The Celebration (Bidar Days)

 The Celebration(Bidar Days)

I had just  joined the Engineering college and was in the first year. Since the college had come up recently and was only three years old so the infrastructure was not complete as a result of which we did not have a permanent hostel so adhoc arrangements were made by converting the rooms of the Gurudwara building on the first, second and third floors for our hostel and the ground floor for the tourists who would visit the historic Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Sahib in Bidar(Karnataka). The only disadvantage was that it was too far away from the college, about 5 Kms so we had to pedal our bikes everyday as the college was on the other side of the city. We crossed the complete town taking its cross section daily. We returned for lunch in the afternoons and again pedalled back to the college after that for the evening classes thereby making a travel of 20Kms everyday. Due to this problem and restriction of freedom due to stringent rules of the hostel most of the students were staying in the hired accommodation in the city near the college area where they would stay together in groups and go dutch in sharing the expenditure. This would involve other hassles of maintaining a mess and  administrative problems which they would face. However if chosen to stay in the hostel there would be no other problem except for the distance while some chose to stay in the hostel due to security aspect and I being one of them. As a result of this in the hostel most of the students were from first year only who were well protected from ragging also. I however was among the ones who stayed in hostel for all the four years except for some time in which I tried venturing out but found it more a headache than comfort so fell back to hostel after giving a try.

The rules of the hostel were strict. The hostel was locked at 2130h sharp and all the gates (Grills) in the staircases were locked with chains disabling anyone to venture out or enter the hostel upstairs. Although it was good from security point of view but we missed going out for the night shows from 2100 to 2400h in the theatres which our counterparts staying outside would enjoy. 

Bidar has a beautiful climate through out the year, neither too hot nor too cold with pleasant evenings so our hearts tempted to go for the late night outings along with other friends staying outside but this rule had made our task difficult. As rightly said “Where there is a will there is a way”. A permanent solution was thus thought of after doing adequate brainstorming sessions wherein each part of the problem was discussed and gone into details threadbare amongst all the interested members of the gang who were late night movie watchers.

To go out there were two hurdles, the first one was to outsmart the Asst Warden, Mr Krishna who would mark our attendance by going to each and every room at 2100h in the night after verifying the students presence and then would lock the gates for finally handing over the register and the keys to the warden staying in the opposite building across the road. The second problem was that if we managed to somehow sneak out quietly after marking the attendance for the movie then by the time we would return the doors to enter the hostel would be closed for us thereby not allowing us to reach the stairs to climb for finally landing in our rooms. So a way out was to be found to both these problems for venturing out late in the night.

For the first case an easy solution was found after some days as the Assistant Warden had started to mark the attendance in haste just by having a glance while peeping into the room with half door open and after getting satisfied with the fact that the two room partners are studying/sleeping he would not disturb them and go away quietly marking them present. Later he became quiet friendly also and would mark the attendance on faith basis even if someone told him that his buddy has gone to the bathroom which had become a common technique. But this was not a sure shot method as at times in case of a doubt he would wait for him to return and meanwhile chat with the other roommate so the credibility of the buddy giving reasons for his partner’s absence would be in jeopardy. There was one more way, a better option with lesser risk and that was a proxy person would lie down on the bed with a bed sheet covering his face in a side roll position which the other roommate would apprise the Asst Warden by making a gesture with his hand pointing towards his sleeping buddy indicating that he is asleep and is not to be disturbed since has to wake up late in the night for studying till morning and believing this the Asst Warden would quietly mark his attendance and go to the next room. Thereafter the proxy person would quietly get up and walk to his own room.

The second part was complex as it involved lot of action and some courage too. One solution which was already in practice was the use of a duplicate key which some of the hostellers had managed by taking a print of the original key on a soap by managing to get hold of the original key on the pretext of handing it over to the warden by taking it from the Asst Warden on the pretext of rendering help to him. The soap was then taken to the local key repairer who  made a replica of it from that soap print and this key served the purpose. But when the authorities came to know of it after sometime they changed the lock and the things were status quo again.

 The other option comprised of scaling the RCC Jalli wall of the mumty of the stairs, reach the terrace of the top floor of a four storeyed building and then come down to the third or the second storey through the stairs as the upper gates were open at all the times. This was however risky due to weak and loose RCC jallis.

