The Truth Catches Up

KALMADI SHOWN THE DOOR FOR GOOD

While the supposed final nail in the coffin of the credentials of Mr Suresh Kalmadi, as a sports aficionado and administrator has been put, with his loss in the elections held to select the President of the Amateur Athletics Association of Asia (AAA); it is a wonder when the investigating and judicial authorities in the country will charge and prosecute him for his intent to cheat and criminally profit from contracts, given to suppliers during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. It is said of the law that it moves like an ass, but the prolonged delay in framing a charge sheet to proceed against Kalmadi for his acts of commission and omission is a tad too long and inexplicable. The tragedy of the country is its recalcitrance and dithering to act against venal and criminally culpable politicians, goons who help make the fortunes of politicians, celebrities and those corporate houses, which curry favour with the league of scoundrels.

The memory of Kalmadi, shown on television and threatening the channel with a defamation suit in the courts of the Capital, seems so ironical now, with his stature and power cut to size by his political party and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which he headed for 15 years. His, probably last attempt to resurrect himself as a sports administrator, by seeking a fourth tenure as President of the AAA did not work out for him. Even though he has the reputation of being able to pull the rabbit out of the hat, his defeat must have surprised quite a many of those whom he had cultivated by dispensing favours and offering freebies, while he was in power and wielded authority. One wonders if providence intervened in the process of these elections, wherein 7 votes were declared invalid in a close margin of 20 - 18, which Brigadier Hamad won. The result of these elections was a great relief for the sportspersons of India, who were saved their dignity and pride. Kalmadi, would no more haunt and cast his pompous shadow over the firmament of athletics, which had at one time propelled him to his grip over the coveted chair of President IOA.

The fall of Kalmadi from grace was as meteoric as was his rise, when he rose from the ranks of the Youth Congress into mainstream politics and jettisoned his association with his mentor and Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, to create his own coterie and political following. His tenure as a parliamentarian brought him into the corridors of power in Delhi and like some others of his ilk, was sucked into the power game of sports administration. His first port of entry was the Indian Amateur Athletics Association (IAAF), from where he leap frogged into the domain of the IOA and held sway till he was put into the Tihar Jail, in the wake of alleged corruption charges slapped against him by the country’s top investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Kalmaid’s political fortunes were on the rise and he even held the portfolio of a Railway Minister in Rajeev Gandhi’s government. He had very assiduously cultivated his parliamentary constituency, Pune and continues to represent it in the Lok Sabha. The Congress – NCP alliance government, which is presently in Maharashtra, has in it Kalmadi loyalists from Pune. Therefore, quite understandably, there was a mass demonstration and rallies were taken out in support of Kalmadi, when he was released on bail from the Tihar Jail. To his following, this man could do no wrong and had given to Pune its modern look and infrastructure. One wonders, what will be the outcome, when he contests the general elections, which are just around the corner in 2014. Given the standing of the pathetic opposition to the Congress Party’s most likely candidate, which most probably will be Kalmadi, it is unlikely that he could be defeated and will yet again be elected to the Lok Sabha. It seems, corruption continues to remain a non issue with the Indian electorate, which discounts this failing in our polity as a minor lapse.

However, irrespective of what happens in the battle of the ballot, as and when it takes place: the Indian sporting fraternity is happy and pleased with the outcome of the result to the post of the President AAA. It now seems that all routes for Kalmadi’s return into sports administration have been effectively blocked. To me personally, this gives great joy because while I was in service in the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB), he handed out very shoddy treatment to those who stood up to his devious machinations and realpolitik in Indian sports and indulged those who were willing to suck up to his fiat, even when it was detrimental to the interests of the parent organization they served in and sports. Kalmadi, had a knack of cultivating those who were weak of spine and convictions and sucked up to him for egotistical reasons. He used his protocol as a parliamentarian to exploit the resources of the Army and the Services and gave scant respect to the organizational hierarchy. Of course part of the blame rests with those who were happy to ride his bandwagon, but that was how he practiced his expediency and politics in sports management and administration.

 It is a welcome news for the country, that the heavyweight which Kalmadi had become in the firmament of Indian Sports, has finally been shown the door.  

