HOW I JOINED THE ARMY

Reminiscence of an Eventful Journey

When you joined the military, you joined the largest family in the country.
~ Unknown

After the summer vacations of 1958, we returned to the College at Tambaram for the final year, prior to graduation. As I had joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC) earlier, I went over to the NCC Notice Board to look for any fresh orders or instructions that might have come up in our absence. There was an interesting notice, which caught our eyes.

The Notice mentioned that all cadets, who by the end of June in the following year (1959) would have completed their graduation as well as have qualified in the NCC ‘C’ certificate examinations, were eligible to apply for a commission in the Army. The bonus was that NCC cadets did not have to take the UPSC written examinations to attend the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview, which was a pre-requisite to join the Armed Forces. Many of us who were in our final year of the graduation course decided to try our luck. After all, as students of a degree college we remembered the saying: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

In the next few days many cadets discussed this amongst ourselves. Meanwhile I had also wrote to my grandfather – whom all of us in the large joint family looked up to – requesting him to advise me appropriately.

A few words about our family: My grandparents had four sons. Our grandparents as well as their sons, daughters-in-law and their children, stayed together in a large old house, then known as ‘Elephant Lodge’. Elephant Lodge had been willed to my grandfather’s elder brother in 1905. However, it was during the early 1950s, he wanted to assert his right to occupy the house. Thus, soon after the weddings of my two elder sisters, with heavy hearts we bade good-bye to Elephant Lodge during the latter half of 1955. Nevertheless, the grandparents and three sons and their families lived in separate smaller houses, but for practical purposes continued more like a joint family. The fourth and youngest son had since re-located to Madras.

My grandfather was more a friend, philosopher and guide than a grandparent to me. He regularly wrote to me, and I would reply as promptly as possible. Hence my letter to him for advice.

During the colonial era – more so after the successful conclusion of World War II, the army had created an aura around it. It was looked upon as one of the finest professions for any young Indian. And the other bonuses to boot were that it was a government job and boasted of excellent pensions post-retirement. Job opportunities within the country were few and far between – manufacturing activity was meagre and private industry was yet to take off. In such a scenario, my grandfather opined that the army was an excellent option and I should give it a very serious thought. Of course, he reminded me of the old saying that opportunity knocks but once.

Thus, after due considerations, I collected a form from the NCC office, duly filled it in and submitted the same for their further action. And soon after handing in the form, I forgot about the whole thing.

NCC activities were pushed to the backburner, and focus returned to academics and other happenings within the College and the ‘Hall’ (or hostel as the hostels were known in the college). However, come September and attention reverted to the applications that we NCC cadets had submitted. Only seven cadets had submitted applications. All seven were asked to report to the NCC office. All of us had been sent call letters to attend the selection tests at the SSB, Bangalore. We were required to report at the Selection Centre towards the second half of October.

At this point, it would be good to switch our minds elsewhere – to the Japanese for a change. It is a tale to show the methods employed by them to ensure that the seafood tasted the way they wanted. The story goes like this:

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So, to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish.

If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer.

However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So, fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin.

After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because when the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem?
How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?

If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend? As soon as you reach your goals, such as finding a wonderful mate, starting a successful company, paying off your debts or whatever, you might lose your passion. You don’t need to work so hard so you relax. You experience the same problem as lottery winners who waste their money, wealthy heirs who never grow up and bored homemakers who get addicted to prescription drugs.

Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is simple.

L. Ron Hubbard observed it in the early 1950’s. “Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment.”- L. Ron Hubbard

The Benefits of a Challenge:

The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions.

You have fun. You are alive!

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh:

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

Having been told that we had to proceed to Bangalore during October, we decided that we would make our train reservations – at least for the onwards journey to reach Bangalore. As we had a few doubts to be clarified, we decided that two of us would go over to the NCC office and have our queries clarified.