It was a nice evening on 11th of November 1984 the day we finished our unit tests and everyone had nice evening plans for the fun and frolic. The plan comprised of having a get together at a friend's place, go to the market, have snacks at the favourite place,‘The Motimahal’, have dinner in a nice hotel, do some gupshup(Gossip) and then finally go for watching a nice, Moustapha Akkad’s, Rs 50 Crore magnum movie “Omar Mukhtar-Lion of the Desert.” The plan was very good, the company was too good, there was no transportation problem as the cycles were not shut in side the gates, the time was ripe as there was no load of studies that day but the only problem was how do we get out and in, as the plans were for the night. I was so motivated that that day that I decided to go with one of my friend, Harpal. He agreed to take the risk and said in Punjabi,”

“Ajj pakka challangay jo bhi pangaa hoyega dekhayya jaaiga” (Today we will go for sure irrespective of whatever happens)

So the plans were made and its execution commenced accordingly. At the attendance time around 2045h, I took two pillows and placed them in a standing position longitudinally adjacent to each other in a single line with one of my trouser at the place where head rests while sleeping and covered everything with a bedsheet which gave an appearance that somebody is sleeping under the bedsheet. I told my roompartner, Dhillon to only point with his finger at the bedsheet when the Asst Warden asks for me while carrying out his studies sitting on his study table and also not to conversate with him by showing himself deeply involved in his studies with only the table lamp on and other lights switched off so that he gets a feeling not to probe the matter further as one is concentrated in his studies while the other one is sleeping. I avoided the proxy formula as I had to unnecessarily waste someone else’s time and take unnecessary favour from someone at odd time since I would also be under his obligation for his future plans as he would call me when required in return and secondly this method was better as involved lesser number of persons on need to know basis only. For getting inside on our return I briefed Dhillon what all is to be done when I signal him after he hears the noise of a small stone hitting the door which I will throw after my return from the movie.

With all the plans set I at the appropriate moment quietly sneaked out of the hostel, took my cycle and was off for the fun. Similarly Harpal also managed and we both met at the appointed rendevous from where we proceeded ahead together. We first went to our friend’s house from where the gang collected  and went to our favourite restaurant for snacks and tea, had a lot of gossip sharing jokes along with some sweets. Thereafter we ventured out in the city shops for doing the necessary work and finally into the best Hotel then named ,’Barid Shahi’. It was great going to a such a hotel with friends for the first time where 3 star treatment was given. Everyone of us were impressed when the steward pushed the chair close to our knee backs to help sit down comfortably with ease which made everyone feel important as being a student it was a great feeling. When the menu card was given everyone’s eyes first glanced at the price of items instead on the food menu since the  amount mentioned were enormous with everyone having a limited amount in their pockets which were meant to cater for so much desires to be fulfilled that day. Soon a discussion on fixing the menu took about 10 minutes for catering everyone’s taste. After the finalisation it the discussion shifted on the various customers who sat near our table carried on. Future dream plans of joining the various jobs after completion of  engineering course was the next topic finally homing on to .  the beautiful maidens sitting far off from our table in which everyone gave their expert comments as if were the judges of the jury of Miss world contest. I still remember how the discussion on the long nose of that girl carried out for long. She had a curved and long beautiful nose popularly called as the ‘Roman nose’ in oxford dictionary. While this discussion was going on our order was ready and then came the sweet smell of Butter Chicken, the tomato cheese and the mutter (peas)mushroom with raita(A Curd dish) and Naan(bread). I could see the tongues slurping and adams apple in motion showing  gulping of uncontrolled saliva down the throat. Everyone was finding it difficult to stop himself from taking first but out of shyness with great difficulty one of us said ,

”Come on everyone start please!”.

As soon as these words were was out of mouth three hands approached the butter chicken bowl on the table simultaneously followed by saying Sorry to exhibit mannerism in front of everyone to cover up their involuntary action. I then took initiative and quietly placed the chicken breast piece in my plate and pushed the serving dish ahead to the next person. Once this started everything was normalised and soon everyone was seen enjoying the tasty food. Nobody talked much while eating as were engrossed thoroughly in satisfying their taste buds. I could see so much of satisfaction on the faces amongst us that day that wish to see such days come time and again. The first experience is always a memorable one. At the time of desert it was decided that it will be taken at the ice cream point since it would save everyone financially as well as the enjoyment at that point would be more as it was a point where the beautiful faces could also be seen which would add up to the desert taste. The waiter was thus asked to bring the bill. When it was paid he looked at all of us and saluted. No one understood what was the reason, he again saluted and soon one of us understood he wanted some more tip so in order to avoid giving further tip no one cared to look at him. When the waiter saluted for the third time one of us responded him by saluting him back with a smile and shook hands with him saying Thanks and that was the extra tip for him. We then left the Hotel.