Brigadier S D Dangwal

5339, W 64^th Street

Ridgeview Drive

Edina

Minneapolis

Minneasota,

US of A

The Ruin of Uttarakhand

THE HEDGE THAT EATS ITS OWN LAWN – THE UTTARAKHAND GOVERNMENT

We, Dangwals, who hail from the village of Khasetti in the Bhilangana valley, in Ghansalli tehsil of Tehri Garhwal are like many others from Uttarakhand, who have migrated from the hills to the plains, many years back. Albeit, the migration still continues, only because the reason for doing so continues to remain and torment the young and the old, alike. Development, as one understands its apparent and implied meaning has not touched the heartland of Uttarakhand, in the manner and content it should have, since the inception of the State. The empty and hollow promises that were made and given to the credulous people of the hills for carving out Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh, were just but slogans, motivated by  political expediency, than genuine concerns which impacted life and living in the mountains.

 A commission into the Army and the Garhwal Rifles in 1971, just prior to the momentous war fought in erstwhile East Pakistan and the Western Front, gave me an opportunity to understand and serve with the ‘Bhullas’, who hail from the interiors and hill regions of the State. These boys and men are tough, simple, docile, God fearing, intelligent and morally righteous people, who pride their integrity and honesty with an exceptional sense of propriety. My own roots and the penchant to discover my background, enthused me to take as many opportunities as I could to travel and live with the villagers in Garhwal. Moreover, my father’s occupation as a forester in the Indian Forest Service and his many postings in Pauri, Chakrata, Haldwani, Nainital, Utarkashi and Mussoorie had already given me an exposure to living here, though in the comforts of bungalows and rest houses and with the perks which attend upon a Forest officer. Thus, I am privy to life and living in the higher reaches of Garhwal and understand the trials and tribulations of its people.

It was while I was attending a mountaineering course in the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, that I got a firsthand look into the construction of the controversial Tehri Dam, which was conceived as early as 1950 and was one in the series of Nehru’s ‘Temples of Modern India’. Tehri township was to be submerged and obliterated from the landscape, in a watery burial. The road from Rishikesh, Narendra Nagar, Agrakhal and Chamba was a continuous flow of heavy trucks and material, descending upon the Dam site. Excavation, blasting, digging, transportation  and construction activity was happening on a 24 x 7 mode, to the extreme discomfiture of all those, who knew what a blunder it was in the making and at the cost of the people, life and its habitat. The run of the water dams which had been built and were operational upstream on the Bhagirathi near Uttarkashi, had already disrupted the ecology of the region. But, the government and its administration was too hardnosed about yielding to any pressure from the environmentalists and giving a rethink to its flawed understanding of making rock filled dams of such size and proportions as the Tehri Dam, in a fragile eco system, such as obtains here. Notwithstanding the makings of a future disaster in this region, what sunk into my psyche and understanding was the manner in which the people of this region had been sucked into the quagmire of insidious corruption, which was flourishing and prospering under the guise of development. The local people, who were till now not involved in the shenanigans of the woolly practice of the contractor – engineer nexus, that prevailed and proliferated exponentially, were diabolically seduced into the money game of ill gotten wealth. The local farmer, wet behind the ears entrepreneur and small time shopkeeper gravitated into the whirlpool of easy money, which was available for plunder and loot from the government’s kitty. Most had been rubbed off by the unethical practices of cheating, corruption, venality, lack of rectitude and probity in business dealings. The change was happening and it was for the worse. The people of this region were reprehensibly impaled by deviousness and their character took a beating from the happenings which had engulfed the hills in the wake of the Hydro Electric Projects, that were mushrooming all over the valleys of Bhagirathi, Bhilangana and the Alaknanda . What took centuries to make and carve was now being destroyed by the lure for lucre, irrespective of the means to it. Not only was the topography of the region changing, but the character and moral uprightness of its people, which stood out as its distinguished feature had been scarred and dented in every which way. The generation which was witness to this rampant change in the mind set of the hill people, became the custodians of the government’s writ, which ran through its bureaucracy and officialdom in most aspects of public institutions. This has made Uttarakhand a haven for corruption, which works from the panchayat, tehsil, block and district level upwards to subsume the pathetic vision and functioning of the State government. Today, Uttarakhand has the disgusting and ignoble honour of being the second most corrupt State, after Uttar Pradesh in the country.

