warvet

    GO NATURAL ! BY WARVET     “Yes sir. Sir sir. Sir sir sir”. Maj Ranbir kept sucking frantically at the last few mm of cigarette in his fingers. Our boss, the Brigadier from Corps HQ was on the other end. Ranbir put the phone in the cradle and stubbed the cigarette in the ash tray. “Gaadi lagao re” he shouted, rising from his chair and adjusting his beret. I was up from my chair too. “Vicky Boss, the old man wants me in his office in next 15 minutes. There’s some emergency” “But sir, we will take atleast 1 hour. Minimum 40 minutes if we are lucky to reach Corps HQ” “You drive the Jonga. I’ll study the file enroute. Take straight to the river” He commanded not registering my objection. “River? What are you thinking? You think we can cross Balason in our Jonga? And what after we cross it? “You told me you have been across the river last month on horseback and have explored the tea garden there. Did you not find any road? It will lead us to the hi...

  CLOTHES MAKETH THE MAN BY WARVET   “God Makes Man, We Make Him Gentleman” boasted the billboard of Raj Tailors in Main Bazar, Palampur of my 1980s childhood. Nowhere is it truer than the Army. Your dress with accoutrements, medals and ribbons announces unequivocally where you stand in a group. Without the dress and its insignia, all would be equal. This leads to much anxiety in many self-obsessed senior officers who become used to their   exalted status and can’t survive without the special treatment. So they have devised ways and means to announce their superiority by way of wearing ‘starred’ caps when in civies and in some extreme case starred umbrellas on golf course! I am also reminded of an enterprising officer who put a star plate like one used on cars on a mule who was to ferry the General up the hill somewhere in Northern sector to massage his ego. Few years back while getting 45 years Periodic Medical Exam (PME) done in MH, I was surprised when the medi...

  ONE BLOODY CUP  BY WAR VET   1.                Of all the impressive trophies displayed in the RVC Centre & College Offr Mess, the most impressive and interesting is the ‘Kadir Cup’. This cup was the prize for the most popular ‘Pig Sticking’ event during the British Raj. The game involved men on horseback armed with spears hunting wild boar in the wild green expanse of the Ganga Kadir or Khadar.   2.                In spite of its ancient origin from Rajputs of middle ages, the modern pig sticking as we know began in early 1800’s out of the decline in bear sticking and bear hunting with dogs in Bengal Presidency. Strong, fast and aggressive when threatened, the wild boar quickly replaced the bear as game of choice.     3.             ...

    GURU GHANTAL BY WARVET I was hanging on for dear life as the bushes and hedges rushed past my eyes in a blur. Finally no longer able to hold on, I let go the tuft of blonde mane in my hand and hit the water with a splash. As I emerged from waist deep muddy water, wiping the algae out of my eyes with the back of my hand I saw a silhouette of a mounted Greek warrior appear in front of me – “Saab Dismount hone ka Aadesh Kab mila aapko”? barked our riding instructor, Risaldar Maha Ram. “Main kahan…” started I but then stopped midway as the sarcasm dawned upon me. Towards the boundary of the riding area I could see my mount – Halaku speeding past the iron gate towards the stables. “YOs Ghoda line jayega aur apne ride ke sath class ko rejoyn karega. Saddle sir pe hoga ghode pe nahi” His mount, Shehzada, a veteran of many Asian Games executed a perfect pirouette and went off in a gallop like a Ferrari hitting 0 to 100 kmph in 3 sec. “Kamar lachakdar, ghutne ke neeche ka h...