Now we were in front of an ice cream parlour with our tongues slurping the ice cream in those beautiful cones and while our eyes were busy watching the Bidar beauties and mouth sharing oooh! and aaaaaah! with each other. Thereafter we proceeded for the theatre to see the movie. It was really a great fun watching it as the movie hall was less crowded (being an English movie) because the people there were mostly kannadijas (From Karnataka) who were less interested in English movies. The major chunk of the crowd comprised of students. The movie was pretty long of three and a half hours and it was 0100h when we came out of the theatre. Everyone proceeded to their destinations and so did I and Harpal towards our hostel. After we were halfway to our hostel Harpal asked me,

“How do we get in now?”.

I told him that I had already tied up everything and he should be ready to stretch his arm muscles now. As we reached the hostel there was total quietness except the sound of crickets and some lights in the rooms which were on since some of the students were studying. The grills were locked as expected. The chowkidaar was awake so we quietly entered the cycle stand and locked our cycles while he was on his round on the other side. We reached just below our room which was on the first floor. I picked up a small stone and threw it to hit my room No 63 and Thak! came the voice after it hit the door. My aim was correct. Hearing the voice my roommate, Dhillon came out as planned to see us and we gave him a confirmatory gesture of our arrival and asked him to go ahead as per the plan.

It was dark but there was enough moonlight to make things visible from a distance of about 100 m. The chowkidaar was on the other side and we were inside the enclosed area of the hostel where he could not see us. Dhillon immediately went inside the room and came back with a turban, one end of which he tied to the pillar of the building and the other end was thrown down towards us to climb it. The height was not much, about 4m only but required strength worth capable of doing just five chin ups and after that one could creep on to the first floor by crossing the parapet wall. Since it was my plan so I was to take initiative of giving the demonstration to Harpal and climb up first. I held the turban tightly and hung on it putting all my weight on to it trying to pull myself up by folding my arm with the help of the hung turban using it as a rope but as I took the leap chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! came the voice and the turban started to tear off. I as a result landed down smoothly. Thank God! It was on the first leap and not the second or the third otherwise I would have fallen flat from a height. Dhillon shouted in low voice

“Oh! meri pag paart gayee”(Oh my turban has been torn)

Harpal said to me,

“Teri plan taa fail ho gayee”(Your plan has failed)

Suddenly we heard someone coming so all of us ran to take cover behind the available objects nearest to us. I and Harpal went and took cover behind a pillar and Dhillon ducked down behind the parapet wall pulling his torn turban up and immediately spread it on the wall as he could not untie the knot tied to the pillar of the building so fast, thereby giving the appearance that the turban has been spread to dry up after washing to the chowkidaar. The chowkidaar came for the routine round, had a look at the area and went away giving us a sigh of relief. I and Harpal came out again but Dhillon was not seen and my room door was also closed. Harpal told me that he must be angry as his turban has been torn and would not come out now. I then took another stone and again knocked the door by throwing it on it after which he came out. Harpal told him,

“Yaar sorry do not worry about the turban we’ll get you a new one let us try with two turbans twisted with each other once more”

Dhillon did not agree and said,

“Nahin oh gal nahin hai par is tarah dig kay satt lag jayegi”(It is not that but this way you’ll fall and get hurt”

I convinced him then,

“What can we do now there is no way out?”

He suggested us to go to some friend’s house and sleep there for the night and return in the morning. We did not favour his suggestion and said that it was not good to disturb someone at this odd hour and that also after going all the way far away near the college.

I requested him to agree once more to my modified plan and if it fails we would go away as suggested by him listening which he with great difficulty agreed and said in punjabi,

“Das hoon ki karna hai?”(Ok tell what is to be done now?)

Meanwhile Harpal silently was whispering that if the modified plan also fails we will have to shoo away our Goodnight sleep as it would be day by the time we arrange something. This irritated me so I told Harpal to just keep quiet and not interfere in what I am briefing to Dhillon as the situation was getting grimmer since there was very less time as if Dhillon’s mind changed then it would definitely spoil our night.

I very softly told Dhillon to go to the room and get my three turbans kept in the almirah and come back. He did what I had told him. I then requested him to interweave them the way a girl with long hair braids her pony tail or sikh children do to make up their hair(Joori). Dhillon got slightly angry and said’

“Hoon addi raat noon mere to goot banwaingaa?(Now in the middle of the night you will make me do a ponytail)

I said politely,

“Yaar dosti vich kadi kadi karna paindaa hai so please don’t mind.(Dear in friendship at times you have to do it  so please don’t mind)

 On our pleas Dhillon started to make a long pony tail by joining and interlocking the three long turbans with each other as a girl makes her ponytail (Which generally all the Sikhs having long hair are able to do it since they adopt this style from their mother in their childhood days) and with in next 10 minutes the ‘The turban ponytail’  was our scaling rope. The same was then tied to the pillar and the other end thrown down to us. I wasted no time and immediately held it tight and took just three leaps and was up in 10 seconds and so was Harpal within the same time . The rope made had enough strength to bear even the weight of both of us together and finally my modified plan worked. The turbans were immediately pulled up and we were in our rooms in next few seconds unwinding the three turbans and discussing with Dhillon what had happened when the Asst Warden had come.