The stink and nausea of brazen corruption in almost all functions of the revenue, law enforcing and justice dispensing authorities in the lower level bureaucracy, who provide interface to the people with the government , is beyond cleansing. The situation has become quite hopeless and there is despair in the people. Not only has the ecology of the Himalayas been incontrovertibly fiddled with and destroyed, but the character of its people been permanently assailed and manipulated to horrendous and pathetic levels of acceptance. Greed when practiced as a State policy at the cost of symbiotic and sustainable development, not only kills but it destroys the culture and character of its people. What Uttar Pradesh could not do to the integrity of the Garhwalis and the Kumaonis, the government of Uttarakhand has managed to do in little less than 14 years of its existence. Like the ecology of Uttarakhand, the character of its people has taken a severe beating at the hands of the Neta – Babu – Contractor nexus, never to pride itself on its sterling quality of strength of Character, its once embellishing trait. The manner in which the huge aid and finances will get utilized in the rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes, in the aftermath of the situation which prevails in Uttarakhand, will be a telling testimony to my analysis. Utarakhand today requires President’s Rule under an able administrator, who can reconstruct and resurrect it to its glory.

Brigadier S D Dangwal

5339, W 64 Street

Ridgeway Drive

Edina

Minneapolis

Minnesota, 55439

U S A

Tele 612 -747 -5738

The Ruin of Uttarakhand

MY HEART CRIES FOR MY PEOPLE AND MY UTTARAKHAND

The humongous tragedy that has struck the affected districts of Uttarakhand is the beginning of the end of the Congress party in the State. While in the political system which obtains in the country, the alternative to the Congress is a Hobson’s choice, and is the BJP. Not that it is any better than the existing Party, which comprises the government of Uttarakhand. But, in a morbid political system which abounds in the country and the States, politics is no more a people’s thing, that provides good governance and serves the needs and interests of the people. It is about power, arrogance, venality, self and plunder of the country’s resources, behind the veil of a republican democracy.  This is the manner in which the National and Regional political parties have interpreted the meaning and purport of democracy, and have hoodwinked the rural and semi urban masses by playing the card of religion, caste, creed and faith to ensnare them into exercising their ballot in favour of one party or the other. Political empowerment without social and economic empowerment has been the bane of this country. The Congress which has been in power and has formed the government in the Centre as also the States, for a greater part of the 65 years since we became independent from British rule, is the main perpetrator of this imbalance and has further exacerbated the situation by its flawed policies and a completely subjective interpretation of secularism in a pluralistic polity. Politics in India has not evolved but instead either remained stagnant or else deteriorated to abysmal levels of muscle and money power, which gets factored into the matrix of a populous vote bank strategy.

When Uttarakhand was given State hood in 1999 and Dehra Dun became its interim Capital, there was a complete vacuum in political leadership.  The able bodied or else those who were capable and had found their various callings in the country’s  mainstream activity in commerce, industry or public and private service were pre occupied and far removed from the opportunity that thus arose. Those who were left behind to dabble in kitchen, local, panchayat and municipal level of politics were thrown up by a quirk of fate to take centre stage and guide the destiny of Uttarakhand.  Thus, the quality of the political leadership which emerged was inadequate and challenged in its perception, about what should be the centre of gravity for the inclusive and wholesome development of Uttarakhand. The bureaucracy which side stepped from the Uttar Pradesh cadre was average and unaware of the demands of a hill State. The mix of these two categories of people who were responsible for and entrusted with the governance of Uttarakhand, made a complete mess of their charge and planned for its covert  destruction.

