A Passage to SPR -(Selected Place of Residence)
I read an interesting narrative of one
of my friends Ravi Nair, my name sake, about the good old times of his father, a
VCO (Viceroy’s Commission Officer) coming on leave from Kashmir borders where the latter was posted. It read like an
expedition to selected place of residence (Home Town- in military parlance) South of Vindhya Ranges!
Reading this, I too was reminded of my
travails home from the borders, half a century ago. I venture to jot down my
memories for the posterity. I vividly remember coming on my first Annual leave
from Mizo Hills, Vaphai Post, bordering Burma (today’s Myanmar) along Tio River.
On foot for four days, through the insurgent
prone and leach infested thick jungles, to reach the road head at Tuirial- Aizawl, that too at the
convenience of Link Patrols, which ensured the protection to the foot columns.
Then to Laylapur Rear via Wrangte, ,
in a Convoy of minimum 70-80 vehicles, with a vanguard and rear guard of
Armoured Cars. Crouched in the body of a Sakthiman or a Tata Mercedes Benz 3
Ton truck, winding down, forcing one to throw up till nothing is left in ones
aching bowels.
One night stay at Laylapur - the Rear Echelon of the Unit, to rest and recuperate and to deposit personal Arms ( SMC –Sten Machine Carbine)
and ammunition. There, One’s left behind
heavy steel box containing civil clothes etc were to be sorted out for accommodating the ‘essential’ liquor crates and
stores purchased from CSD canteen, to be carried along for leave.!
Next day move to Silchar via Masimpur to catch a meter
gauge locomotive steaming out towards Halflong. From Halflong to Gauhati on a
broad gauge rail chugging sedate in no hurry , and to be disgorged at Gauhati in the
dead of the night. From Gauhati to New Bongaigaon was a nerve wracking traction on a meter gauge .
At New Bongaigaon, walk across the
sand banks to the waterlines of Ganges, with the coolie following lugging one's
steel trunk on latter’s head. By the way, the trunk had more of bottles than of
any clothes, the latter acting only as padding between bottles so as not to
break. Walk towards the River ends where the Paddle Steamer operated by North Eastern Railway waited to ferry one across
the Ganges at Farakka.
Few hours in the steamer, listening to the lapping and splashing noise of its giant paddles in the water and intermittent booming of whistles, brought images of the huge paddle boats of
Amazon. Being a First Class passenger the steamer provided steaming rice with
watery daal and pickles as dinner, then in utter contrast coffee served with
decoction, cream and sugar in separate ceramic pots (chinked and grimy) -in true
occidental style. !
On reaching the other bank long walk on river sand towards New Jalpai Guri railway station, where the rail rake awaited with similar seat/ berth reservation arrangements. The steam engine laboured the rake to Sealda Station and from there to Howra in a local train .
Depositing luggage in the
clock room. A quick shower and shampoo at First Class Waiting Room and
‘non-itinerary visits’ to Calcutta City just to have a feel of the metro life,
and returning for the night train Coromandel Express to Madras. After two
nights reaching Madras early morning.
Once again the luggage to clock
room. Taxi ride to relatives unannounced and to the 24 x 7 movie halls Diamond,
Emerald and Sapphire, all housed in same building on Mount Road . Normally went
off to sleep in the AC comfort of movie hall while intermittent watching of
Taras Bulba, which had no END, kept repeating. Move to the Madras Central by
evening to catch the night's Cochin Express
The ‘Canadian Bullet Engine’ took
on the initial traction and then local snub nosed ones which sneezed burning
coal and dust through out, brought one finally to Cochin Harbour Terminus by
noon. ‘Runglee Rungliot’ meaning ‘thus far and no further’. That was the termination of journey on rails
and thence forth in a ‘yellow and black’ Hindustan taxi for move to Alleppey 65
kms away.
And, Alas by evening, after a
fortnight of having set forth from Vaphai, one entered ones ‘selected place of
residence’ and to ones Sweet Home, waking up and surprising his mother and
siblings - as the FL (Forces Letter) -FOAS (Free on Active Service) one had
posted a month early from ones picquet of announcing sanctioning of his leave
and tentative travel plan, had not reached his mother, after customary
sensoring at 99 APO, till then. Hence, surprised indeed - they were.
The matted hair filled with
few pounds of coal dust, grime and the telltale ‘railway acquired syndromes’
for over a week, like bugs and lice, had to be scrubbed off. Answer mother
knew, bar soap (used for washing clothes) and ‘besan flour’ with abrasive
‘incha scrub’, ‘Amma’s special concoction of coconut oil massaged lavishly and
washed down with scores of buckets of water from the well, drawn and ‘water
cannoned’ by family’s ‘man Friday -‘ Bhaskara Pillai, who showed signs of
kindness on promise of two pegs in the evening !