“Everything went as planned,” said Dhillon with a smiling face.

Harpal still started the joke session in the middle of the night after which Dhillon said,

“Chalo hoon so jaoo “ and shooed Harpal to his room who  went away saying Goodnight and sweet dreams to both of us.

I asked Dhillon how was the night ?

He replied,

“Main tey apna fluid Mechanics da ik chapter khatam kar ditta hai” (I have finished one chapter of Fluid Mechanics)

“That’s like a very good boy,” I said to him and further added

“Appan vee ajj matargashti daa nava chapter kar kay aayein haan”( Today we also had finished one new chapter of having fun)

and went to sleep as the celebration was over for the day.

The Safe Trench

 The Safe Trench(Humor in Uniform)

It was during Op Parakaram in 2001 somewhere in the western sector that our unit took position for defences in forward area when the balloon had got up. We were expecting attack from the enemy side so we're asked to protect our holding positions. Since ours was a sapper unit so were having the JCB digging machine which could dig big trenches in short time.  All the big field offices were made in trenches below the ground level. The Commanding Officer(CO) had instructed us to keep the camouflage net with props only visible on the top and the rest to be underground to prevent any damage to life or equipment from artillery shelling or air attacks should it occur.  The younger generation who had not experienced any war till date started meticulous digging trying to get hold of the only JCB machine held in that location to expedite their task avoiding the manual digging to make their trenches better than the other for their safety with a competitive spirit. The Adjutant who had the machine at his disposal dug the trench so deep for making the operations room that wooden steps had to be placed to get down inside the trench. 

When the CO came and saw it he was astonished to see this unique trench. The Adjutant trying to gain marks on his work explained to him,

"Sir this trench will be perfectly safe for everyone sitting inside irrespective of  any bombing taking place outside"

Hearing this the CO glancing the deep trench though appeared contented but asked,

"What if the bomb lands in the trench itself?"

The Adjutant looked perplexed and kept silent  looking at the CO and Subedar Major(SM)standing next to him in turns unable to find a suitable reply. However the smart SM perceiving the state of Adjutant immediately replied to CO,

" Sir then everyone will be safe outside"

There was a laughter burst with the logical reply of the SM. 

 The JCOs Stripe on his epaulettes 

The Britishers while leaving India handed over the manpower of Indian Army in three parts to us ; Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers(JCOs) and the Other Ranks(ORs). The task of a JCO was basically to convey the order of an officer to the troops and vice versa in the language best understood thereby maintaining a link between the two for smooth functioning of a unit. He being a mediator was thus used as a punch bag for release of emotions by the officer from above and grievances of ORs from  below. As a result he was sandwiched between the two. The Britishers though have left but the traditions are still continuing unabated.

We had an outspoken JCO Subedar Sharma(name changed) in our unit who would generally break with the increase in work load. Once he was fed up as some of his men were cribbing for the grass cutting task given to them while on the other hand the Company ompany Commander was getting furious on him for the delay imposed as some VIP had to visit for inspection. I was new to the unit and was told to supervise the show.  After the men were convinced for their cribbing and put to task again by him he faced me and said,

“Sahib dekh liya hum JCO logo ka haal. Kya zindagi ban gayee hai!”(Sir have you seen the state of JCO’s how miserable the life has become)

Showing solidarity to him I said, ”Chalo sahib kabhi kabhi aise bhi sunana parta hai. Sab theekh ho jayega. Main hoo naa” (Dont worry officer sometimes we have to be at the receiving end.Everything will be allright. I am there with you)

Pointing to the JCOs stripe of red and yellow colour on his epaulettes he said,” Sahib angrezo ney humay yeh stripe aise hi nahin lagayee hain iska bahut bara matlab hai”(Sir Britishers did not make this stripe just like that it has a deep meaning attached to it)

“Woh kaya hai?”(What’s that?) I asked him with curiousity.

He said pointing to the upper red stripe,” Upar se to hamara khoon officer log chustey rehtay hain” (The officers suck our blood from the top;The red colour of the stripe denoting blood)

He continued pointing to the lower red stripe,”Nichey se jawaan humara khoon chustey hain”(The soldiers suck our blood from below;The red colour of the stripe again denoting blood)

I wondered what he would say about the middle yellow stripe but he answered very logically keeping his forefinger on the middle yellow stripe of his epaulette,

”Aur hum beech mein peelay parh jaatey hain”(And we turn pale/yellow in between)

“Very correct“, I said sympathetically.