Real estate and property which had by now established itself as the main source of wealth elsewhere, in other developing and progressive States of the country, became a catchment for wealth in Uttarakhand too. And this is where the combined avarice and lust for lucre in the political class and the bureaucracy manifested itself. The Neta, Secretary, Collector, Developer and Builder nexus mushroomed and proliferated in an exponential manner, virtually raping the natural resources and putting a mix of iron and concrete where there was none earlier. Sustainable and symbiotic development in an environmentally and ecologically sensitive zone/area should have been the bottom line for all developmental work, but who cared? It was the money which was pouring into the coffers of the government’s representatives, from the spout of the land and construction mafia, which mattered. This is all that was of concern to this category of public servants, who have today become the merchants of death of the thousands who have lost their life in the present deluge and catastrophe. The topography of the Bhagirathi, Bhilangana and Alaknanda valleys has been permanently and irreversibly changed by the construction activity, which has besieged these areas; and all this in the name of generating hydro electric power from the river waters for the industrial demands of India. Uttarakhand and its people are paying a huge price for this demand; by their life and livelihood. How callous and hardnosed can the government be to those very people whom it has vouched to serve and protect.

While it is not my brief to canvass for the political fortunes of any political party, but the two governments which were headed by Narain Dutt Tiwari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, as also the present one of Vijay Bahugana, are guilty of the crimes of culpable homicide and of destroying the livelihood and culture of Garhwal, for which they should be proceeded against in either the courts of the country or else the people’s court.  My heart cries for my people and I appeal to those who feel similarly, to strengthen social activism against corruption and plunder of natural resources in Uttarakhand.

Brigadier S D Dangwal

5339,W 64^th Street

Ridgeview Avenue

Edina

Minneapolis

Minnesota 55439

   

The Ruin of Uttarakhand

WILL THERE BE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL IN UTTARAKHAND?

While the most degenerating thing about time is its capacity to destroy the moment, yet its most profound quality is to recreate the past. It was during the hill people’s agitation to demand statehood for itself, from the administratively unmanageable and geographically abundant Uttar Pradesh, that the then Chief of Army Staff, late Gen Bipin Chandra Joshi had brought the matter about the atrocities committed by the State administration upon the agitationists, to the notice of the Raksha Mantri. The reason for doing so was to urge the Minister to intervene and persuade the UP Chief Minister to allay the fears and foreboding in the minds of the vast numbers of soldiers who hail from the region, about the safety and security of their kith, kin and brethren, who live in the villages of the hill districts of Garhwal and Kumaon, to which they belong. It was the Chief’s view that, should the situation not be handled in a politically correct and compassionate manner, there was a very likely possibility of the troops from the hill districts deserting their posts and units en masse, to be with their people in their time of distress and need. While that did not happen and political sagacity prevailed in the Centre and the State governments respectively, Uttarakhand was carved out from the eight districts of Garhwal and Kumaon region of Uttar Pradesh and Nitya Nand Swami became its first Chief Minister. There was a sense of great joy and celebration among the people, who thought this to be the first step towards the alleviation of their woes and miseries. The political decision which was forced upon the people of the hills by making it a part of the State of Uttar Pradesh had to an extent been redressed. There was new hope for these people, which was rooted in their belief that the political leadership which now emerged to fill the void, would be driven by a sense of service and empathy towards those causes, which  midwifed  the birth of Uttarakhand. But that was not to be, as politics in India is driven more by double speak, hypocrisy, corruption and a vote bank strategy, which subsumes and destroys all ideology and waters down party manifestos. The politics which emerged in Uttarakhand was no different and expediency rather than rectitude and probity took centre stage, to further exacerbate the pitiful condition, which continues to abound in the villages in the higher reaches of the State. Poor infrastructure, scarcity of water and power, paucity of worthwhile schools and colleges, absence of quality hospitals and medical facilities, a committed bureaucracy, continuous migration of the youth from the villages in search of employment, want of vision in the local civil authorities to regulate wanton construction activity under the garb of development and failure on the part of the government to promote sustainable growth and capitalise on the intrinsic potential of the region for pilgrim, adventure, cultural and eco tourism,  have been the  bane of  Uttarakhand

