Skip to main content

A General remembers (Excerpts from General Sundarji's book -"Of Some Consequence - A Soldier Remembers..."


Here's an interesting anecdote that I came across in General Sundarji's book, which is an autobiography, and could only be published after his death:

‘It was the winter of 1951. There was a function on a Sunday, at Headquarters Eastern Command which was then at Lucknow. General Sriganesh was to attend and an air force plane (a Devon) has been lain on. Apart form the Army Commander Major Generals Thimayya, Thorat and Chopra had requested for a lift and were promised a seat. I was to be the fifth passenger. We were all at Palam airport in Delhi on that Sunday, morning and just before take-off a brigadier from the Army Service Corps approached the boss and requested for a seat, and so I was unceremoniously taken off the plane. As a sop I was told that I need not come to receive the boss that evening, and could enjoy my Sunday! After we saw the plane off, Group Captain Rajaram, DFC who was the stations commander of Palam said to me In Tamil – “Sundar don’t be disappointed. Now that you are not required in the evening, I shall take you out to dinner. I’ll pick you up from your mess.”

That evening, Rajaram was in my room and we were having a drink, when Palam airport tracked him down and said that the Devon in which the VIPs were flying out of Lucknow, has lost contact with the control tower, soon after take off and was still out of communication. We cancelled our dinner outing and went straight back to the control tower where we got a disturbing piece of news from the Lucknow tower.

A railway signalman had seen a plane burning and down some distance away from his signal post. The railways informed the civil authorities and a few army search parties were sent out in the general area. Anxious wives of the passengers started bombarding the control tower with queries.

Air Marshal Sir Gerald Gibbs the air chief arrived and took charge. General Cariappa the Army Chief kept in touch telephonically. At about two in the morning, a message came from Lucknow that contact had been made and all aboard the crashed plane were alive and well. With a whoop, I rushed to the telephone, to give Mrs. Sriganesh and other wives the good news.

The next morning there was a message from General Cariappa to all these generals which said, I remember, “You naughty little children, so many of you should not have got on to the same pram. I as your mummy, thank the Lord that you had a competent nanny pushing the pram and who managed to save you!”

Tailpiece: Squadron Leader Suhas Biswas, the pilot got the Ashok Chakra for his handling of the situation.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Memories of the 1971 War.....

1. Flight Lt. Vijay Kumar Wahi - 10144 F(P) Vikram Wahi was my class mate in Class V, in 1971. When the Indo-Pak war broke out in December 1971, our Class V final examinations were on. Many 'fauji' families had to grapple with the stress of these exams, with the war as a backdrop. There were two papers each day, and between them, during the break, I remember seeing the Air Force's fighers landing close by at Palam, after a Combat Air Patrol sortie... On the 7th of December, 1971, we - all 10 year olds were busy writing whatever we had crammed, in our answer sheets, when all of a sudden, we noticed some commotion at the back of the classroom. We saw Vikram Wahi, breaking down, and sobbing away inconsolably. We ten year olds did not quite comprehend the problem, and got back to our answer sheets. That was the last we saw of Vikram Wahi. Till this day, I do not know where Vikram went, and where he is. On the 6th of December, Vikram's family received the news t...
12 comments
Read more

Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh MVC - An erstwhile Maharaja and a forgotten Soldier

Most Indians do NOT as a matter of habit, remember our National heroes especially t hose, that put their lives at peril to guard the frontiers of our Country, and made sure that we live - independent and free, each day. One such soldier of the soil - Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh MVC - also the Maharaja of Jaipur, fought bravely for the Nation, during the 1971 Indo - Pak war. So bravely, that the Nation decorated him with India's second highest gallantry award - the Maha Vir Chakra. Yet, when he died on April 17, 2011, his death went virtually un-noticed in the backdrop of  the cricket, the scams and the other problems that took precedence in this Country. Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur was born on October 22 1931 to Sawai Man "Jai" Singh II (Maharaja of Jaipur from 1911) and Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur, the first of his father's three wives (who would die when her son was 13). Given the nickname "Bubbles" by his British nanny because of the ...
3 comments
Read more

Diwali

Tomorrow is Deepwali - the Indian festival of lights. There is an atmosphere of festivities everywhere. The festival symbolises brightness and light, and so millions of homes across the Country, are brightly lit up for the past so many days to pay obeisance to God Almighty for attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, valor and fame. Diwali also symbolises removing darkness - in the form of ignorance and all negative forces -  wickedness, violence, lust, anger, envy, greed, bigotry, fear, injustice, oppression and suffering,  by spreading light in the form of knowledge. Deepawali also symbolises a 'new beginning' The festivities reach a peak. People shop for new clothes and jewellery, and sweets and gifts to exchange with near and dear ones. Households are refurbished and cleaned, and then lit up brightly. Relatives and friends reunite this time of the year -if not at anytime else. There is happiness all around. On Deepawali this year - as in all the previous yea...
2 comments
Read more