what all was briefed to him by the det I/C and handed over the message slip to me. After going through it I understood the whole situation which was amply clear in it. I immediately went to my friend cum colleague Kashmir Singh, discussed the matter and we chalked out a plan. He gave me a radio set to keep in constant touch with him. We wanted to avoid taking help from the police and endeavouring that the matter be sorted out at our level itself for avoiding complications. It was no use advertising the issue as would bring bad name to the unit reflecting poor man management on our part also.
I took my essential stuff, called the driver and along with the Tom Tom labourer started off for Nginu in my vehicle. We reached there within an hour and inquired about the current situation. The Det Incharge was petrified with fear but became stable when he saw my presence with others. He was worried about Ashok and feared physical harm to him by the Raja. The situation was soon clarified as it was our man’s fault but the matter was to be dealt in such a way that we were able to extract Ashok out of their clutches in one single piece as otherwise the things would take a serious turn. The local labourer knew the way to Raja’s house which was about 4 kms from our det by foot as the vehicle could not be taken there being a hilly foot track. So I along with two labourers and one detachment Incharge started off in the middle of the night to Raja’s house.
We travelled through the forest in the dark. The cricket noise was at its full, jackals howling could be heard from a distance and whispering winds passing past the tree branches could be clearly heard. The patrol comprised of one labourer with his Dah leading in the front followed by me, the det incharge and the second labourer at the rear. The weather was cold so we were wearing our jackets while the labourers were in their loin cloth.
While on the way I kept discussing about the Raja’s habits and his likes and dislikes since it all depended on him to diffuse the situation. He was fond of rum I already knew so had carried three bottles in my bag which was with the person following me. I had also carried some cash which although was of no use as it did not carry any meaning for him because he was more interested in the stuff like liquor than anything else.
We reached at around 3 AM in the morning. The Raja was sleeping in his hut. On knocking the door by one of the labourer he replied loudly in his language to come in. As we all entered, he got up rubbing his eyes near his fireplace with two of his queens by his side who had covered themselves with the Yak skin using it as a blanket over a bamboo mat. He shook hands while sitting and asked us to sit in a corner where elevated wooden planks were laid to sit for the guests. I felt a bit awkward entering into his private room as the so called queens were fast asleep but that was the way of his life. He spoke in broken hindi welcoming us,
”Aoo Sahib baitho” (Come sir please sit down)
I started the topic,
“The det incharge told me that one of our men had misbehaved with some girl of your village after which your men had brought him here as a captive”.
“Yes Sir he is locked in the cellar where we keep our cattle fodder and his punishment will be decided tomorrow in the morning after those girls come and give their statements in front of everyone”, the Raja replied.
There were few more hours for outbreak of dawn and the place was stinking inside except for the fireplace where one could feel the smell of burning wood which subsided the filthy smell. The corner was cosy so I pulled a stool lying near the plank, placed it near the fire and sat down to warm my hands in the cold. He told me to relax on his yak skin bed which was spread on the floor like a carpet to which I also did not hesitate to stretch my legs after a long walk. I also tried to be homely so that he is also relaxed in order to reduce his annoyance further as the ball was in his court.
It was about 4 AM in the morning, the fire was burning both outside and inside me as I feared any stupid decision from his side would put me also in trouble if Ashok is harmed physically. While relaxing near him I casually asked him,
“What decision is expected in such cases if proved guilty?”
The Raja said,
“Had he been one of his own men it was death for sure”
“And if he is an outsider?”I asked
Then as the men decide which may also be death or amputation of some body parts like fingers, limbs, ears or nose etc” he replied.
“But are you sure he committed the act alleged on him?” I asked him again.