After that day I never got confused with the fact that it is the yellow stripe which is in between two red stripes on the epaulettes of a  JCO and not red between two yellow ones whenever doubt of the same arose in my mind out of the blue.

ENCOUNTER WITH THE METHUNS(Bisons)

 

It was a very beautiful place in Arunachal Pradesh where I was posted in 1995 and placed  at a remote location called Pongchau. The detachment comprised of some locally built barrack shelters and some Border Roads Organization personnel  for construction of roads and bridges, as Bailey bridge construction work was going on in the valley to connect two hills about 5 kms away downhill from my detachment. A small stretch of jungle fell on the way downhill. My job was to go daily at the bridge site, stay there all day and finally wind up in the evening at sunset. Generally, I would go in a vehicle with the men but at times walked to keep myself fit. Carrying a stick, I would set out on the winding kutcha tracks along the hill with many waterfalls enroute, gossiping with the staff accompanying me. We carried packed lunch with us  which we relished at the site during the lunch break like in a picnic. 

One fine day I decided to return from the construction site early.  It was a bright sunny day with a chill so I decided to walk up the hill till my detachment alone. The birds were chirping, the butterflies were flitting from flower to flower on the short bushes and the green valley looked fresh. The hill had a lot of sharp curves crisscrossing each other. Just to ease climbing and keep my hands busy, I picked up a stick as usual. For all I knew, it would come handy later. At various turnings on the freshly cut road I could see some birds picking worms out of the freshly dug mud and some dogs and cattle moving across the road, which made the walk interesting as there was not a person to be seen on that lonely route with whom one could talk. My body warmed up due to continuous walking.  I had started to climb up the hill. Round and round I went, with various road turns coming on the way. Nothing was visible for more than 100 metres  ahead or behind me as the winding track hid the route and one could only see the beautiful valleydown below. 

As I was walking, I got the feeling that something was following me. It was only a sort of intuition; there was no evidence to convince my mind with affirmation. The noise of waterfalls on the way diverted my attention from the thought. As I proceeded further I could feel some movement on the ground which felt like tremors just before an earthquake. It is said that the elephants perceive such waves with their feet and come to know of impending disaster many kms in advance, but if I being a human could sense that meant there was definitely something near me which tensed my muscles. I felt a bit nervous and scared being alone but  somehow carried on and increased my pace. I walked  whistling along trying to  gain control over the unknown fear. 

Soon I could  hear the thumping noise of hundreds of feet, as if of some horses were charging towards me. I turned back, but still could not see anything as my vision was blocked with the hill and the turns. I walked a few steps ahead with adrenalin pumping through my nerves every second. I kept looking back again and again but all in vain. 

Later I came across a straight stretch of about 200 metres showing the clear path ahead and  I started to jog a little. As I approached the end of the stretch I could now hear the thumping noise clearly and when I looked back this time, it was no assumption, no dream and seeing was believing. I saw not less than 100 strong buffalo like creatures called ‘Methuns’ all facing me, and amongst them was their leader, the strongest one standing in the centre of the herd. They stood as if  were posing for a group photo with the leader staring on to the  camera. He had  anger in his eyes ready to attack at the slightest provocation. He stood with his legs braced, neck slightly lowered, gazing in front with raised shoulders, gushing air from his wet nostrils and horns erect. All the others were behind him waiting for a ‘ready get set go’ order from their leader. I got the shock of my life and it took me about 10 seconds to come to my senses and understand the situation. I then realised that they were ready to charge at me on my slightest movement indicating fear. I studied the area around me and came to a conclusion that I was caught in a catch 22 situation. If I decide to run away from them I would not be able to as I had to climb the hill towards my detachment and these wild beasts will not take more than a minute to catch up with me and crush me to bits and pieces. The other option was to run to the sides but that was also ruled out as on one side was a steep cut in the hill, inclined at 90 degrees, which could not be climbed quickly as the vegetation was wet and on the other side  was a ditch 200 feet deep which would as it is crush me to death, so the only way left to run was downhill towards the Methuns, which only a fool would do. 

