Reminiscences of a man in uniform.
What is Army?
Army is :-
When a cold and shivering jawan gets you a cup of hot tea on a patrol break at 13,000 ft.
When your sixth sense tells you there is something wrong with a guy at 50 metres.
When you meet with an accident and the first thing you check is the serviceability of your legs.
When you speak the language of your boys.
When you sit from dusk to dawn in an ambush on Valentine's day, you know army is giving you the
red rose.
When you are a master at pump stove, lanterns, solar lights, bukharis and travelling in trains without
reservations.
When you know more about cramps and cold injuries than your average doctor.
When a girl in the pub is indicated by clock-ray method.
When only your sahayak can dig out the thing you want from your rucksack.
When your pain submits to your will.
When you find it funny when your relative says he's going on a holiday to a hill station.
When your profession is a matter of discussion during marriage proposals.
When you do not believe in ghosts but do believe in Peer Baba and other high altitude babas.
When you know the real meaning of camouflage, in field, in parties, in unit routine and in your own house.
When you can live anywhere, with anybody, on anything nature can offer.
When you know this LMG will be resited by everybody up the ladder, till it comes back to where you had sited it initially.
When somebody asks, "Do you play Golf?" and you look at the brass on your shoulder and say "Not yet".
When you are the biggest consumer of foot powder, DMP oil, water sterilization kit, ORS packets and Meals-Ready-to-Eat-in-the-Army.
When you give it all that you have got and some more.
When you are the only one to get trained in bayonet fighting. And expect it to happen.
When your girlfriend thinks you are Rambo, Commando, Gladiator and Braveheart, all rolled into one. Your Commanding Officer, by the way, thinks you are none.
When the Politician and the Bureaucrat state, "What is so special about the Army", without realizing that an Army-man can do their job, better than them, but they cannot do an Army-man's job and it is the same Army-man who bails them out whenever they fail.
When you get lost in a multiplex with signboards but are at ease in a jungle with a compass.
When you can die for, what you've lived for.
That's the great INDIAN ARMY.......People call it ARMY, We call it LIFE.
This is what is meant by being, "Unashamedly sentimental".
* * *
I've become a great fan of Wheelchair Basketball, of late, because a classmate of mine, Captain Louis George, IN is the national women's team's coach! Our class has adopted Ishrat Jahan from Kashmir!! Pinpointing her location at Anantnag, in Kashmir and making it possible for her to attend the coaching session in Madras - prior to the recently concluded Oceania Championship at Pattaya, Thailand - was thanks to the painstaking efforts of Colonel Isenhower, who is yet another classmate of mine.
SPORT CLASS
In wheelchair basketball, all players are classified accordingly to their level of injury/ability to move on the court.
The players who are agile and are able to perform all duties well - catching, bending, throwing etc get a classification of 4.5.
The lowest classification is 1.0
Spinal cord injury players are generally low classification players.
Players who are amputees are generally 4.5
During a match, the total classification of all the playing five should not exceed 14.0 points.
So classification points could be :-
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0 or
4.5
Spinal cord injury players are normally 2.0 or below.
Other injuries could be single leg amputee, double leg amputee, amputation below the knee, amputation above the knee, polio, spinal bifida, spinal cord injury etc.
Tailpiece.
A quiet Sunday. Lekha and I had gone to the super market, nearby, to purchase grocery just prior to lunch.
What is Army?
Army is :-
When a cold and shivering jawan gets you a cup of hot tea on a patrol break at 13,000 ft.
When your sixth sense tells you there is something wrong with a guy at 50 metres.
When you meet with an accident and the first thing you check is the serviceability of your legs.
When you speak the language of your boys.
When you sit from dusk to dawn in an ambush on Valentine's day, you know army is giving you the
red rose.
When you are a master at pump stove, lanterns, solar lights, bukharis and travelling in trains without
reservations.
When you know more about cramps and cold injuries than your average doctor.
When a girl in the pub is indicated by clock-ray method.
When only your sahayak can dig out the thing you want from your rucksack.
When your pain submits to your will.
When you find it funny when your relative says he's going on a holiday to a hill station.
When your profession is a matter of discussion during marriage proposals.
When you do not believe in ghosts but do believe in Peer Baba and other high altitude babas.
When you know the real meaning of camouflage, in field, in parties, in unit routine and in your own house.
When you can live anywhere, with anybody, on anything nature can offer.
When you know this LMG will be resited by everybody up the ladder, till it comes back to where you had sited it initially.
When somebody asks, "Do you play Golf?" and you look at the brass on your shoulder and say "Not yet".
When you are the biggest consumer of foot powder, DMP oil, water sterilization kit, ORS packets and Meals-Ready-to-Eat-in-the-Army.
When you give it all that you have got and some more.
When you are the only one to get trained in bayonet fighting. And expect it to happen.
When your girlfriend thinks you are Rambo, Commando, Gladiator and Braveheart, all rolled into one. Your Commanding Officer, by the way, thinks you are none.
When the Politician and the Bureaucrat state, "What is so special about the Army", without realizing that an Army-man can do their job, better than them, but they cannot do an Army-man's job and it is the same Army-man who bails them out whenever they fail.
When you get lost in a multiplex with signboards but are at ease in a jungle with a compass.
When you can die for, what you've lived for.
That's the great INDIAN ARMY.......People call it ARMY, We call it LIFE.
This is what is meant by being, "Unashamedly sentimental".
* * *
I've become a great fan of Wheelchair Basketball, of late, because a classmate of mine, Captain Louis George, IN is the national women's team's coach! Our class has adopted Ishrat Jahan from Kashmir!! Pinpointing her location at Anantnag, in Kashmir and making it possible for her to attend the coaching session in Madras - prior to the recently concluded Oceania Championship at Pattaya, Thailand - was thanks to the painstaking efforts of Colonel Isenhower, who is yet another classmate of mine.
SPORT CLASS
In wheelchair basketball, all players are classified accordingly to their level of injury/ability to move on the court.
The players who are agile and are able to perform all duties well - catching, bending, throwing etc get a classification of 4.5.
The lowest classification is 1.0
Spinal cord injury players are generally low classification players.
Players who are amputees are generally 4.5
During a match, the total classification of all the playing five should not exceed 14.0 points.
So classification points could be :-
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0 or
4.5
Spinal cord injury players are normally 2.0 or below.
Other injuries could be single leg amputee, double leg amputee, amputation below the knee, amputation above the knee, polio, spinal bifida, spinal cord injury etc.
Tailpiece.
A quiet Sunday. Lekha and I had gone to the super market, nearby, to purchase grocery just prior to lunch.
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