“That is the thing on which everything depends but we believe the words of our girls as gospel truth” Raja continued.
“What if they tell lies and thus result into punishment to an innocent?” I tried to probe further.
“No we do not go by that, their statement is considered to be final as there were three girls along with the girl affected” The Raja clarified.
“Will you have a drink at this time ?” I asked him to divert from the issue for the time being to bring him at ease poking on to his weakness.
Smilingly he replied,
“I don’t mind as your Rum is very tasty as usual”
I asked one of the helper along with me to take out the bottle and pour two large neat pegs without water for the Raja as they did not use water with the drink. Soon he had two pegs in his bamboo glass and sipped it cheerfully.
“What about you ?” he asked me
“As you know I don’t like this so I have my own drink with lemon” I said.
My helper was already ready with the lemon drink by then which he handed over to me from my back side.
“Can something be done for the alleged culprit to free him after giving a minor punishment for the sake of our friendship of two years here?” I asked the Raja with a hope.
“Minor?” he said loudly.
“Ok major but I have a request.” I said emphatically.
“What?” He asked with a deadpan face.
“I’ll punish him if you permit in front of all of you but you should not do any physical harm to him as in turn I will be punished from the authorities for not reporting the matter to the police or the army and you know the procedures there are very lengthy which would in fact be more of harassment to me rather than the culprit himself” I tried to convince the Raja with my restraints.
“Sahib itna fikar mat karo usko punishment lene do usne galat kaam kiya hai”(Sir do not worry so much let him be punished as he has done a wrong act) said the Raja in half drunk state and sipping the remaining rum from the glass.
“There would be a problem for you also along with your men” I said to the Raja to bring him slightly on to the defensive.
“What?To me! How ?” Asked the Raja curiously.
“Yes, if the matter of physical assault reaches the higher authorities there would be investigations in which you all will be called at the office to give your statements and that will not be a day’s job, it may take more time and you will have to come forcibly because it will be done by the Defence authorities. Moreover Assam Rifles will be called in case your men offer any resistance” I explained it to him to put in the fear of Assam Rifles from which they usually feared the most.
“So I was thinking why not to clear the case at our level itself since it is between you and me only at present,” I added.
Raja was lost in thoughts for some time as was mum for few moments.
“Ek aur peg daliye“(Pour in one more peg please), he said
And two pegs were immediately poured out of the Old Monk bottle into his bamboo mug.
He was four high now with his eyes slightly turning red into a joyful mood but slightly worried this time.
I could soon hear birds chirping due to outbreak of dawn.
He called for his men to gather along with those girls and within half an hour the village elders started appearing near his hut.
I asked him to take me to the place where Ashok was kept as a captive as he had refused me to show him during the night on my arrival since it was slightly far away and the route was slushy. I went with him to the hut located about half a km away from the main hut where 3 of his guards with Dah were standing outside to prevent him from escaping.
As we entered the hut I saw Ashok lying on the thatch without his shirt with his face and body swollen at places due to mosquito bites and was shivering with cold. His eyes reflected the fear clearly. As he saw me he came running to me and started to cry like a child holding my leg pleading himself partially guilty. I felt pity on him but did not express my sympathies to him as would have infuriated the Raja further. I rather scolded him and said after kicking him on his backside with my right toe,
“Tere ko aisa kaam karte huay sharam nahin aaii ab maro yahaan par”(Didn’t you feel ashamed while doing such an act? Now you die here only)
“Nahin sahib main to uske hansne aur bulanay par hi uskay paas gaya tha” (No sir I went to her only after she reciprocated with a smile and beckoned me) he said honestly trying to convince me of the true fact.
As we came out I could make out from the expression on the Raja’s face that he was satisfied more than I expected with such an act of mine which further clarified my mind on how to proceed ahead for tackling the situation increasing a bit of self confidence in me.
I asked Raja to start the process and finish off with his decision soon so that we can go back to our place for the work. He ordered some of his stooges to gather the old men and those girls quickly into his hut. As we reached back to his hut they all had already reached there and the girls were waiting outside chatting with each other. The Raja meanwhile told other men to bring Ashok also after giving him his clothes. I went and asked those girls,
“Kiske saath woh cherchar kiya tha?” (With which one of you did he misbehave?)
They just laughed and ran away inside the hut. Seeing me the Raja also laughed and said smilingly,
“Woh aapko dekhkar sharma gayee hai”(She is feeling shy after seeing you) They were shy because they saw a stranger in me seeing a turban on my head as they had never seen a sikh person like me and not because they were half nude.
Anyway everyone was seated around the big bonfire in the middle of the room. The Raja with one of his head queen adjacent to him, some old men of the jury, other queens, me diametrically opposite facing the Raja in the circular row and some other people as mere spectators.
