Eavesdropping on Radio Conversations

October 9, 2024

As I dive deep down into my academy days, the most interesting aspects of training were the practical lessons on Radio Telephony. I fondly recall how we used to sit in an open ground in small groups trying to converse with each other on the army radio sets. Our instructors...

How Hazaribag and its Stadium Got Complete Makeover and Earned ‘OUF’ Tag

April 26, 2024

My heart came to my mouth when I gaped at my jaw-dropping posting order in December 2016 with a deadpan expression on my visage. ‘Report to Hazaribag forthwith to raise a new NCC Group along with new NCC battalions’, amplified the ominous army telegram. I was befuddled as I and...

When a Meitei saved a Kuki Comrade and Muslim Soldiers Contributed toward the Hindu temple

April 19, 2024

It was a harsh winter in January 2013. The place was Churachandpur in Manipur which has grabbed the eyeballs of the nation for the past few years for all the wrong reasons. It has been the centre of gravity of the most horrific clashes between the Kukis and the Meiteis...

God – Sent Boon To Soldiers – The Spirited Sikhs

April 12, 2024

No Army officer can ever erase the memory of that historic day in his personal life, when all the cadets at the Indian Military Academy were allotted their respective choice of arms in their final term. The Military Secretary branch which allots the arms implements the principle of national integration...

The Lone Tree Which Survived the Axe

April 3, 2024

It was the peak of the harsh blistering summer in 2015. Chandimandir Military Station was getting geared and spruced up for the impending operational visit of our Chief, General Dalbir Singh Suhag. I was the one-star officer who was responsible for overseeing the presentation about ‘Operational Logistics’. Having prepared an...

When 27 Punjab spooked a Chinese Battalion

March 22, 2024

Due to political and diplomatic rationale during all the wargames and sand model discussions in the Indian Army our enemies on the Western and Northern borders have been monikered and given captivating names of ‘Nark’ and ‘Chandal’. I saw my army career taking off with me deployed as the company...

When a Muslim Captain Opted for ‘Bharat’

March 14, 2024

It is a well-known fact that many resources were proportionally divided between the two nations when Pakistan was carved out from our country. Similarly, coming to the Army Regiments, several battalions of the Punjab Regiment went to Pakistan while we retained a majority of them. I never knew about this...

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE IN THE HEART OF PUNJAB

February 29, 2024

It was bone-chilling cold on a foggy winter night in January 1974. It was my first night at the hostel of Punjab Public School, Nabha. A few hours back my parents had left me with a heavy heart as a fresh inductee in Class 5th who had just seen eight...

AN ARMY VETERAN’S PLEASURE OF KITE FLYING ON BASANT PANCHAMI

February 15, 2024

Today, for the first time, I savoured celebrating the day of Basant Panchami (14 Feb 24) outside the solitary confines of the cantonment. It turned out to be a unique discovery of Punjab for me. On D-day today, even the heavenly sun God displayed his magnanimity by bringing fulsome and...

How to Breathe new life into NCC?

February 8, 2024

Not many would know that in our country, the National Cadet Corps has a staggering strength of 13 lakh cadets on its rolls, while the Indian Army stands at approximately 12.5 lakhs. This is not a comparison but to highlight that we need to rise to the aspirations of a...