Spring term of 1974 at the National Defence Academy. I was a third termer and the 51st course had joined in the second week of January. Among the 16 guys who'd joined H for Hunter Squadron was a tall lanky sardar named, Rajinder Bir Singh Gill. He was an all rounder in sports and games and I specifically remember him gliding gracefully, over the bar, during the high jump and pole vault events, during athletics. He was a sober and a gentle person and because of this aspect, even his course mates were surprised when he became the Cadet Sergeant Major (CSM) of his squadron during his 6th term at the Academy.
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The message that came at 0628 hrs, this morning on the What'sApp group of my naval course mates, was from Rohit Kaushik and I qoute, "Friends. Our dear friend RBS has left us forever". It numbed me and all the subsequent calls and messages wishing me Thiruvonam greetings, actually didn't register.
We had our course get together at Bhubaneswar during 09-12 Nov '19. We were put up at the 'Empires' Hotel and those three days were memorable with us revisiting our association from the Academy days. Rajinder Bir Singh Gill and Pritpal were among us and it was fun time! A couple of weeks later the couple had gone over to Goa for the entire course get together. During that time he had got fascinated with yoga and promised to practice it everyday, on return.
He was settled at Panchkula and his daily exercises included a round of golf early in the morning, rounded off with a 5 km walk in the evening. He was fit and therefore, the subsequent events just did not add up.
It was on the second day of the breathing exercise that one of his eyes had got bloodshot. It was because of a ruptured blood capillary and after medical check ups that followed, through a PET scan it was found that cancer had already spread from his kidneys to the liver to the bones and finally to the lungs. He was being medically managed for the last five and a half months when he contracted Covid, a few days back. Though he showed a slight improvement, RBS Gill passed into the mist of time - last night - around 0030 hrs/31 Aug.
I'd sent him a message on What'sApp yesterday and I quote, "Dear Gilda, You are a Hunter and a great fighter. The present difficulties shall pass and the pain will disappear. Take care, keep smiling! Affly, Rajeev. With prayers". His reply was a terse "Thanks" with three smiling emojis at about 1430 hrs yesterday. I believe he had replied to all the messages till around 2030 hrs last night! In hindsight, I see that I was trying to give him Dutch courage while he was already aware as to where he was headed!!
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There are many anecdotes concerning him during our long association in the IN beginning with our cadets' time on board the old INS Delhi, Midshipman's time on board the old INS Beas and the subsequent, Sub Lieutenant's courses.
What I'm gonna quote is an incident from our Midshipman days. We were going to the anchorage off Kochi one morning - all the Midshipmen were assigned as understudies to each of the part of ship officers during the evolution, as a matter of routine. He was under the charge of the Foxle officer and I happened to be the Captain's doggy. The starboard anchor was let go and the Bridge had asked the Foxle to indicate the way the cable was growing. Usually, during such times, the person is supposed to hold the small flag rolled up, held along the lay of his hand and point it towards the direction of the growth of the cable for the bridge to appreciate the strain, if any, on the cable and maneuver the ship accordingly to ease it.
For some reason, Gill had held the flag perpendicular to the lay of his hand and was trying to indicate the lay of the cable. I saw Commander H Sahney, going red in his face and asked me to follow him to the foxle and on reaching the starboard chain platform on which Gill was standing, sized his 6 foot+ frame from head to toe and said,"I'll kick you on your head".
It remains a secret, even to this day, as to why the Commanding Officer had chosen Gill's head for his intended kick!
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Gill has gone away with a promise unfulfilled. Sometime back, he'd told me about a group photograph during his primary school days at the Naval Primary School, Colaba, Bombay - during 1962-'63 - which featured his class II with their class teacher (and my mom), Ms Chandramathy Nair. He said that there was an uncanny resemblance in our looks!
RIP Gilda. My salute to a Squadron mate, a course mate and a good friend with tears and prayers. May Pritpal and the boys have the strength to tide over these stressful times.
PS.
His funeral will be held at 0800 hrs tomorrow morning following the Covid protocol. I shall pray for him, here, during that time.......And whose leg do I pull from now on?
Tailpiece.
Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. Sathiamma had sent our lunch add ons by 1100 hrs. Lekha had organised a perfect 'sadya'. Like she did yesterday, she made a 'pookkalam' today too, which was nice!
It was a heavy television viewing day today. The children's 'Top Singer' musical reality show came to an end this evening! It was good.
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