It was social activism, which saved the forest cover of the State that stands at 65% of the total land mass and gave to the country its environment and ecology driven revolution, under the name of ‘Chipko Andolan’ . In the ecologically sensitive and fragile Himalayan Region, deforestation can bring about disaster of mammoth proportions. Had the ‘Chipko Andolan’ not happened, one can well imagine the gravity of destruction that would have visited the regions, which have been badly affected in the recent deluge. It is an interesting observation, which one can make in Uttarakhand that in those areas of economic/commercial activity where the government has no business to be in, it is and where it should be effective and exercise regulation, it is absent. The Garhwal and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigams are a testimony to this and have bulwarked quality development of tourism, in its many ramifications. There is no regulatory authority in the State which oversees land use and construction activity, which is the biggest money earner for the politicians and the bureaucracy. The pressure of construction activity in the ecologically fragile region of the hills has made these areas extremely vulnerable to any weather or else seismic occurrences and the government is party to this chaos which is unfolding itself in Uttarakhand. The politicians as also the bureaucracy of the State are in cahoots to siphon as much money as they can from the various mafias, who have transferred their many illicit operations from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh into Uttarakhand. The bureaucracy, which is largely imported from the parent State and is neither competent or else passionate about the well being of Uttarakhand, is comfortable and secure with the thought of making hay while the sun shines and then reverting back to their places of domicile, on superannuation on retirement.  

I can only think of the state of mind of the soldiers who hail from the hill districts of Garhwal and Kumaon,in the wake of the disaster that has visited Uttarakhand. Would it be any different from what General Joshi had thought it to be then? The only difference being that it was Mulayam Singh Yadav who was Chief Minister then and now it is Vijay Bahuguna, a son of the soil and son of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna. This is the Uttarakhand, which the people thought then would be a panacea for most of their problems, but instead has been worse than what it was. Will we see a light at the end of the tunnel in Uttarakhand? I doubt.

Brigadier S D Dangwal

5339, W 64 Street

Ridgeview Drive

Edina

Minneapolis

Minnesota, 55439

United States of America

001-612-747-5738

The Ruin of Uttarahand

STAND UP FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE HILLS OF UTTARAKHAND

It’s an early morning here in Minneapolis and with the time zone difference of 11 ½ hours between here and India, it would be sometime in the evening there. We are in touch with the local news about happenings in Dehra Dun and Uttarakhand, in particular. The early arrival of the monsoons in North India and the fury with which it heralded its coming, lashing out with unmitigated ferocity in the five districts of the State, causing great loss to both life and property, is indeed unfortunate and a matter of serious concern for its people. The unpreparedness of the State Administration and the much talked about Disaster Management Organisation, to cope with the situation as and when it occurs, is appalling, to say the least. The government and its machinery is more than aware of the huge disarray rains cause to public life during the pilgrim season, which loosely speaking coincides with the onset of monsoons in North India. But, there is no dearth of excuses, which is belted out by the elected representatives, who are given a mandate to govern and administer as also to safeguard the interests of the masses. With more than 50,000 pilgrims stranded and caught up in traffic snarls and jams on the roads, which service the four centres of Hindu pilgrimage viz Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamnotri located in the Garhwal Himalayas; is the worst publicity for the fledgling State, which has fallen woefully short of realising the purpose of its creation. And, this has more or less become a recurring feature of the State Government’s failure to plan, prepare and engage with the situation arising from a natural weather phenomenon. There seems to be no political will to address the foremost responsibility of its leaders, which for sure must and should be aligned to protect and promote the interests of its indigenous population, which resides in the hills and villages of Uttarakhand. The implosion which is round the corner in the few cities of the State, that have been bequeathed by the State Government to real estate prospectors and land sharks, is another testimony to the avarice of our politicians, cutting across party lines and political ideologies. There seems to be a huge mental deficit in the perception of the State’s Bureaucracy, to understand the manner and design in which to bring about development, that lends itself to the geography, ecology,  topography and culture of Garhwal and Kumaon. Things as they are today can only predict for itself a disaster, which is waiting to happen in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand, where the fundamental principle of symbiotic existence has been long discarded in the subterfuge and stupidity of development practices; which better serve regions as are distinct and different from what obtains and exists here.

