Reminiscences of my life in the IA

 Sometime in the late 90s we were deployed on the LC in the Poonch sector. I was doing the Adjt of the unit and my Commanding Officer was known for his short fuse. A very decent person, he used to be very cool and calm in most situations but, when the occasion demanded, he could be very innovative with his MCs and BCs. Anyway, so, one fine evening when there was a lull between our exchanges with the Porkies a senior Company Commander called me up and literally accused me of sending a boy to his company( which was about 2 hours from my location) without a weapon. Now, moving without a weapon at that place and during those times was sacrilege. I mean, just not done.  So, called up the SA (Subedar Adjt) a 6 and a half feet tall gentleman(Jat) who actually could (and did ) crush  hands if anyone ever shook hands with him (one of our Brigade Commanders had to go to the Hospital afterwards). Anyway he assured me that the boy in question had left our location with his weapon.  Some back and f

 So, was Commanding somewhere in North Kashmir, and one fine day felt urge to have fish. The one fish that has always fascinated me since the time I went to Kokernag and Verinag as part of a school trip was Trout. The fisheries dept had a Trout breeding farm in one of those places.  So, asked my Quartermaster  to arrange for 'Pink Trout from Kokernag" Now, the poor 2 star General being from the Southernmost tip of India only nodded and said "yes sir, yes sir will do it sir" Just as a prelude to this, we used to get Pizzas from Pizza Hut almost every week from Srinagar vis the Sumo drivers that went everyday. So, a couple of days later, the same officer walks into my office and says," Sir, we need to send someone on temporary duty (TD which actually requires permission from higher HQ) to Assam  I was shell shocked and asked him WHY? Because  to send some on So, his reply "Sir, you want to eat Grout from Kokrajhar, so someone has to go and get it".  Fina

 So, at 21 got commissioned in SF. Nothing, just wanted to. Didn't complete the probation and was sent back to my parent unit which was in in the erstwhile state of J&K. NPV, Non Para Volunteer. One phase of life got over within a month. Was sent to command a coy after all the usual what we used to call staying with the boys  now called'Line attachment ' anyway same wine in different bottles. So, during the month that I stayed with the boys, we were on a post called 'Forward'.  Other stories apart, the CO and 2ic decided that I was good enough to take charge of an independent company.  They didnt have any other options. The unit was moving out and the advance party had left. So, reached one of the biggest hotspots in the erstwhile state of J&K. An area in which it was rumoured that what Kashmir is to India, that area was to Kashmir, both in terms of Apples and beauty( both natural, the mountains and otherwise). Reached there with the COs warning ringing in m

 No, this post is not about encounters with terrorists. It is about encounters with wildlife in the erstwhile state of J&K.  So, one of the first encounters I had was with a flying squirrel. One fine day, was walking along a track near the LC, and something actually flew across my eyeline from one tree to another. The first instinct ofcourse was to hit the ground and then look up where I see this little guy seemingly laughing at us because seeing me go down, my whole team also went down. Am sure that guy must have had a good laugh at us. Next time it was a call at about 3am from a post saying that the sentry heard some suspicious movement close to the post, opened fire and nothing more was heard. This was the time when trans LC firing was at its peak as also trans LC raids were the norm. So, after alerting the nearby posts, tried to get some sleep when at first light I get a report from the same post that there was a dead porcupine in the area from where the sound was heard. The se

 Today is the day when Khajju as we all called Lt Sushil Khajuria, KC(P), laid down his life in a remote region of Kupwara. I have mixed emotions since I was his Commanding Officer(CO). So, today I'll just write about 'Destiny'.  Khajju was commissioned in the ASC and was on attachment with 18 Grenadiers. When I took over, I found him to be a Josh type youngster willing to go the extra mile in the 'Hunt'. Not that there weren't others in the Bn. Everyone was. But Khajju stood out to the extent that my Brigade Commander, after one operation, told me that ' You need to control Khajju' wish I'd listened to him then and been more careful. Anyway,  destiny.  Khajju was detailed on the Ghatak or Commando course. Prior to his going, we had had a couple of operations in which Khajju had taken part and had already distinguished himself. Anyway, during the course, he called me and said ' Sir, can you send me on leave for a week or so? I want to visit Goa a