All these things went through my mind in a fraction of second based on which I had to decide fast before the animals took stock of the situation and followed what their leader decided. I somehow took a long breath and prayed to God as it appeared to be my dooms day. I suddenly remembered something that I had seen in the discovery channel that if you encounter Hyenas, you raise a stick not to hit him but to show that you have grown taller and are of a bigger size than him. This scares him and he turns back and quietly sneaks away from there. But will this Hyena formula work here was the million dollar question. Having no other option I decided to go ahead with it. When a person is in distress he can do anything and all the courage, bravery, and strength come on their own. So without wasting a moment, and before the fear of what I was going to do could grip me with its consequences, I raised the stick I was holding with both my arms stretched up straight, taking the top of the stick to about 12 feet from the ground and charged ahead on to their leader running at full speed towards him shouting aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa at the top of my voice: a suicide mission or stupidity, whatever one can name it. I ran for about 10 metres thinking that something will happen and the Methuns would show their unknown reaction to it and break the suspense. 

It took about 3 to 4 seconds for their leader to understand what was going on and all of a sudden he immediately turned back, kicking a lot of dust in the air due to his turning around at 180 degrees and pumped out air from his nostrils with a loud noise, this was what was needed. All his battalion immediately turned back and they started to run in the opposite direction, with me chasing them as a lion chases a group of herds, not knowing that my state was not more than a jackal in front of a group of Tigers! I chased them for a good distance of ten metres. By that time, each one including the last of them had turned back and had started to run in the opposite direction and then ---- I suddenly turned back at 180 degrees and with all the strength and stamina left in me (which I had earned in my life including that gained at Indian Military Academy) ran uphill towards my detachment at a speed much faster than I could attain running downhill, and did not stop in between for a good kilometre or so. I then saw the gap increased very fast as both me and the Methuns were running in opposite directions back to back, thereby adding up our velocities and hence the gap between us.

 I came to my normal senses after taking a sigh of relief and thought how God helps those who help themselves. Never after that incident did I venture alone on that path again.

It is a story which  repeats  in my mind whenever I recall my Arunachal days even today. 

THE ROCKET

 

No sooner did we settle after the Holi incident saving us from the danger which we had just bypassed by taking advantage of the probability, Harpal one day came up with yet another idea;

“How about firing a cracker in the girl’s hostel?”

“What? Are you mad? We have just come out of such a risky incident. Moreover ‘Diwali’ is far off” I replied.

“I was only a spectator till now but I want to perform some action as you did”said Harpal feeling left out.

“No I am not into this, so please count me out as everyday is not a Sunday” I tried to avoid my presence in the new prank.

“You just be my moral support I’ll manage the rest” he said again.

“But I will not enter the girls hostel now in any case” I made it clear as crystal to him.

“Agreed. We’ll do it remotely”

“How are you going to do it?” I asked him to make sure I am out of trouble.

“First you say yes” he pleaded.

“What would be my role and the where do you intend taking me to? I’ll not leave the boys hostel premises.” I clarified.

“You will be with me and be a watch out man as I cannot trust anyone else since this requires secrecy to be maintained.” he clarified.

Fearing the conditions of the plan I was trying to explore maximum out of him so that he does not involve me in any trouble after taking a commitment from me. I hesitantly agreed to him being his close friend.

“Ok but do not involve me directly”.

“Thanks” he replied with his naughty eyes.

“Now tell me about your plan.” I asked him with curiosity.

“We will place a rocket on the terrace pointing it towards the girl’s hostel and light it which will zoom to their balcony and blast. Simple” Harpal briefed.

“Are you a kid? Do you think it’s that simple? Will nobody come to know that you have placed a rocket and lighted it with a match stick. The flame of the fire by a matchstick will at once draw attention of anyone in the vicinity and also the smoke emanating out of it cannot remain hidden as a result we can be easily noticed by someone. We will not have adequate time for doing this.” I said criticising his plan.

“You leave that to me as I’ll be able to manage that. You just have a look around the area while I am placing it in position and signal me all clear. That’s all. The rocket will not go off immediately since I have applied some brain.” Harpal said confidently

“What? How?” I asked with curiosity.

“At least have some faith in me” he reiterated and requested me not to ask any more questions as he is of the opinion that if he speaks out his plan it may fail; a superstitious belief he believed in.

I kept quiet after that and smiled at him.

The very next day he brought some crackers with a long Rocket nicely packed in a brown sheet which nobody could make out from outside what it was. After having lunch when everyone had settled down and there was no disturbance he locked the tower bolt of the door of our room and unpacked it in front of me laying it on his bed. Soon he took out an incense stick from a packet already kept in his box and tied it to the wick of the rocket with a thread. Keeping a match box in his pocket he got up and said,

”I am ready let’s go now as everyone is relaxing”

I followed him. He inserted the rocket into the sleeve of his shirt to hide it.

We climbed the upper floor and then finally reached the terrace. As we approached the parapet wall of the terrace facing the girl’s hostel, he asked me to have a round of the terrace and see if all is clear with nobody around. I quietly went and circled the complete periphery. There was hardly anyone as the students were in their rooms. Some music systems were switched on at low noise in the lower floor comprising of first year students. After having a round of the terrace I came back to him. He was leaning on to the parapet wall and looking below towards the Dhaba and the girl’s hostel. We both gossiped for a while and after about 5 minutes decided to act.