The State of Minnesota and the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, in which we presently are to be with our son and family is a verdant expanse that embraces both; concrete co located with gardens, parks, open spaces, state highways, city roads, commercial centres, numerous water bodies and well planned and laid out housing avenues, that enhance beauty and celebrate nature in its abundant glory. This is what memory helps me to recollect from within the deep recesses of my mind and draw a somewhat broad comparison with the once upon a time Dehra Dun, with its forest cover, orchards, streams and swathes of open spaces in which children played and gamboled towards adulthood. That has been ruined by those who wrested Statehood from Uttar Pradesh for its people with the conviction of “Meeting the Aspirations of the Hill Folks”. Fertile land with productive top soil has been sold out for profit, only to create jungles of concrete instead. The avarice of the political leadership in the State coupled with the crass hunger for money in the ethically and morally challenged colonizers and developers, who have eked out hugely profitable deals for themselves through the practice of crony capitalism; has transformed the city’s landscape into a visual monstrosity and a cesspool of corruption. The revenue officials, MDDA and Municipal authorities, middle and lower rung bureaucracy, real estate agents and all those who can manipulate and manoeuvre the system to accrue an advantage for themselves, are laughing all the way to their banks and caches of slush money at the expense of what is left of the natural beauty of Dehra Dun and other cities, towns and villages which are its distinguishing feature. One truly wonders where all this unabated construction activity, which is happening in the absence of any committed and honest regulatory mechanism to oversee the same and stall the plunder of nature and its many trappings, will lead the State in the very near and immediate future.

The anger and despondency of the people, at the state of affairs, which the State is besieged with, must come out with full force and measure in every aspect of public life and demand their right to a secure and dignified living. This is the time when the people of the economically vibrant and developed cities must come together on a common platform with the people of the hills, to give a voice which is in unison with that of the latter. When the interests of the burgeoning middle class, which makes a life and living in towns, cities and metropolises are affected, the streets, roads and plazas must witness an ocean of human agitation. But, the same should also happen when their own countrymen, women and children are marginalized by the callous hearted political leadership and the cringing bureaucracy, that only knows how to bulwark it’s own turf and interests. This should become an inclusive cause of all people of Uttarakhand and not just those who are afflicted by the indifference and misgovernance of the State Government. It is then and only then that, there will be a hope to prevent the situation from becoming a human tragedy of immense proportions, which will engulf all and without exceptions, in the years to come.

Brigadier S D Dangwal

5339, 64^th W Street, Ridgeview Drive

Edina, Minneapolis

Minnesota, 55439

USA

Telephone No 001 612-747-5738

A TRIBUTE TO HABIBULLAH AND DARSHAN

THE NDA HEIST AND DARSHAN SINGH

During my tenure as an instructor in the NDA, I chanced upon some archival albums of this institution displayed in the office of the Squadron Commander of Charlie Squadron; Major Anil Talwar a cavalry man from the Hodson’s Horse. Therein is a quote from the fourth commandant, Maj Gen E Habibullah who was at its helm from 07 Jan 53 to 26 Dec 58, which must surely epitomise the objective and purpose of cadet’s training; in this cradle of military leadership. According to him the laudable aim of the NDA is to produce “such future leaders and officers in the armed forces of the country, who are imbued with a sense of righteousness, which is inevitably combined with the daring do of a street fighter, who has evolved from a rich harvest of naughtiness and mischief; quite contrary to those who are wary of some healthy horseplay, lest it detracts from their being acknowledged as an officer and a gentleman”. It could not have been worded better, to expound what reams of written words are unable to convey. I was then with my 20 years of service behind me, so taken up by the perspicuity of thought of Maj Gen Habibullah, who knew the essence of cultivating the mainspring of character driven leadership in the alumni of NDA.

