Our mobiles will stop ringing one day...

By Maj Gen AKS Sengar (Retd)

(Anil is my coursemate from NDA. He was one of the most upright officers of the Indian Army. We knew him for his toughness, his resilience and his ability to laugh at himself. But here we find his tenderheartedness. As the old adage goes: those who can can laugh at their own selves have their hearts in the right place. This piece is published here with his permission. )

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Rewind to  1978 , Lima Squadron, the National Defence Academy. The 58th  Course were in their second term, while we were in our final term.
There was this good natured,  likeable guy called Prabhu. He was a sweet 'Tambi'(as all guys South of the Vindhyas were called in the Academy), and like  most second termers, was limping about, all over. We were more like friends despite the huge chasm between a SCC (Squadron Cadet Captain) and a Second Termer. Prabhu was heavy so I would use him as my exercise tool, getting him to jump on my abdomen to enable me to test the condition of my core muscles after I did my ab crunches.  He had a peculiar voice that remained stored in my 'hard disk', even after passing out of the Academy and joining my Regiment after advanced training at the IMA.
Sometimes, while remembering my Academy Days,  I would wonder as to which Regiment my junior friend would be serving in.
35 years later,  when I was commanding my Division, I received a call from an unknown number. Instantly recognizing the familiar voice at the other end,  I queried, 'is  that Prabhu, 58 Lion?'  Yes Sir!  he confirmed.  Prabhu was surprised that  I could remember him and recognize his voice after over three decades.
I enquired about his Regiment and current status. He replied that he had been withdrawn from the NDA during his fourth term on medical grounds.  I asked him as to what was he doing now.

 He replied, ' I am waiting.'

   Not comprehending his reply, I asked him to elaborate.... waiting for what ?
   He replied calmly,  'waiting to die.'  That really stunned me!  One can never anticipate such a reply!

I asked him, 'why are you saying so?'  He replied, 'what ever can go wrong with a man, is wrong with me.'   Shaken,  I  told him that I would like  him  to come over  and spend some time with my family at our home. He replied that he was very eager to meet me and my family,  but was not in a condition to do so.
I asked him,  'why not?' He replied,  'I am chair bound. One leg has been amputed due to diabetes and the other is in danger. due to the same reason. My life alternates between my bed and my wheel chair.' Speaking to him,  I could visualize his innocent face  right in front of me. I asked him about his family. He replied that he could never get married because of his ailments.
I asked him as to where was he staying. He informed me that he was staying with his brother who was single.  I told him that I would definitely look him up whenever I could come down South.

We spoke twice a month. Two months later, when I called him up,  I got the reply.
'Please check the number you have dialled.The number does not exist.'

I came to know later,  from one of his Course Mates,  that he was no more!

Our numbers too, will also cease to exist one day. We can be grateful for the life that we have had. We keep quarrelling over silly things.
We can do a lot better and try to be better human beings while we still have the chance.
Best wishes
Anil Sengar

HEROINE IN THE BACKGROUND

By
Brig PS Gothra

“Don’t join Army or if you do, don’t get married,” said grandmother.
“Dadima, are you afraid that I will get killed? Or do you hate Army otherwise?”  Asked Sanjay. He had always been teasing her. But today he was seriously seeking her permission as he had qualified in the test for technical stream to join Army.
“No, I am not afraid. One can get killed anywhere. If I were a male, I would have loved to join army. But then I wouldn’t have got married. The Army has given us so much. But I am against your joining because you are going around with that beautiful girl. I don’t want her life to be spoiled by your joining Army.”
“Dadima, I have never been able to understand your confusing stance.”
“Sanjay, your grandfather was in the Royal Indian Army. While the second world war was on, we got the news that after a Japanese attack he is not traceable and presumed to be dead. Lot of people were taken prisoners by the Japanese and they had joined Azad Hind Fauj. Some of those people were communicating with their families. We found that your grandfather was not among those. After ten months my parents-in-law on the advice of relatives decided that I should marry my brother-in-law through a Chaadra ceremony. It used to be a truncated marriage ceremony for the widows where the male used to put a Chaadar (bedsheet) on the female to make it known to one and all that she is his responsibility.”
“How old were you?”
“I don’t know but at that time I had three children that is your father and two aunts.”
“It had your consent?”
“No, everyone presumed that I should have no objection. A day before the ceremony my brother-in-law's wife told me about the plan. She pleaded that we have had good relations so far and my sharing her husband will lead to all the acrimony among us. I agreed with her and created a scene. As a result, everyone was unhappy with me. The family was worried that due to my prime youth I may venture into a relationship with some other male. A meeting was called and a stricture was pronounced that I with my children will have to move to the outhouse, vacated by a servant recently and have to carry out all the menial jobs in the house like sweeping, cleaning utensils, cooking and washing clothes. It was a big house with at least thirty-five members so it became tiring,” said Dadima.
Sanjay could see the wet eyes of his grandmother. He said, “That was cruel. Your offence was that you lost your husband.”
“Still cruel was the fact that they didn’t allow my son to go to school when he turned five, because they thought that it will give me an excuse to move out of the house and interact with males. Initially my sister-in-law sympathized with me but later she was also barred from talking to me. I became very lonely.  Life was becoming hell. My parents came to me once in a year but because of the social pressure they didn’t have the courage to break my shackles. I was almost breaking down but every second day Guru Nanak appeared in my dreams telling me that things will be better. It kept me going for three years.”
“You should have run away from the place.”
“I thought of running away so many times but the thought of children losing inheritance prevented me from doing so.”
“I am sorry Dadima for teasing you all these days. But my father and the aunts are well educated how did it happen?”
“All these days a number of males in the village and within the extended family were trying to woo me into an illicit relationship. I ignored their ogling and advances. One day I was busy cleaning utensils. Those days we were using ash to clean the utensils. Someone came and stood in front of me. He was wearing military boots. I avoided looking at his face and kept working because I thought it must be one of those boys masquerading as army man to give another try to foster illicit relationship. But I saw him standing there even after three minutes. I got fed up and hit him on his leg with a utensil and screamed, “Go away.”
I got a shock of my life when that person said, “How can I go away? For you I have crossed seven seas and fought the Japanese and escaped their custody. I thought someone is masquerading as

your grandfather. I looked up and saw it was him only, but he was in a very bad state,” said Dadima and took a sip of water to wet her throat.
She continued, “A shiver went down my spine. It had been four long years since I had been living the life of a widow, widow of the man standing in front of me. For a moment, everything froze. In one stroke of luck I became a married woman, from an ostracized widow. I got up and hugged him, to feel my living, breathing husband. My ash smeared hands dirtied his uniform, probably telling my husband the tales of all the atrocities I had faced during all those years of separation. My husband could read our situation, which was amplified and made evident from the old and torn clothes me and my children adorned. I couldn’t help myself from crying and screaming, asking him why he ever left us. I was both happy and angry with him.”
“Dadima, did he say ‘I love you’”
“Those days you couldn’t say that in public. All he said was ‘You have spoiled my uniform’.”
“So, you felt sorry?”
“No, I just angrily said ‘Is it’. Because all the pains I had undergone was keeping the pride of his uniform intact. However, the life changed after that. But the memories of that bundle of miseries never left me. Soon my children also forgot about this and I never refreshed this because I never wanted them to develop disrespect for their grandparents. But today I feel relieved after narrating this story to you.”
Sanjay took Dadima's hand in his hand and said “Dadima I promise I will not join Army.”
She feebly said, “Go ahead join the Army, society has changed.” He could feel her hands getting cold.