We planned to have a quick lunch, and thereafter go over to the NCC office, and have our doubts cleared. When we did land up at the office, to our consternation we found only an attendant present – none of the office staff was present. On enquiry, the attendant told us, that the rest of the staff had taken the day off, and he also would soon close the office. We mentioned to him that we needed to clarify some points regarding our forthcoming visit to the Selection Centre. The attendant had no knowledge of English, and his Tamil was not much better. Reluctantly, he gave us a couple of files, and asked us to leaf through them and see if that would resolve our doubts. Once we glanced at the first page of the first file, we realized that it was a classified file, which should NEVER be SEEN by cadets. The file contained the notes of the College NCC Officer about his impressions of the seven cadets who had been called by the Selection Board. We did NOT breathe a word to the attendant who looked at us absent-mindedly, as he was keen to lock up the office and leave. The unforgettable note against my name went somewhat like this:

“An intelligent cadet. May get through the written tests. Physically weak and unlikely to clear the physical tests and medical exam.”

‘Certainly not very encouraging’ as Jeeves would have remarked to Bertie Wooster. At that moment, I told myself that I would have to prove not only to myself, but also to the college lecturer as to how badly he had misjudged my physical capabilities. I may be small built – a shade taller than the legendary Napoleon, but assuredly no weakling. Willpower is far more powerful than mere physical prowess. If the mind wills, the flesh will follow. Challenges are always welcome – and this was one, which I just had to win.

Luckily, we had absolutely no clue as to what was in store for us at the Selection Centre. We only knew that it would take more than one day! Thanks to my schooling, my general knowledge was good. I was a voracious reader and had taken active part in the college debating activities. Insofar as physical activities were concerned, I had been playing cricket during my school days. I had also participated in the long-distance runs. We had a gymnasium in the school, and I had been taught to be adept at climbing the vertical rope. I may not have won races but had always completed them in time – at least before the next event started off! And thanks to my family background, I was an inveterate optimist. There was no way; I could let the college lecturer get the better of me. I was more determined to prove to the lecturer that I was capable of qualifying in the Selection Board than being keen on joining the army! That second part could be taken care of later on.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.
~ George Washington

All seven of us landed together at the Bangalore City Railway Station at the appointed time, which was around 2.00 pm. We were bundled into a simple 3-ton lorry – with no trappings – no chairs or benches; we just had to load up our baggage and sit on it, to ensure that they did not move out too far, during the various turns that the vehicle had to manoeuvre during the journey. On arrival at the Selection Centre, we were allotted a barrack, where we placed our baggage and had a quick cup of tea, before assembling in one the rooms to complete our documentation and thereafter move for the first set of tests. The seven of us included the College Senior Under officer, a junior under officer, and other appointment holders. The tests were spread over four days. On the morning of the fifth day, there was a combined meeting of the complete Selection Board. At the end of the short meeting, five from the entire batch of attendees were asked to stay back, whereas the others were asked to report to the office to collect re-imbursement for the journey from home to the Centre and warrants for the return journey. Of the five who were selected, I was the only one from our college! The rest four were from other parts of the country. The selected were Phadkar, RVM Menon, Self and Uberoi. I do not remember the name of the fifth person, who failed to qualify in his graduation examination, and thus did not join us at Dehradun. All four of us were commissioned in December 1960. Phadkar and Menon joined the infantry, whereas Uberoi and I were commissioned into the Corps of Signals.

Post Script:

One of the two infantry officers, while serving as ADC to the President of India, got along so well with his granddaughter that he married her. They are settled in Delhi in a colony named after the late President. The other infantry officer is settled in Nasik. Both these officers quit the army as lieutenant colonels. The two who were commissioned into Signals became brigadiers. One is at Delhi, whereas I continue to remain in the sunny south – in Madras, which has since been rechristened as Chennai.

The Junior Under Officer from our College though made it later during the Emergency Commission. He joined and stayed for a short while in the Army. He had also written the civil services examination and qualified for the Indian Police Services (IPS). He preferred to join the IPS and was allotted to the Tamil Nadu cadre. He rose to become DGP and after retirement was recalled to head the operations against the forest brigand Veerappan, and successfully eliminated him. A Tamil movie was also made on him. He was none other than the well-known Walter I Devaram!