The ‘Mausambi’ and ‘Ganna’ raids by cadets in Pirangut and Kondwa villages, climbing atop the Sudan Block Dome and placing a pith hat on the lightning conductor, sneaking into camps Green-  horn and Rover by doing a bunk from the Academy and running cross country to reach there under the cover of darkness; just to get a share of the scrumptious ‘Tipsy Pudding’, raiding the NDA cafe when it was run on contract, staying in Hotel Taj in Mumbai for a night by conning the staff, dancing and drinking in the discotheque ‘Crystal Room’ and walking out from there without making any payment, walking into a fashion show in Colaba without tickets by hoodwinking the security, drinking and dining at the pleasure of the organizers  and clandestinely sneaking women of easy virtue into cadet cabins for a night of amorous pleasure; were some of the things which cadets did on their own, quite in keeping with the spirit of what has been stated afore. While the structured and un-structured training provided us with the physical, mental and moral wherewithal to become fit and robust, it was these shenanigans which we cadets indulged in of our own volition,that provided us an opportunity to experiment with and validate our learning in a real time scenario. The cost we had to pay, if discovered, was calibrated in keeping with the discretion of the disciplinary authorities and could be anything from ‘Restrictions’, ‘Sinhgarh Hikes’, ‘Relegation’ and ‘Withdrawal’. But yet we took the risk of going ahead with our intent, only because it challenged our youth to write its own story.

It was when Darshan Singh was the PTO, that a heist was successfully attempted in the impregnable precincts of the Gymnasium, which was the other sanctum sanctorum of training, in tandem with the Drill Square in the NDA. The PT and Sports store, which abuts the Gymnasium, is stocked with kit, equipment and sundry items valued at some good cost.  The store has a wooded door and many windows and ventilators, secured by iron grill. At the end of the day, the door is bolted and secured by a huge lock, which is further sealed in a cloth bag with a wax seal. Then CHM MV Kannan, a wiry and curly haired balding madrasi, was the NCO I/c Store. It was on a Monday morning, when CHM Kannan opened the lock of the store and pushed ajar the door, that his intuitive sense told him that all was not well. A running glimpse of the shelves revealed that things had gone missing. Burdened with the onerous responsibility of being the store keeper and with the fear of repercussions, which he would invite upon himself from the gigantic looking Darshan Singh, Kannan broke into a cold sweat. He meticulously inspected the shelves and its accompanying Bin Cards, to tally what was existing and what was not. The list of missing items started swelling and very soon the nomenclature and quantity of things which had been picked up was ready for the perusal of the PTO. Kannan then made his report to Darshan Singh, but was unable to establish the point of entry and exit of the person(s) who had made good with the stolen items, as there was nothing apparently visible to the naked eye. It was in these situations that the investigative mind and brilliance of Darshan Singh came to the fore and he went about his investigation in a clinical manner, till he chanced upon an iron grill in the ventilator, which was missing. The opening provided just about enough space for someone to slip in and out from the gap. QED. This had to be the ingress and egress route of the thief (s). The list of things gone missing from the store included such items as golf balls, golf clubs, cricket, tennis, squash and hockey balls, tennis and squash rackets, cricket bats, anklets, football goalkeeper gloves, stop watches etc. The job had been brilliantly executed with no tell tale signs left to take leads from. This was Darshan’s greatest challenge; to catch the thief (s) who had dared to invade his bastion and commit robbery from his store. How could Darshan Singh be cocked a snook at? A FIR was lodged by the Security Officer of the NDA with the Uttamnagar Police Station. In the interim Darshan had sent a word to all the sports dealers who did business with NDA, to keep a look out for any sports goods finding its way to their shops for resale, and should it so happen then to inform him immediately about the same. The matter went into a bit of a stalemate, with nothing either coming up as any evidence or else an alarm from any of the many sports dealers.

While matters continued to be routine in the NDA for some time since this heist, the ring of Darshan’s residential phone one afternoon brought him up from his bed and shook him awake from his sweet stupor. It was the call; he was most impatiently waiting for. Mr Grover of Rovers Sports on Main Street, Pune was very excited to tell him that some of his cadets had come over to the shop about ten minutes back and were making very discreet enquiries about the sale of some premium branded sports items. They had left a list of certain items with him to demand a price quote from him and walked out with the promise to get back after an hour. The items were by and large what had been stolen from the sports store some time back. Darshan, directed his friend and dealer to ask the cadets to come to his shop on the following Sunday, with all the items they were desirous to sell. The price could be agreed upon and negotiated once the items were in the shop. The trap had been laid by the wily old fox Darshan, who was to us cadets a colossus beyond belief.

