I superannuated on 30 November 2019. The day I retired I was reminiscing about my 31 years 11 Months in Olive Greens and had this insane urge to write about the first few months and my feelings as a fresh, newly minted Second Lieutenant in a Mechanised Infantry battalion of the Indian Army.
This is what I came up with:
Well!! most of us have someone who we look up to as inspiration... to join... (For me it was my dad's elder brother who took part in the liberation of Goa. He was awarded the VSM (Vishisht Seva Medal) and presented with a Pistol by the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru... For his youngest Son it was "Me")..... and then once you join... it's the men you command... they are the best..... Patriotism doesn't begin to cover it... It's more a feeling of Loyalty and Love for each other and mutual respect and "IZZAT" (Honor) that makes us do what you may find extraordinary.
To understand this you have to experience what we have gone through... Here's a story to help you understand the relationship between an officer and his men......
When I was awarded my commission, I thought I was one hell of a hotshot... you know... Commissioned Officer... men twice my age would stand to attention and salute me as I passed... I was on top of the world and really proud of what I had achieved... The feeling lasted till I had my first interview with my First CO (Commanding Officer). The "Old Man" as we call our COs (I was one till recently) said... "Welcome to the Battalion Mr Kaul... You are NOT an officer till you earn the rank... I have appointed you as Platoon Commander of 2nd Platoon, A Company, but you will have to earn your position in the hearts of your men... Till you do, you will stay with them... start off as the junior-most soldier of the platoon and work your way up from there."
To say the least, I was disgusted... but there was nothing I could do about it... the MAN had spoken.....
Long story short... It took 4 months for me to earn my promotions... from Sepoy (Private) to Lance Naik (Lance Corporal) to Naik (Corporal) to Havaldar (Sergeant) and then to the JCO rank (Junior Commissioned Officer)... while I did that, (Passing the promotion cadres with the men), I ate, drank, worked, trained, played, joked, was punished, laughed, cried, slept, and was taught with and by the men I was to command. I also took classes on Tactics and weapon training. In the bargain, they came to understand me and I, them... we got to know instinctively what the other was feeling... we got to understand each others' reactions to various stimuli, what pleased us... what angered us... in short, there were NO secrets between me and my men... It was like we connected at a subconscious level and they and I understood what we were feeling just by looking at each other.
We also won all the Inter Unit Games that we took part in.
I didn't know, I could play Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Hockey, and also run Cross Country well enough to lead the team to victory till it became "Izzat ka Sawaal" (Question of Honor)... My men were the best in the brigade and I just couldn't let them down... so I trained and practiced... and they helped. I'll never forget how in the beginning there would always be someone with me, holding my hand and running with me till I could run the 20 Km route and run with the pack, without them having to slow down because of me... I was proud of my achievement, but what was even better was that my team was prouder... and would brag about it to the whole battalion and I would get invited to eat a morsel from the Thaali (Plate) of any group of men who I passed while they were eating.
This feeling of belonging is what carries us forward, both officers and men..........