Living with Pioneers

‘Fighting First’ - Descendents of XXIII Sikh Pioneers - somewhere in North, c/o 56 APO. To be precise at Meerut Cantonment. Year 1974-75.

After a war and having spent over 4 ½ years in counter insurgency operations in the jungles of East and High Altitude Areas in the North East borders, the Paltan was on its First major exercise on reaching a much sought after peace station (sic!! ). The mission was to carry out Field Firing at Badshahi Bagh Ranges, Dehradun.  Post 1971 War, as a part of the austerity measures to combat the inevitable depression, use of vehicles were minimised. Hence the Infantry marched on foot (thurke !!!) all the way to Ranges - just 300 km away !!!. On completion of field firing, Divisional Exercise commenced and that too culminated while we were somewhere around Rourkee. The General Officer Commanding was then kind enough to release second line transport for our rest of the journey to Meerut.

On the exercise being called off, Commanding Officer was the first one to peel off after handing over the command to the Second in Command. He was a large hearted man and followed suit after excusing the company commanders too, to proceed to base on "com-passionate' grounds. So the yoke fell on the bachelor boy - the Adjutant (Yours Truly), who had nobody waiting for him at Meerut, but for his beauty- the Red Royal-Enfield. 

This is where our incident commences.

The Divisional transport - one platoon of 3 ton trucks reported as scheduled. The move plan was meticulously arrived at. Orders were given on the scheduled halts en-route and the strict ban on wanderings on or crossing the highway while on halts. Speed limits were laid down. De-induction Tables and Move Orders were prepared and sent to the Brigade Headquarters. And after the 'Ardaas' (regimental prayer), the Paltan was bouncing back to barracks. As usual the worthy Adjutant in his Ops Room 1 Ton truck was on the lead to check the speed of the convoy and the Sub Maj was bringing up the tail with the URO (Unit Repair Organisation) complement. After 2 hours of traverse the Convoy halted for ‘rest and recuperation'. Head counts were taken, ‘all OK’ reports were coming in and the adjutant was on his 5th cup of tea on fervent requests 'ghut ghut pee laiye saab’(please have a sip), from representatives  of various admin groups,  still waiting to have a glimpse of Sub Maj saab to get the final OK report. Hours passed. Adjutant’s adrenalin mounting. Then the Nissan truck of Sub Maj appeared on the horizon and drew near. The Vehicle stopped and he alighted, accepted the solemn salutations of ‘mundas’ (jawans) around and walked off for his tea. Getting impatient, the Adjutant summoned the Sub Maj and asked for the 'Sab Achha' (All OK report).

Then the Sub Maj started spinning his tale. 'Saabji, mein taan aakhiri gaddi vich aa reha si. Mere saamne apni RCL jeep si, jhinu Banta chalanda paya si te Santa co-draver seat te einakaan (driving goggles) lai baitha si'. (Sir, I was bringing up the rear and infront of me was the recoilless antitank gun mounted jeep driven by Sepoy Bant Singh with Lance Naik Sant Singh occupying co-driver seat). I knew what was coming. I held my breath and asked him. 'Sab jaldi bolo. age Kiya hua'?.(Saab, make it quick, what happened then?) He replied, ‘Kujvi nahin saab. Ek eetaan da truck aage chal raha si'. (Nothing Saab, a truck carrying bricks was in the front of the RCL Jeep ). Now I became fully defensive and asked him 'Ok saab, phir kya hua?'. (That’s okay, what next?) .'Saab jee, Eetaan de truck da b@##n c@## d  draver ne ekdam break lagaditi, te apne Sante ne gadi nu idha morh deita' . [The (expletives !!) truck driver applied sudden breaks and our Santa turned his jeep sideways]. He showed a 90 Degree turn with his hands. With great self control and impatient, I asked him 'Saab RCL Gun da ki haal hai’?      (Saab, what is the condition of the RCL Gun?). He said ' Oho taan bach gayi. Sirf Clamp khul gaya, hor gun maarra jeha mur ke idaan hogaya’. ( Sir, the gun got saved. The clamp came off and the gun turned to one side like this ). He again showed a 270 Degree turn with his right arm. By now I was fully exasperated and panicky. An US manufactured RCL Gun is a controlled item and soldiers handle it with reverence. One of them getting condemned makes the Battalion unfit for war!!!

I asked him 'Saab Gaddi da ki haal hai?’(Saab, what is the condition of the vehicle?) Then he brought his hands in a namasthe posture, parted to nearly one foot and then said ' Saab ji,  maarra jeha kloj hogaya'  (Sir, it just got slightly closed !! ) and brought his hands to 6 inches , held it at that and left it to my imagination.!! Just imagine an RCL jeep with a gun (US Made) mounted on it, of 12 inches long getting 'closed' to 6 inches !!

