Idhar Udhar Ki Baat

  “At four-thirty we give bed tea, and even then one odd fellow is still trickling in for PT parade at six-thirty. How do you expect us to be ready for operations in two and a half hours in the operations area?” The Subedar Saab said in disbelief. His remark came after I explained that our formation commander had announced during a sand-model discussion that we can mobilise in half the time. Perhaps he wanted to impress his superior. Or perhaps he wanted to show down the neighbouring formation commander in front of his boss, who happened to be a strong proponent of the fashionable doctrine of the day — Cold Start . But the Subedar knew soldiers better than any of us sitting around that sand model. “Saab, our Tambhis are very hygienic people. They like to bathe properly, shave carefully, brush their teeth and freshen up before stepping out. Some of them spend five minutes just cleaning their tongue, making all those guttural sounds. Only after that do they feel ready to fa...