The girls were first called in and were asked to narrate what happened. They all said what they saw but in their language of which I could not make a head or tail of it except for the fact that they were not serious enough as if it was some game going on which I could not digest. I asked the labourer sitting next to me to translate it to me what she said. I came to know that that one of the friend’s of the affected girl had stated that she liked Ashok’s action so she beckoned him just for fun in response. This was indeed the point to be noted and I noted it properly in my mind to blurt it out at the right opportunity.
After the girls gave their statements they went out and the Raja discussed the matter seriously with his old men. Later Ashok was called who had already reached the hut and was waiting outside to be called in.
As he entered he was made to stand in the centre of the circle near the fire. I missed no time in getting up and again slapping him on his face to gain public sympathy for him and reduce their anger on him. I was respectfully taken back to my seat as expected by some elders to calm me down.
Ashok was down with shame as a scene had been created by me with an intent to soften the judges to some extent. He was then asked to narrate the incidence which he truthfully narrated word by word which was corroborated with the evidence of the girls and the matter was very unambiguous.
It came out after discussion that the girls were at fault of beckoning him who never expected that he would catch hold of them but Ashok was more at fault as he had lost control over his mind and could not resist temptation so deserved a punishment.
Now the million dollar question was,
What quantum of punishment?
The jury again got engaged into a discussion in their language so I asked the same labourer as what were they upto now and was shocked to hear from him when he replied,
“They are discussing about the number of his fingers to be chopped off with which he had touched her body.”
I was losing my patience now as such a thing would take a very serious turn later on. So I interrupted in between and told them if such a punishment can be avoided by them because the girl was equally at fault as she provoked him with her smile. Had she been really serious she would have got angry or might have abused him in return instead of smiling back at him but she never exhibited any such act. I also emphasised that if in lieu I can punish him. I also lured them that I would give them whatever is within my means for the development of their village which will benefit everyone of them.
They were lost into thoughts once again and this appeared to be diverting them from their plans of punishment. They again went into a discussion. Meanwhile I got a message on my radio set from my friend Kashmir Singh at Tissa in Punjabi,
“Oh sort out ho gaya ki pheja ik platoon. Assam rifle da company commander mere naal hi baitha cha pi riha hai” (Has the matter been sorted out or should I send about 40 men as I am sitting and having a cup of tea with the Company Commander from Assam Rifles? )
I replied,
“I will tell you after about 15 minutes” and closed the radio set. This gave me some moral strength as I was feeling very lonely till now. I told the Raja,
“Kya socha hai tumne. Woh log isko dhoond rahey hai aur agar sham tak yeh nahin mila to Assam rife wale idhar aa jayaengay” (They are searching for him and if he does not return by dusk then Assam Rifle men will come here)
This had some effect on the Raja and he conveyed the same to the jury of old men sitting there. I could make out that their thoughts were softening on the issue as they also did not wanted to raise the issue and invite unnecessary trouble for themselves as the girls were also at fault. Moreover they were offered an opportunity to get their village benefitted which they did not wanted to lose. I told them to hurry up in their decision.
After some time the Raja went out of the hut and called me to discuss the matter alone. I also went out and the Raja clarified the latest situation and informed me that they are planning to give lighter punishment in which his five finger nails will be removed instead of chopping his fingers as a special case for finishing the matter.
I was still shocked as there was no treatment which could be given to him in the state of bleeding fingers and moreover that involved violent pain which would be difficult to bear. I at once denied in anger and said that I will protest to the jury and tell them in clear terms that he should be handed over to us otherwise I will call the security through my radio set. The Raja at once replied not to adopt this way as it will lead to fight since the honour of the village was concerned. They were all really very serious so I also cooled down. The Raja tried to convince me that such an act cannot be even thought of by him but Ashok had done it so he deserves to be given adequate punishment commensurate to his act. Now I clarified to him in clear terms without any hesitation and said,
“You have never lived without your queens even for a single day as are always with 18 of them together each day and each night and if you are told to live without any of your queens for 5 months at a stretch, at a place like our det will you be able to live without any such thought as Ashok had in his mind and that also after being provoked by a half nude girl the culture to which we are not accustomed to ?”
The Raja was speech less.
I carried on further, ”If then such a girl passes in front of your house, beckons and smiles at you what would you do? Ashok had been living away from his family for the past 18 weeks without his wife can you now think of his state he would be in when he took that action on provoking. I agree he has committed a mistake but is this severe punishment commensurate to his act considering his state of mind at that time ?”
“Sahib aap to dimaag ko ghuma rahey ho? “(Sir you are boggling my head) he said to me.