Harpal asked me to stand near the door of the staircase mumty and indicate him with a gesture by raising my hand in case anyone is seen approaching the terrace. I saw him pulling the Rocket out of his shirt sleeve slowly which he placed on the wall facing it towards the girl’s hostel. He oriented the wick part towards him. There was hardly one girl sitting on an easy chair reading a book in the balcony of their hostel.

He took out the matchbox and awaited my signal of all clear. I confirmed all clear to him.

“CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHZZZZZZZZZ !”

I heard him light the matchstick in his cupped hands with which he lit the incense stick tied to the wick of the rocket. As soon as it was lit he quietly moved in a casual manner looking at all the sides and joined me.

“Come let’s go” he said and placed his left hand on my right shoulder indicating to get down from the stairs.

“Should we hurry up?”I asked him.

“No not at all” he said smiling and switched on to a different topic discussing about the Moment of Inertia while getting down stairs.

I was worried that any moment the rocket may go off but it did not.

We safely crossed the second floor where the juniors lived.While on the way to our room he shook hands with two more of our friends who crossed us and chatted with them for a few moments making me tense as the safety fuse was already on fire both on the wick of the Rocket and patience of my mind. We reached the first floor and finally to our room. After getting inside he again smiled while I looked at him.

“Now you watch the fun precisely after 5 minutes” he said while opening the window partially. We had locked the door from inside and were lying on our respective beds facing the window with chins resting on our hands and elbows on the pillows. We gazed at the girl’s hostel through the partially opened window waiting for some action to take place.

“It must have switched off,” I said to Harpal as already 10 minutes had gone past.

“Not a chance! It is a good quality incense stick” he replied with confidence.

While we were busy discussing about it I could hear a loud hissing sound with a trail of fireballs approaching towards the girl’s hostel right from our hostel terrace as if some aircraft was about to crash on to their hostel. It was our Rocket which got ignited and headed straight at the target.

“ZHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHH!”

It went just over the girl who was reading the book in the balcony and out of reflex she dived down while the Rocket went inside their room. After about two seconds there was a large sound of explosion.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!”

Out came all the girls screaming towards the balcony including Amrita while two of them rushed out towards the Warden’s room.

“Oh my God!” I only prayed for no one getting hurt.

“Don’t worry nothing will happen to them they are just screaming out of their habit” replied Harpal.

It was a real fun watching them react to our stumuli. The incense stick fixed to the rocket acted as a safety fuse giving a time delay of 10 minutes during which we easily came down and also gossiped with some of our friends on our way back leaving no scope of anyone doubting us for the act. The eyes of suspicion were definitely not on us as we were on our beds when the rocket was actually fired.

The teachers residing under the the girl’s hostel immediately came out to find out what happened and soon it was inferred that someone had fired a cracker in the girl’s hostel. The million dollar question was,

Who?

The girl sitting outside in the balcony who was reading the book must have explained to the warden that she experienced a Rocket flying over her head from the boy’s hostel side pointing the needle of suspicion towards the boys hostel. All eyes were thus focussed on the terrace to trace out the prankster. They expected someone from the top floor to have done this due to close vicinity of the terrace to the second floor.

The first year students staying on the upper(second) floor were obviously expected to face the music. The warden immediately came out of the Girl’s hostel building with his eyes raging with fire towards the boys hostel terrace to watch for any student movement there. He immediately called for a ‘fall in’ of all of them. There was lot of noise and I could see all the first termers standing in three lines on the ground facing the warden where he addressed them.

“Coming straight to the point; One of you had fired a rocket at the girls hostel. Kindly own up immediately as I will pardon him with lesser punishment or else all of you will have to vacate the hostel within 24 hours” he roared at them.

Everyone looked at each other as did not know who the culprit was. They kept quiet and on repeated insistence by the warden one of them gathered some coursge to say,

“Sir no one actually has seen who did it so why punish all of us”

“Shut up” he roared back.

I told Harpal,

“Yaar we have unnecessarily put them in trouble this is not fair we must help them out”

“Hey don’t utter a word about it or discuss anything on this matter. Nothing will happen to them as the warden is just trying to instill fear in refreshers to force the culprit to own up. Do you think he can get the hostel vacated for such a petty thing and that also when the culprit is not known. Have these peanuts and go to sleep for the time being” he said handing over some of them to me while raising the volume of the songs in the background coming from the radio and went to sleep.