By now the meager amount of Rs.200/- discounted through a bank cheque from unit
Baniya (Wet Canteen Contractor), for the journey had dried out. First thing in
the morning was to visit ones bankers to whom all the salary - a princely sum
of Rs. 345/- was remitted after the TDS of Rs.5/- every month, irrespective of
where one was posted. It was a big money indeed, as a Sovereign (Kuthira Pavan
of 8 gms of 22 k gold) costed only Rs.90/-.! Also was surprised to find nearly 2k
in the bank to blow up! Serving in field, the entire salary got accumulated
in the bank as there were no scopes to spend on a picquet, where ‘roti, kapada,
makkan’ were free.!
With ‘kuppies’ (bottles) full in
crates, crisp notes in the pocket, and cartons of 555 and Kent in lieu of few
pegs to right friends with US connections! ; And ones First Love - the original
British Royal Enfield KLT 7724, always fully filled—- life was worth living
——Till the ‘kuppi (booz)’ and ‘panam (money)’ lasted !!! Then people start
asking ‘when are you returning?’.
Finally one
returns to the Mother for a ‘non- refundable loan’ for financing her son's ‘expedition
back’. Totally demoralised and ‘home sick’ one ought to return!, which
would take a couple of Long Range Patrols to heal !
The present generation soldier cannot imagine such a situation. Airforce Courier service, concessional air travels, authorised LTCs by Air, fast electric trains and the Farakka barrage over Ganges, beautiful roads wider than NHs crisscrossing and ‘spiraling’ the Mizo Hills heights - where we once heaved and perambulated, and above all the mobile phones which announced and videoed live minute to minute progress of one’s move etc - were nonexistent and couldn’t even be thought of.
--To achieve surprise nowadays is difficult!!!
- Ravi Nair- (Sikh LI)
Good narration. Difficult to perceive the ordeals undergone by a soldier when you meet him in his leave status !!! Thank God , those days have gone and they get a fair deal now a days !
ReplyDeleteA realistic account. One for the posterity.
Liked the annual leave of the soldier.
ReplyDeleteSuperb narration of the life of a fauji in the early seventies and the adventure that travel was in those days in India. A must read.
ReplyDeleteCol Malwinder Guron
DeleteThanx Guron.
DeleteIt was precisely my objective to leave my impressions of those days to the posterity.
Very crisply narrated article. It is history even for us commissioned in 1982.
ReplyDeleteIn our times (1982-2004) it was the journey by Kerala-Karnataka Express - a bi-weekly train with one half to Bangalore and the other to Trivandrum. It then became Kerala-Mangala Express - a daily express train with one half to Mangalore and the other to Trivandrum. Later it became two trains Kerala Express to Trivandrum and Mangala Express to Mangalore. With the commissioning of Konkan Railway, Mangala Express was routed to Kochi via Mangalore.
Luckily by the time we were commissioned, the steam engines had given way for diesel one which was much faster and did not deposit coal dust in our hair and on our clothes.
As a Bachelor and also as a newly wed couple, one could afford to fly to Kochi while proceeding on leave, even though it costed a month's salary despite near 50% concession.
Then we had the draconian Travel Regulations 177 A, B & C - wherein one could travel home only once in two years and the other year only 975 km later extended to 1450 km. Till date I did not understand the logic behind those magic figures. Some said 975 km was the longest distance one could travel by train in UK, but what about 1450??
Whenever I took up a Quarterly QSIR point, it only once went up to the Brigade Headquarters. The Brigade Commander being from Punjab realised that if the stipulation is changed to travel to home town or Selected Place of residence (SPR) the poor man could only travel from Chandigarh Airport (where he would land by Air Force courier) to Ambala. That would have been true with many senior officers then.
How did I manage my travel under this 1450 km to Kerala every year?
I employed a simple strategy - first year use a Military Railway Warrant to travel free from Delhi to Kottayam in Kerala and the next year fly to Kochi from Delhi and claim full cash reimbursement. If our Regimental Clerk could not link my warrant to the claim I put up, how will the CDA(O) ever do it?? Luckily I succeeded in it every year.
If I had flown to Kochi alternate year, the calculation of reimbursement under 177B was even more complicated. It was 40% of cost of Air Conditioned 2 Tier travel from Delhi to Kochi (as I had not used any railway concession -From D) and 60% of 1450.
Now there is a 177C which more draconian than the other two - it is applicable to an officer posted in field area - but he got to be married. Under this clause, one could travel every year to SPR, but the wife will forgo her travel concession of 1450 km. Surely the guy who coined this had some axe to grind with all the bachelor Mallu Officers of Indian Army.
To me it always appeared that the entire Travel Regulations 177 regarding Leave Travel Concessions (LTC) would have been drafted by someone who was a Vamana Avatar. That could well be the only reason he could have had so much vengeance against Mallus to sort us out so well - at least during my 23 years of Military Service.
I felt I was travelling home with you. Very good narration.