“Nahin main tumko bata rahan hoon jo baat theek hain.”(No I am telling you what is right).
Watching him go into thoughts I also gave him assurance that I will get some of their village work done in the bargain with my available resources if his men cooperate in this. I thus motivated him to advice them accordingly. I also told him that I had come with a hope to sort out the matter having faith in him and thereafter had planned to celebrate with these two bottles of Rum and barbeque as a token of our friendship to make him emotional. I expressed my annoyance for not paying any heed to my advice.
Hearing this he caught hold of my hand, lowered his head, smiled and pulled me towards the hut to enter in. We both entered the hut and he got into detailed discussion with his old men. After some time he came to me and again asked me to come out.
We both came out and he said that they have agreed to the following conditions;
1 Ashok will be thrashed by the girls in open in front of everyone for half an hour.
2 You will have to give Bulldozer for a day for making a route to our village from the main road.
3 Ashok will no longer be seen in this area thereafter or else will be killed without informing anyone by our men.
“I cannot do anything more than this as otherwise I would lose the credibility of being their Raja” said the Raja raising both his hands up. I, seeing the situation agreed but told him that the girls will not use any object to hit him which may cause injury and secondly I will myself hit him first and if the girls still feel they can join hands with me to which he agreed.
We both entered the hut for the last time for the day and after discussion the jury told the Raja to announce the punishment. The Raja said in clear words which everyone understood and clapped giving a loud applause of which I understood nothing. I only assumed that he must have said what he had discussed with me outside as the language was mandarin for me. But the labourer who was sitting next to me smiled at me and raised his hand towards me in happiness conveying that the matter has ended at last which was reasonably acceptable.
Now it was the time to execute the punishment.
Ashok was nearly half dead by now but had yet to undergo about one more hour of torture and humiliation for him to come out of the rut in which he had got himself entangled. He was taken out in an open ground and asked to stand. I had to take the initiative of punishing him such that the punishment should look like a punishment and also to take care that no severe injury is caused to him. I asked him to start rolling on the ground first so that his state becomes more pitiable. He was hardly able to walk as was having sleepy eyes, swollen face and totally demoralised.
He started to roll, then side rolled, then came to a rooster position which he could hardly do and fell no of times resulting into entertainment of the villagers. I went and kicked, slapped, punched, pushed and threw him onto the ground number of times to pass time so that he is away from their punishment for that much of duration.
While I was doing this the girls came forward and they took on. They hit him with their bare hands on his stomach, chest, face as a result he bowed down and finally fell flat on the ground. It was then a bashing by them with their heels on to his stomach which he even got two near his groins and then turned over with his back facing the sky. The process continued for good about half an hour and soon everyone was tired of bashing. One of the girl fetched a long bamboo seeing which I indicated to Raja not to allow this and he stopped that girl. After that I could see sense of relief in everyone’s eyes and they were satisfied.
The men appeared to be furious still so I went again and slapped Ashok and made him fall down for the last time and kicked with my toes. The anguish reduced and I could now see all eyes satisfied and that was the end of his punishment.
I asked the Raja to let us carry Ashok now so that he is given some water lest he may fell unconscious again to which he agreed. He was thus carried by two men as he walked with them in limping position with his arms on to their shoulders for the support. They took him towards the stream flowing nearby. The crowd dispersed and everyone went for their work. I quietly asked Ashok
“Are you ok”?
He nodded in affirmative with his head hanging down.
He washed his face and lied down there in pain.
I allowed him to rest for 15 minutes undisturbed to allow him to be out of shock and asked the labourers accompanying me to help him out with a soft massage on his chest. I meanwhile went to the Raja and thanked him handing the remaining two bottles of rum so that he does not come back to his senses for the next 24 hours and remains in the jovial mood. I also told him not to worry about the village road and we will provide all the necessary help. I waved my hand to those girls who were watching me which they reciprocated with a smile giving me an impression that were satisfied with the punishment and had nothing against him.
I then took Ashok and asked him to move immediately from there and we were on our way back. With great difficulty we could bring him dragging all those four kms till our det where our vehicle was standing. On the way we had to literally lift him at times when he gave up walking as I did not allow them to stop or take rest. Immediately on reaching the det I put him in the vehicle, took his essential items and started from there to Tissa and by lunch time I was back. He was immediately given dressings on his invisible swelling wounds, asked to take bath and to doze off without speaking a word to anyone if he does not want to get into further trouble. He did exactly what was told.
I narrated the whole story to Kashmir Singh and he listened to as a child listens a demon tale. Soon everything was normal and the next day Ashok started showing signs of improvement and within next three days he was in a presentable shape.
I asked him then,
“What if that female asked you to marry her and you had no way out what would have you done”
He replied,
“Sahib ab bus bhi karo mujhe woh din yaad mat dilao aur yahaan se dusri det me bhej do” (Sir I have had enough please do not make me remember those days and have me shifted to some other det)
The labourer who was listening to this said,
“Woh aise nahin kehti” (She would not have said like that)
“Why?”, I asked him curiously
He clarified that because she did not get pregnant and only a pregnant girl can ask for marriage as per their rules.
“Oh ! I see so he had to stay there for making her pregnant to get married” I said to him to which he nodded and said,
“Yes sir”
Strange traditions indeed.
I wondered if such a punishment formed a part of our Indian Penal Code, the crime rate of the nation would not take more than two days to show a drastic improvement.
An effective punishment indeed.

