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'.