>From another group
*IMA DAYS* I remember two incidents in my IMA days. Both were interesting. The first one is about getting ready for the cycle inspection. The GCs were cleaning their bicycles. One Senior took pity on one of the first termers and told that GC he need not sweat it out. He can just tip the Jemadar a couple of chips and ‘presto!’ the cycle will be shining. You will have no worries. The GC had come fro the South and was still not familiar with Hindi. He Was shocked to hear that. The only Jemadar he knew was the JCO staff. He was not aware of some class IV lot were also similarly named. Remember ? The present Nb Subs were then as Jemadars. He dared not clarify his doubt as to why a JCO would clean his cycle. He found out later and we all had a good laugh!! The second one is a different narration. I was the Orderly Sergeant on that day. We had falle in on the Drill Square , along with those who were accorded punishments. The Duty JCO, a Rishaldar, took the reports. Each Coy O/S reported as “So many on parade , otherwise all correct Saab”. One O/S was , it seems, in a fix. One of his GCs was absent. He was quick witted. He reported his parade strength as “ So many on parade, one might come. Otherwise all correct Saab .” We were all foxed. The Duty JCO reported the parade to the Duty Officer and on his orders he ordered to carry on. As I came out of the parade ground, I saw my friend waiting outside. He asked me whether anything happened in the parade ground. It was he who was the “One might come!” I remember this person named Jagannathan. He got out of the IMA in the first term itself, voluntarily’. He was a linguist. Apart from a number of Indian languages he was very fluent in German, Russian and French. He used to read one of these language novels in the class room. Later when Kruschev and Bulganin had come to Calcutta (now known as Kolkotta) and given a public reception we, service officers, had also attended the function. I met Jagannathan. He was engaged as a Russian interpreter. It was a nice reunion. He felt happy as he felt better off out of service. *ANNUAL INSPECTIONS* I came across two separate instances of unit inspections by the GOC The first one The GOC arrived in an Arty Regt for his annual inspection. As was the custom, he visited the Quarter Guard first. The Guard commander had already got his guards lined up and ready to receive the GOC. As soon as the Inspecting Officer took his position the guard commander gave the order for Present Arms. The General took the salute. The funny part of the show was the last sentry still stood at normal attention position whereas all others had presented arms. The Col GS, CO of the Regt and the Sub Maj were shocked. The Guard then ordered his guards to order arms and reported to the GOC, who in turn instructed him to Dismiss the Guards. He did not mention about the lapse nor did he express his views about the incident. He proceeded towards the unit lines. Subsequently the CO and the Sub Maj of the Regt enquired from the concerned guard The sentry said, “Sir, when I saw the Red tape of the GOC I forgot everything else and did not even hear the word of command of the Guard Commander. It took some time for me to come back to normal. By then the rest of the guards had come to order arms. I realized and am terribly ashamed for my momentary lapse.” I am not aware of what action the Regt took. The second instance was when the GOC visited an EME unit. While inspecting, he asked a Vehicle Mechanic as to how many vehicles he had repaired during the last three months. Prompt was the reply of the VM. Without hesitation, not realising that he was replying to the GOC, he said in Hindi, “Sir, when do I get time. Right from early morning till late at night we all are running around with either kit layout or doing BPET, obstacle course, cross country runs, busy firing in the firing range and so on. Never a moment to attend to repair work, Sir.” The GOC just smiled and moved on. -- With best wishes S Chander