Behind the enemy lines

BEHIND THE ENEMY LINES

When you are young with bubbling energy the quest for adventure does not let your mind rest since the desires are unlimited. One loves action, adventure and thrill at that age. The mind gets motivated for doing action merely by just watching action movies sitting in a theatre relishing the false feel of the thrill. The realty experienced on ground is quite different from the one experienced while sitting inside. Action books also motivate no less to the young readers be it commando comics, war stories or a biography of a great general. Fantasies appear to be realty as the mind takes the form of a hero of the story by engrossing itself into it.

It was in the year 1989 when I was at a location called Akhnur doing our bridging training camp which the sappers have to undergo as a part of their annual routine to keep themselves abreast of the knowledge of the combat engineering. As the bridging site was far away from the city hence we had occupied the open area in the tents on the banks of river Chenab which had ice cold flowing water throughout the year in it. I loved taking cold water bath with that water as someone wise had convinced me with the belief that taking bath with the water of Chenab keeps you healthy. I do not know whether the good health was due to it or the routine army PT which we did daily on the banks of river Chenab but one thing was definitely true; I did not feel cold after taking bath with that water which would make me give out shrieks when I poured a mug full of it on the back of my neck under which lied the spinal cord.

The place was also excellent from the scenic point of view. All what a child draws while making a scenery on a white sheet of paper was prevalent; The rising sun, hills, green trees, rivers, blue sky, villagers working, hut etc. The feel of fresh cold air and the sound of flowing water which could be heard in the night added to the excitement in addition.

The day schedule remained busy starting from 0600h with PT till about 1400h after which was lunch and rest time till evening wherein again the training would continue unabated till about 9 pm in the night. There were about a dozen officers and 300 men camped for training at one time which constituted a good learning session in the field. The area where we camped was open with some small hills located far off in the background and mostly surrounded by villages on all the sides with the Akhnur town to the east about 18 km from there. The big fast flowing river, Chenab astride our camp was the centre of attraction of that area over which we practiced making the floating bridge time and again. To the north of our camp along the river about 10 Kms from there was the border of India and Pakistan as the crow flew but there was no clear demarcation on the border except some international boundary pillars hardly visible as the area was a mix of jungles, marsh small distributaries of the river Chenab emanating from many points in between radiating to the other country’s territory further north. There were large gaps which were difficult to man all day and it was difficult for both the sides to keep a strict vigil over it all the time due to the nature of the terrain.

My unit had just received some brand new Mahindra jeeps and it was like a lottery for the youngsters of the unit to have such a privilege. All the youngsters would love going outdoors on pretext of some duty to have a feel of its drive. Moreover it was a part of training itself which made the things further easier for us. The old man of the unit was only worried about the accidents as the Akhnur road carried all the traffic of civil trucks but we took care of that by going into the village roads for the driving thereby avoiding the main road.

I had just learnt to drive the four wheeler which further added on to my interest to go for a drive into the village roads on one of the routes which seldom had any traffic on it. Driving and exploring the new places was a great fun especially when one could also watch some coloured inhabitants also. The life had become sick seeing uniformed men all day so desire for exploration was eminent. The roads were good for a novice to learn as were straight and had long stretches with practically no traffic at all except for some tractor with trolleys carrying the fodder and the village stuff which would be visible from a distance. I generally had an experienced driver with me who taught me all the basics of driving. We would generally go for long drives deep into the villages immediately after the lunch till late evenings but return before the dark so as to be in the mess in time before the old man arrived for a drink.