ReplyDeleteFor most us Fifth Grade Cadets at Sainik School Amaravathi Nagar (TN), travelling in June 1971 from Kerala to the School was the longest train journey one undertook until then. It commenced by boarding a Metre-Gauge train at Kottayam, hauled by a steam engine to Ernakulam. From there in the afternoon it was on to famous No 20 Madras Mail - a Broad-Gauge train - which ran between Cochin and Madras to alight at Coimbatore. The only reprieve was that the train was hauled by a diesel engine, hence no coal dust.
ReplyDeleteWe got off at Coimbatore by 9 PM and at 10 PM there was a train from Coimbatore to Rameshwaram, again a steam engine train on Meter Gauge. This train would drop us at a tiny station called Udumalaipettai at 2 AM. Now was the agonising wait in the small waiting room at the railway station for it to dawn so that the restaurants in town would open their shutters.
After brushing our teeth early morning, it was a walk of about a km to the bus-stand, lugging our bags. Near the bus-stand there was a restaurant which served vegetarian Tamil breakfast and we would enjoy the last civilian meal of the semester before joining the Military School.
After breakfast it was a bus ride of 24 km on the No 10 Bus which plied between Udumalaipettai and Amaravathinagar - about one hour of bumpy ride, but it ensured that the heavy breakfast we had consumes was digested without any hiccups.
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ReplyDeleteSir,I was from the younger lots and didn't see or go through what all seniors like you went through back in the days but definitely can relate and visualize as my humble self was posted in a mtn bde in gen area Manipur/Assam - Jiribam, Nungba, halflong etc and to go on leave to SPR, it used to be a convoy move during ROP days,stay at transit camps, and then AF courier services and such like..! Things have changed quite a bit from your times.
ReplyDeleteVery well written with your memories succinctly encapsulated, do continue this series..
A very interesting experience and narration indeed !
ReplyDeleteComments from Col Bahadur Singh
ReplyDeleteDear Ravi,
Very well narrated blog of good old days of your first posting to East in highly sensitive area those days.
When one reads your narrative, one remembers self being posted to NEFA those days at Lekhapani, ahead of Ledo- Margherita- Digboi on 1st posting, reporting in early Sept 1970. It was again a very interesting ordeal train journey like you narrated, with perpetual Bengal or Assam Bund very frequently, thus stranded either at New Bongaigaon, NJP or some other God forsaken Railway Station, that to at time, for days, with hardly any food, except one available in Pantry Cars.
Yes, it was definitely, a very hard time for South bound Service Personnel or even those hailing from East & posted in North like Laddakh, J&K or those living in Hills & posted down South, with least facilities. Remember, coming on leave or returning to Sela, Bomdi-La with stay in couple of Transit Camps enroute at Missamari, Gowhati, Tejpur etc !
You have penned it very well, specially for the younger generation who may not have had opportunity to be in those areas, & will find it unreal or difficult to correlate as we use to feel about when we narrated stories, Experiences or their own ordeals by our Grandfather, returning from NWFP during his soldering days under British Army deployment, from Kabalies Areas of Chitral, Phulra, Swat etc on Afghan front in good old United India.
Looking forward to more of your Blogs in future too.
Keep it going.
Good Luck.👍🏻
Bahadur Singh
A very fascinating write up. It immediately brought back long forgotten memories of my stint in the North-East during 1967-69. The article quite vividly describes the discomfort and tediousness of a long and difficult journey of nearly 3000 kilometers, starting off initially by trudging on foot, and thereafter by truck, train,ferry and finally in the luxury of a hired cab. The photographs tell their own tale, taking one back in time. I particularly liked the photos of the quaint trains chugging along in the quiet of the night, taking an young man home on his first leave from the Army.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading the piece.
Thank you Ravi for sharing.
Ramu.
Superb narration..
ReplyDeleteCould actually visualize the journey bk home...shared in FB ..
Looking fwd fr more..��
Well narrated... keep writing...have a lot of time to read in these locked down days...
ReplyDeleteWell narrated. Really enjoyed reading it. Also the images added more life to the write-up
ReplyDeleteFond sweet memories which makes one to feel happy.Those were the heavenly days.Gr8 Experience.I do miss my old Faujee days .
ReplyDeleteVery well written
Loved reading each word
Keep writting
Love u
Subbu
An unequalent narration of a Soldier's life beyond imagination.And those were the days,now a history for the new generation .A wonderful writing .
ReplyDeleteAsha Viswanathan,
ReplyDeleteA lovely narrative which also had a visual effect uncle . Thanks for taking us down the memory lane.
Excellent narration Ravi Got a glimpse a soldier's Leave travel in early seventies giving surprise unknowingly to parents and friends due to non receipt of ur communication to fmly etc and remembering those names (places) and return Journey etc A comment about LTC calculations by ur friends etc A superb blog keep it up All the best Arunachalam
ReplyDeleteYou said it Arunachalam. We enjoyed it as the factor was TINA. There is no other alternative!!🤣
ReplyDeleteLovely .. the pictures and the story make a great visual treat.
ReplyDeleteSankar -Singapore
Respect and I have a swell provide: What Renos Add Value house renovation salary
ReplyDelete