How could I sleep in such a tension while the warden carried on with his lecture addressing the students on ground which I could hear clearly from the partially opened window.

The warden finally dispersed them on the condition that the name of the culprit must be given to him in next 24 hours or else severe action will be taken against them. I could see all the girls in their balcony watching the event as if were watching some match in the stadium.

As everyone dispersed I could hear Harpal snoring by now. I kept thinking that I have not done anything wrong directly and the person who had done it is snoring to glory so why should I be tense. Having a handful of peanuts and gulping a glass of water over it I also slid in my blanket to have sweet dreams.

In the evening while in the dining hall there was only one discussion going on,

Who was the person who did this and what will happen if he is not traced out by tomorrow?

I only kept quiet showing no interest in it and observed what Harpal was discussing with others.

“You people have become very mischievous” he said to a refresher asking him what and how it had happened.

“I do not know sir but I am worried where would I get a room to live if the culprit is not found out as we have been told to vacate the hostel if his name is not given to the warden by tomorrow.” replied the first termer terrified.

“Oh my God! Don’t worry and wait for some time till the warden cools down. If you are unable to find out go and apologise collectively to him. I think he would listen to you as he is a very kind hearted person” Harpal convinced him with assurance.

“Thank you sir for your advice I think we have to adopt this technique only” the refresher nodded in agreement with him.

“But leave no stone unturned to find out the culprit as he must be punished.” added Harpal further taking the junior student into his confidence.

“No sir we will not ” saying this he went to collect rice from the table.

I only smiled looking at my face in the steel thali I was holding and went ahead to put salad in it.

As thought of by Harpal things went our way. The warden cooled off after the first day. No culprit was found and the first termers went and apologised to him who pardoned them being their first mistake.

The chowkidaars were made vigilant and were asked to keep a watch over the terrace on the activities of students for the next few days but could not detect anything except noticing  sikh students drying their hair in sun on Sundays.

The Wrong Hand

 

The Wrong Hand

The days in academy can never be forgotten in an army officer’s life as it forms the most important part of his life in the services. There are seldom opportunities everyone gets as difficult as they are made during the training time in actual real life ensuring  a seamless go thereafter. If you pickup any biography of a renowned army man it will definitely include a stint of his academy days. It is during this time that all of us coming from different parts of this diversified nation arrive at a  common grid during the training period at the Indian Military Academy. During this process various humorous incidents take place which are cherished for life and discussed during the course socials even decades thereafter where everyone  forgets his rank and falls to the same grid to recall the nostalgia of academy days.

One such incidence took place in 1987 during a ‘Grenade Session’. The weapon training Ustaad taught us in a theory class on how to launch a grenade after explaining its parts threadbare on the blackboard placed on the easel which we all listened carefully sitting on a semicircular concrete bench under a  banyan tree besides river Tons in IMA. While holding a dummy grenade in his right hand with its lever facing the palm he very clearly explained how a clip is removed with the left hand so that the lever is not released even inadvertently. Then how to throw the grenade across the protective wall, duck down in the trench and not rise till the grenade explosion is heard. After this he made each one of us practice the same procedure by taking us to the actual grenade firing range. Every one  waiting in a single file  was called  one by one with a dummy grenade wherein after extracting the pin from left hand the grenade was thrown behind the protective wall with the right hand, ducking down for sometime inside the trench, handing over the clip to the Ustaad as a practice run by each one of us and thereafter exiting the trench to ensure that the procedure has been drilled into us. After doing sufficient practice finally the D day came after two days when actual live grenade firing was to be carried out.

The first cadet came and performed as practiced. After taking out the pin from the grenade with the left hand and throwing the grenade behind the wall with the right he ducked down waiting to hear the sound of explosion of grenade handing over the clip to the ustaad and exited the trench in excitement after bursting  the first grenade of his life allowing the next Gentleman  Cadet(GC) waiting to enter the trench on his turn. Likewise everyone followed.  Finally it was Prasad(name Changed) who came for his debut grenade launch. He was a left hander and could understand hindi with great difficulty but by watching everyone the drill was set in his mind with the visual mode of learning. He came with the grenade in his left hand took out the pin with his right hand, threw the pin behind the protective wall instead of the grenade and handed over the grenade to the ustaad instead of pin which was supposed to be in his left hand while bending down to hear the blast ducking his head between his knees.

“Arey yeh kya kar rahe ho GC “shouted the ustaad and with a good reflex action and his wisdom he  threw away the grenade behind the wall and also ducked down joining Prasad. The grenade blasted after 3 seconds.

Thank God ! Such Ustaads with mettle are posted to IMA to deal with such situations. The lesson learnt was
'Correct practice with awareness makes a man perfect'.