The Chenab River flowed from East to West towards the enemy side. It had a kutcha road following parallel to its bank into the villages in the thick forests the cluster of which would be visible from our location. The rivulets subdivided further into it were not visible as were at a distance and plenty in numbers. Whenever I glanced that side I wondered what could be there across it as no one had ventured out that side till now due to absence of proper road and the unmarked kutcha roads which were not even marked on the map. Moreover going there would shake everything out in the stomach if you travelled on that route being a bumpy track. It however had some straight smooth stretches parallel to the river with compacted mud which was good for a jeep drive. Only some contractor’s truck were seldom seen carrying sand in them from the banks of the river Chenab on this track.

Exploring the unknown gives birth to adventure so did this thought erupt in my mind one day resulting into my decision to go for a drive on it on the next day in the afternoon and return by evening. I planned for venturing the area on the pretext of doing a recce on area familiarisation. I projected the same to my company commander on the pretext of updating the map of this unexplored area and got a go ahead.

“A good initiative and thought,” he replied and I got the plans ready for the move on the next day.

The very next day I started off after having breakfast and completing some training in the theory classes carrying an area map of the location, a compass and a binocular with two men in addition to driver and myself. We carried our packed lunch along with the water bottles as were expected to return late but before dusk. The driver started the new jeep and with a low noise we quietly left the location out of our unit.

After covering about two kms I asked the driver to sit on the co driver’s seat as I was more interested to drive the new jeep. We exchanged the seats and I took on the steering. I followed the river bank road running parallel to the river which dipped up and down and the new jeep springs kept the ride smooth as a sail till some potholes made me feel that if I do not slow down it would topple the jeep as we rocked from one side to another. Initially it appeared fun but after some time it became tiresome for the back so I had to slow down.

Soon we entered into the forest which had rivulets flowing at many places in it. The area started to become darker as the sunlight was blocked by the canopy of huge trees and also the ground started to be slushy requiring the use of 4x4 gears the use of which also I learnt it then as a part of my driving lesson. I carried on moving steering the jeep in the direction the track took us as a railway track takes the engine of the train leaving no choice for turning elsewhere. I carried on following that track without bothering for the direction as there was no other track visible after we entered the forest area.

After sometime even the kutcha track would disappear at times and would soon appear after covering few metres of travel. There were stretches when we would come out under the open sky in the gaps between the trees and would again enter the forest covered with the canopies of the trees. This carried on no of times.

After some time the main river which we were following and taking as a reference to our move by keeping our direction of move parallel to it suddenly disappeared as it meandered to other side and we were now in the rivulets zone where several of them emanated from a single point. I stopped for a while to have rest since we had travelled continuously for two hours although at a very slow speed but our backs demanded some rest. We halted for a break under a tree.

I asked for the map from the person sitting behind me and tried to locate the own position to know where exactly we were. For finding the own position two reference points on the ground as well as on the map should be identifiable. The bearing of the points on ground is taken and the lines are drawn on the map from the same points on the map which intersect at a point to give the own position as per the traditional map reading taught to us in the academy. There were no GPS‘s then. To our dismay we were not able to find two prominent landmarks as there was no permanent structure available there and all the trees looked alike hence no survey tree also could be traced out. I asked others for help but they were also equally lost and dumb.

We were lost.

The weather was also cloudy so there was no sun visible which could indicate us which direction we were proceeding to. The rivulets had created all the confusion. I thought it prudent to return back before it gets too late so I turned the jeep at 180 degrees and started to follow the route by following the tracks of our own jeep tyres wherever they were visible. We followed it for some time but later I could not locate it as it was all washed away with the flowing water. It was after noon by now and about 1 pm. So I decided to halt for lunch and asked everyone to finish off their meals fast meanwhile I was deep into the thoughts to decide which direction we should follow now. Whenever we go out in a team it is the senior most person who is the most tense as everyone looks upon him irrespective of the fact even if the juniors are more intelligent; a fact which is well experienced by all those in uniform. So everyone had their lunch like they were on a picnic without any tension of getting lost keeping my mind on the run all the time. This was making it difficult for me to swallow the grub since immediately after lunch we were to proceed further and the time was running out.

What a shameful thing it would be if I had to tell them that we were lost. They all had faith in me by default of the system. Using my wisdom and after consulting them I decided on a particular direction and we proceeded ahead.

There were no tracks of the jeep tyres visible. The track just went up and down, approaching dark and light patches of wet ground while I steered the jeep to the left and right, drove it slow and fast in open patches only to encounter more rivulets as we proceeded ahead which further diversified into smaller sub branches. It carried on like this for the next one hour but still no headway could be achieved.