After having taken the 'panga'(risk) of eliciting the could’ve been 'avoidable' unpleasant report from the Sub Maj, the Adjutant was in trouble. Sub Maj had done the ,'Thonu dassiassi' ( I had ‘tolded’ you !!)trick and was sipping his tea amongst his admirers across the road. I ordered him, much to his chagrin, to cut down on his tea, and join me to proceed to the site of accident.

When I reached the site, I found no trace of the RCL Jeep or the ‘eetaan da truck '. Sub Maj was least flustered. My fear was whether the Recovery Detachment of the Corps HQ EME Workshop had towed the jeep away? Then, the report must have reached the Brigade / Divisional Commanders who insisted on a 'zero' accident state. If it happened, it was a 'command failure'!!! I felt terribly guilty that I had let down my Unit and the Commanding Officer!! I was already hallucinating the tough times I would have to explain my inept handling of the situation to the commanding officer, who by now, much oblivious of the mishap, might be on his third ‘gin cordial flavored with angostura’ at the Wheeler's Club with his family!   

I, then asked Sub Maj ' Saab gaddi te munde kithhe aai?' (Saab, Where are the men and the vehicle ?) He coolly led me to a wayside house on the NH 3. After having entered the court yard of the house through the narrow entrance in the mud wall, I found my RCL Jeep with the rcl gun  still mounted in a cocky position, with 'Santa te Banta' (Santa Singh and Banta Singh) thoroughly occupied with fraternising the inmates of the house!!. I wondered, how a jeep with a gun could enter the court yard through the narrow passage in the wall?!! There didn't seem any other opening from any where too!!.  'Santa te Banta' and the old lady of the house were soon hosting me.'Puttar, bai jaa. Garam chaa pee lo.'  (Son take a seat and have hot tea)-Coaxing of ‘mataji’.  'Rottian nahi khaonge saab? Garam garam haigian, hor sabzi te taaji lassi (Sir, won’t you have lunch?  Its hot and there is sabji and lassi!). -'Banta te Santa'. I lost my cool by then and gave both of them and in that veil to the Sub Maj, a vent to my pent up fury. All the B#**C..s, and M#**C..s, I learned as a South Indian from 'Fighting First', gushed out . I was myself surprised at the 'lucidity' and 'diction' of my phonetics in Punjabi. Not very much to the liking of the old lady, who vanished from the scene shedding all her maternal charm!!!

As expected in 'First Battalion', the ‘mundas’ froze to 'shun'(attention) and cocked their heads to one side and concentrated at the infinity, looking philosophical!!!. Once cool and spent out after the shameless tirade, the Sub Maj approached me cautiously and pleaded. 'Saabji  tusi ghusse nu chhaddo, munde siyane hege ,  (Sir, please calm down, these boys are good ). Then I asked him what the jeep is doing inside the house and how it got there from the site of the accident?.

  He told me that after the accident they got hold of the driver of the truck and bashed him up. Manhandled the gun and leveled it to the truck, and did a firing practice with the breech of the gun being loaded with a 'khali khokka' (empty fired case) and the 'all clear ' indication to the firer to Fire. Before the 'Firer' could press the knob, the driver of the truck, who was defiant and quoting all the traffic rules & regulations till then, was prostrating before them and ready for any compensation. Sub Maj took out 1000 bucks from his breast pocket and showed me, with glee in his eyes. Then, knowing well that the Brigade Convoy was to follow in an hours time, he ordered the 'mundas' to  break down the mud wall of the nearby house, and push the jeep in side and re-make the wall to its original state. That's when I realised the reason for dampness on the wall of having recently hand plastered.!! He said 'tussi phikkar na karo saabjee, apaan poora convoys jaan deyange baa..ch, CMP Check Postaan de hatan ton baa..ch, raat nu baapis aake jeep nu Shaktiman vich load kar ke junit MT lae challange. CO saab bhadar nu mein appe das deyanga.' (Sir, You just don’t worry. After all the convoys got past and the Military Police check posts withdrawn, at night we will return with our Saktiman truck, load this jeep and the gun and bring it back to unit MT park. I will explain everything to the Commanding Officer myself). The latter part of his statement pricked my ego for certain and was of no relief to me.

I, then went back to the convoy and proceeded to Meerut, highly tensed up.  After having checked in correctly, while giving the 'sab achha' (All Okay) report to CO, I included the 'mishap' also with great caution and apprehension. CO imbibed all coolly and queried whether Sub Maj is handling the situation and then to my utter surprise and disbelief, he told me to relax.

       

That's the END of my part in the episode. Weird are the ways of Pioneers!!! . “Aut Viam Invenium Aut Faciam”. If you don’t find a Road, make one. !!! That’s what they did in this case!

I still get shocks when I think of that 'Maarra jeha kloj ho gaya' state..

Lesson learnt – Never be inquisitive, while with Pioneers !!!  “Curiosity kills the cat !!!”

Such incidents make one fit and strong to survive amongst Pioneers and fade away smiling, with sweet memories to savor for the rest of ones life!!!

                                                        -Col Ravi R Nair (Retd)-

                                                      (23^rd Commanding Officer)
                                                                     (Fighting First)