On the fixed day and time, the three cadets walked into Rovers with two kit bags full of sports goods, with the intent to strike a deal and make good with the money paid as compensation. The bags were opened and the balls, clubs, rackets, stopwatches etc were laid out on the counter for the deal to be sealed. The cadets were absolutely ignorant about the fact that they had been sold out to Darshan by Mr Grover; who was all folded up and crouching behind the very same counter on which the wares were displayed. Darshan, who was quite updated on the nuances of law, waited for his chance to spring upon the ill fated trio to catch them red handed with the stolen property. Darshan, uncoiled himself from his perch behind the counter and sprung a surprise on the cadets by grabbing the wrists of two and staring down the third with his sardonic looks. The cadets were stunned by this surprise but were men enough to take their apprehension with due dignity and elan. They were down but not out. This was their learning curve to evolve into men from adolescents, who are characterised by their delinquencies.

It is no surprise then that these cadets lived a full career in the army and superannuated on retirement in the ranks of Lt Gen, Maj Gen and Colonel.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

The Writing Is On The Wall

INDIA IS POISED FOR A POLITICAL CHANGE – MAKE IT HAPPEN

Where have we moved as a nation in these 65 years since independence? That the country has been shamed beyond words in the tragedy which befell a young girl, whose modesty was outraged and she murdered by some of its very own men, who are nurtured on the freedom of democracy. The question which begs an answer from the people of India is, are we worthy of democracy and its accompanied freedom; as we have adopted for ourselves in our Constitution. And the answer, which is forthcoming from an honest attempt in response to this, is an emphatic NO. This was the apprehension of most social thinkers, world leaders and political scientists, who had wagered their bottom dollar on genuine and meaningful democracy, not prospering in India in the long run, because its people were not as yet prepared to understand its implications, in its entirety. The economic, social and class imbalance, which then existed in our society, did not suitably lend itself to the ennobling and empowering concept of adult political suffrage. That, it happened was a colossal contradiction that engulfed our political thought. However, the political leadership, which was then in the forefront of  society that emerged from the shackles of British Rule, was charged with and inspired by national idealism, steeped in rectitude and probity. This, initially, and to a large extent compensated for any lack of ability among the Indian people, to comprehend and imbibe the essence of their role and active participation in this form of a governmental dispensation. India, adopted the British system of parliamentary democracy, which today has been subverted by the political class; who short-changed its people by manipulating the provisions of our Constitution by unleashing a virtual democracy, which was propped up on the divisive calculation of religion, caste, creed, class, parochialism, language etc intrinsic in a multi ethnic and multi cultural populace. India was kept largely illiterate and disempowered,  by design, rather than the existence of any insurmountable problem, which was an impediment towards the social empowerment of its people. The second generation of the country’s political leadership was happy with the thought of appealing to the emotive instincts and ephemeral survival needs of the people. Politics got criminalised and corruption was institutionalised. The three pillars of our parliamentary democracy were whittled down to become selectively effective, depending upon the desire of our political masters who subverted these to their advantage and interpretations. This is where we stand as a Nation, today.

In the aftermath of the liberalisation of the country’s economy and an end to the license permit raj, we are poised at the intersection of hope and gloom, of individual aspiration and frustrating institutional failure. The successes are weighed down by the failings, which stem from the failings of the political class and the bureaucracy that is supposed to complement the former. The political class lacks the vision to make course corrections for the larger good of the country and its people, as also courage to face the crisis which confronts society and the Nation. For democracy to survive and for India to prosper, the political leadership must be driven by the public good than private dividend. Corruption, national and individual security, water, energy, poverty, hygiene and sanitation, federalism, casteism and many more critical concerns will become chronic impediments in the commensurate progress and development of an India, which is on the threshold of becoming a world player in the comity of nations. Even at the cost of being seen and read as a Cassandra, it is my firm belief that should the country not be jolted from this state of political quagmire, which exists presently in our polity; we are living and sitting on a disaster waiting to happen. It will be too late then for much to be done to arrest the fallout of the disaster, we as a people will have invited upon ourselves. All will be equal stakeholders for the tragedy that is most likely to befall the country in the coming decade or so. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, and hence the present stares each one of us to come out of our comfort zones and degenerate our despair with the political system that obtains in India, with a purposeful alternative, which could even be anarchy, followed by an authoritarian dispensation.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

+919410900051