At last I saw an open patch in which there appeared to be a part of a small hamlet with few thatched roofed huts. It appeared to be a tea shop with some living area around it as there were few houses adjacent to it. We thought it would be better to ask the way out from the inhabitants of that place to reach back home they being the locals of that area. As I approached the shop and stopped the jeep near it, karnail singh sitting at the back of the jeep beckoned a person sitting in the shop for asking him about the name of the place. A tall and lean elderly man with a weak eyesight who was in white clothes with a covered head wearing a traditional village dress approached us. I asked him,

“Which place is this?”

“Dhander Kalan” he said the name which I heard it for the first time as it was not there on the map in the coloured zone which depicted Indian side. Moreover everything was written in Urdu on the shop board which was hung inclined tilting to one side with a post which could be hardly read as nobody amongst us knew urdu, the local language used in that area.
The elderly man spoke very respectfully with us and asked,

“Sahib aap logo ko kidhar janaa hai?”(Sir where do you want to go?).

I replied, ”Akhnur”

“Arey aap log to bahut galat aa gaye hai yeh ilaka to Pakistan mein aata hai?(You people have come on the wrong way. This area falls under Pakistan” he said in a normal way with no tension as if it was a routine affair for him.

In my mind I murmured,” PPP------Pakistan! Oh gosh we are trapped now and would soon land up in Lahore jail”

But he continued pointing to the track,

”Chalo koi baat nahin Galati ho jaati hai. Aap aisey karo yahaan se woh track pakaro aur bari nadi ke saath chaltey rehna usko hamesha bayi taraf hi rakhna vapis pahunch jaaogay. Raastey mein choti nadi aaney par bhi murhna nahin veh paar ho jayegi”(It doesn’t matter one does commit mistakes. You do one thing, catch that track and keep following the big river keeping it to your left all the time and you’ll return back. On the way do not turn even if small rivulets come your way as they are crossable)

My heart beat had already doubled while I listened to him and so I expected the same must have been the state of others sitting in my rear. I was tense because we did not have any weapons with us in case the emergency arose as we were generally discouraged for carrying the same due to the fear of losing its parts and facing unnecessary inquiries later on; The zero error syndrome followed all over.

As soon as he finished explaining the route to us I pressed the accelerator and zipped off from there in the desired direction as told by him to get out of that zone before we get into some other trouble. After travelling about a km, Karnail Singh further increased my heartbeat by giving a suggestion that since we are in the enemy area and the person who guided us on this route was also not an Indian so he might have guided us wrongly to lead us into an enemy trap.
I immediately applied brakes taking my jeep under the cover of a tree and asked him and others to quickly do the map reading for finding own position as we were just a km away from the built up huts (Teashop) in the open ground patch The Chenab river ran parallel to us so the difficulty of locating these landmarks on the map was less. All the eight eyes were on the map totally focussed and fully concentrated reading it atom by atom as it was do or die attempt for us now. There was fear of getting caught in the enemy hands on everyone’s face but no one revealed it out to any of us, rather Karnail Singh was saying time and again not to worry it being a minor issue. He also convinced us that even if someone detects us we can overpower them as are four in strength. While we were looking at the map we saw dust emanating from a point on the other side of the river bank where we could make out that it was some military vehicle in Khakhi colour.

“It definitely is not our vehicle as all the Indian Military vehicles were olive green in colour. Oh my God ! It could be Rangers. Everybody take cover and no movement”, I told them all.
We all took cover; some ducked low in the jeep while the driver and Ramesh covered their view behind the wheels so as not to be visible from the track and other side of the river. The big jeep, probably like a jonga went past on the other side of the river which we all saw with our hidden eyes. Nobody of us noticed any weapons with them; probably they also worked on the similar principles as we did since once upon a time both the nations were together under the British rule. Everyone took a sigh of relief after it went far off till it disappeared in the dust.

“We must hurry up now as we will not get the same chance time and again”, said our driver Atma Ram. Probably he was right.

Meanwhile we decided that the direction in which we were proceeding was correct as we had found our own position on the map by now and the enemy jeep went in the direction opposite to the border. The third point which flashed in my mind confirming me finally was that since there were no major turns in the Chenab river which could confuse the direction and that the water travelled towards the enemy side confirmed that we were proceeding in the right direction. So travelling to the upstream side would definitely take us home.

I zoomed off at the maximum speed possible. The sun God soon appeared at last which made everything clear about the direction to everyone sitting at the back as they relied more on it than the compass.

It was about 4 pm now and as per the map we still had to cover about 8 km which meant another one hour as the track did not allow a speed more than 7 kmph on an average. Our stomachs shaked and heads rolled over the vertebrae with each crater we crossed while we inhaled dust at dry places. The tyres of the jeep were stressed and would enter the slush and dust time and again resulting into us praying that it does not get stuck anywhere and we worshipped God for the good health of tyres as there was no help available to take us out in case of eventuality. We carried on like this till after travelling about 3 kms we saw a very colourful truck with designs on it approaching us head on from the opposite side.

I had never seen such a designer truck as the trucks plying on the Akhnur road were generally brown in colour and of a single colour of TATA make but this was neither TATA nor a plain coloured truck. It appeared that some child had painted that truck.

“Sahib ji ai tey Pakistani truck hai”(Sir this is a Pakistani truck”) said Karnail singh in Punjabi.
Ganesh, sitting at the rear suggested that we overpower them as there were only two of them sitting in front who were visible from our jeep of which one was the driver. I immediately told them that no offensive action to be taken till such time I give a go and everyone will keep quiet till then. The truck halted right in front of our jeep face to face as there was very less space to cross it. I asked Karnail to call the driver. He went near his door and the driver came along with him. I asked him how he is moving his truck in this area

“Janaab hum to ret lene aatey hain”(Sir we come to collect the sand). While I was speaking to him Ganesh went behind the truck to check if anyone else was also there and indicated with his hand to me that they were only two of them.

“You do not know this area is out of bounds for you” I said in a raised voice.

“But no one has objected to it till date sir”

“Kindly make sure next time you do not come till this point otherwise we will arrest you “ I said in a sober voice.

“Thhek hai janaab hamarey thekedaar ko bataa dena” (OK Sir but please tell our contractor) replied the driver.
“You will tell them not we” said Karnail to him while I raised my hand to tell him to keep quiet.
“Do you know how far is the border from here?” I asked him in a way to make him feel that I am asking to test his knowledge of the area.

“There is no demarcation but we do not go beyond a km from here”, replied the driver.

Then you will send your representative to show us that point and now tell him to sit in our jeep. Also please show your license. The driver went to his truck to call his understudy who was still sitting in the co driver’s seat. I was only fearing that he does not take out any weapon from his truck although the chances of which were remote so I told Ganesh and Karnail to follow him to his truck and bring him with his license and the second person. They all returned and when I saw the license it confirmed that they were from Pakistan as the stamp of the RTO had bilingual language, Urdu and English written on it as ‘Licensing authority Lahore’. I did not waste any further time and asked him to hop in so that he could show us the way. He hesitated to sit inside. So I forced him by gesturing Ganesh and Karnail who took no time to push him on to the jeep.
You wait for him till he comes back” I told the truck driver so that he does not go into his territory and reports the matter. We zipped off from there bye passing the truck from the side with great difficulty as the restricted space was just wide enough to pass. After travelling about half a km the person tried to jump off from the jeep but was held tightly so could not escape. I asked them to tie him with rope but since we did not have the rope Karnail immediately took off his turban and they both tied his hands at the back. I increased the speed of the jeep. The person started to cry. So we told him that we will leave him at the border provided he guides us the correct route otherwise we carry him to our territory. He started behaving and guided at each and every turning which was well recorded in his head due to his daily commutation to collect sand. We soon crossed the unmarked border and were inside our territory where the known tracks and some Indian trucks could be seen loading sand. I asked Karnail to release him and as soon as we left him he vanished from there into the forests not to be seen again. I only said Thanks to him in my heart while he sprinted.

At far off distance on our side of the bank I could see the same jeep which we had noticed on the other side of the bank. Maybe they must have got the clue from the villager at tea shop and had come looking for us but we were out of the danger zone.

A wave of relief and happiness could be seen on our faces and it was 6 PM by now .It was already dusk.

I told everyone that no one will discuss this matter till the time we are out of the camp for another one week and will discuss the matter as a routine recce carried out or else we may land up in trouble.

Karnail said while tying his turban,

”Sir which Recce?” when everyone of us laughed facing him and we all drove back into the unit.
We were behind enemy lines and now enemy was behind the non demarcated lines of the border which had shaken us all. Never ever I went for the Recce in that area again and marked the border line on the map clearly with a thick permanent marker in red and blue line so that no youngster enters that area even by mistake in future.

The recce was successful and over.