COOTS JOURNEY AS A RHINO

THE ORIENTATION

The journey with the Rhino family commenced on 19 Mar 1977 when I got commissioned to the Assam Regiment from the erstwhile OTA, Madras. In spite of being brought up in an Army background I never had any clue of the Regiment and my first exposure to a Rhino was my drill instructor – Hav Ringliana  Lushia  (3 Assam) . I was awe struck with the Gurkha and Kumaon Regiments but when it came to filling up the choice I chose Assam (I was rebuked by my Gnr Bn Cdr and my idol pl cdrs who were from the Gurkha and  Kumaon Regiments) . Being in the top bracket I got my choice and  then started an association of 20 nay 22 years with one of the finest Regiments  of the Indian Army (No Exaggeration) . Post a short break I landed up for the pre YO training at the Centre.  Phew ! What a place ?  I felt I was transported to a different world. Happy Valley had all the ingredients of a foreign locale seen through Bollywood movies – the gals , the pubs, the music and the aromatic cuisine. Amrik Singh Malhi was the Comdt then and the  YOs included Bawa, Saxena , Sant Ram , B S Gurung , Nirmal Rout , Gurmit , Gurcharan , PRM Ravi and Rawat . The staff at the centre was headed by Saharia ( Dy Comdt ) , Shekhawat , Ramchander, Deonath Singh , and the trio of BS Sandhu , Madan and Donuhue and of course our fav Adjt , Biren Borgahain . So many anecdotes and it would require another volume to rewrite – Clinching the 101 Area Football Trophy from GTC , Jasbir Bawa lifting the cup and the partying till wee hrs is still vivid in my memory. It was here that I learnt the annals of the Regimental History and was bloodied with traditions and customs and then of course Badluram entered my veins.

PALTAN TIME – THE PHANTOMS. 

After the YOs at Belgaum, Cdo Kutty was train bound for Ranchi to join the paltan. The initiation was typical of the Regiment. Officers impersonating as orderlies. Hav Majors, Mess Hav et al – Ragda and Ragging the fauji style. The one month with the men in the lines made you a soldier blue and the grand entry finally to the officers mess had all the ingredients of grooming a youngster (Wonder if these traditions still prevail in the units) . Well now for the ensemble of the officers of the Khel then – Khullar in Comd, Gurdip, Ghai, Martin Khongmen, SD Roy, Pradhan ,Kalia, S Ramalingam , Gray , Gandhi , Negi ,  MC Pradhan, Hye , PS Dhilon , Arjun Rai , NR singh and Vinay Kumar our QM . Over a period some left some joined – JR Mukherjee, BS Judge, Harry Tamber, SK Behura , Subrata  Saha and SN Mohanty . Waking up at 5 AM on a Sunday morning with Gurdip’s – Sunday morning up with a lark on his record player was the right antidote to the beat the previous night hangover (He had a collection of more the 500 LPs and EPs). I could write n numbers of kissas but all that on a later date. Our tenure saw us with three stints of IS duties – Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Ranchi.  Over to Malari for a HAA tenure. Many comrades left for greener pastures and the next gen joined – Sandhu, Tripathi, Arun , Mani Ram , Gautam Rai ,  Anil Suryavanshi ( JAG br ) ,   Sandip Dabral and Sharat Johri (Our RMO). The Officer’s Mess was always in a mess at the battalion headquarters, what with an average fifty eggs being boiled, scrambled, sunny sided and omeletted every morning. New raisings and ERE’s took its toll and the FS at the Officer’s mess started depleting. JS Rajkumar took over the reins. There are ‘n’ number of anecdotes of those moments in the HAA which the Phantoms will recollect. Maybe I will pen those for their PJ celebs. From Malari to Binnaguri was a smooth transition, albeit the LRC fiasco still reverberates. Command changed and Ashok Hukku took over. Many tigers who could not make it to the HAA rejoined. S Ramalingam, SD Roy, Somdutt, Pradhan, Hye and Harry Tamber, to name a few. Youngsters like Rakesh Sharma, Sanjay Gupta and Arvind Khati joined the bandwagon. The regiment found a highly spirited Rhino in WBS Ramalingam (our new RMO) who till date is more regimental than many of us.

OFF ON STAFF / ERE

Time to say adieu to khel as I moved on staff and as luck would have been the Rhino Kavach was still around with a Rhino Deputy Commander YP Singh and the Rhino Hill (named after 2^nd Assam) overlooking my hut in the Brigade headquarters.

BACK TO REGIMENTATION

Well, it was regimental time again and it was ARC, Shillong. With Shivpuri in command and Sailo as his deputy, it was a great melee. Gahatraj was the adjutant who handed the reins to me on his promotion. It was a tough time selecting the correct stick orderly for the commandant. The team then was Mukherjee, CB Thapa, Rattanjit Singh, Ronny Rajkumar, KJR Kumar, Amarjeet Singh, Jason Peter, IP Singh, NR Lama, Unni (QM), Sant Singh (SRO) and Saini (RMO). Getting back to Happy Valley was indeed nostalgic. The memories give me the adrenal rush even today.

DARING DOZEN BECKONS

Finally, I was on my way to join the Daring Dozen. Having missed the bus when I was earmarked in the nucleus team in 1985. here I was six years later to join a team of mix class composition unit – the Dogras, Garhwalis, South Indians and the NE Troops. The only common link between them was the cereal they cherished – RICE.  So a trip to Langar would give you the same food spread. Poonch was our battalion headquarters, with Judge in command, Sunit Kumar was the lamb. The team had Ashish, Rana, Tabib, Jayachandran, Roy, Puntar, Sen Gupta, Biswas, Sherawat, Anoop, Jha (EME), Sahota, Malhotra, Dagar and Kashyap. The Betar river, Moti Mahal and the lush meadows of the Poonch Valley had all the ingredients for a Bollywood box masala. But the irritation along the LC had its constraint. The LIC at Kirni took its toll of three brave hearts and how I missed out on the wound medal is a mystery till date. The next padav was Nasirabad. Sunit Kumar took over and Reddy, SN Rai and Ravi Dutt joined. Puntar hung his boots and we lost Tanmay Kashyap in a tragic motor cycle accident.

THE LAST BASTION – HQ 33 CORPS. 

Finally the curtains down for my last innings with the Olive Greens. Here also I had the Rhinos for company. The ERE at the Corps HQ was from our Regiment and Thapliyal was there as the Camp Comdt (His son is in 5 Assam now). 24 Oct 1997 was the last day in my uniform and as I set out for a white collar job with the Corporate world, little did I realise that the association with the Rhinos will further continue, for my first boss in the civvies was J S Antal. So for 22 years Badluram followed me through the units, the centre, staff, ERE and the Corporate world – must be a record of sorts for a NON STOP association with the Rhinos

THE RHINOS WHO MATTERED IN MY LIFE

• MARTY KHONGMEN My first coy cdr, nick named as Cowboy, who taught me the nuances of battle drills and battle procedures.
• GURDIP SINGH – Banta Singh to all, smiling in the toughest situation was his hall mark. A hard-core RHINO (Father, Father in Law, Brother in Law and Son all RHINOS) was like a coconut .
• JR Mukherjee – Fondly called Jhonny, was an epitome of professionalism with a heart of Gold who was always available for any RHINO in distress.
• Subrata Saha – Subi to many, my room mate, my bump chum, we shared everything under the sun. One of the finest COR we have ever had.
• K Biswas – Vicky to me. Loyalty and integrity are his traits. My company officer who would always call a spade a spade.
• Tanmay Kashyap – A four star general material and was my most lovable youngster but destiny had something else stored for him. He left for heavenly abode a little too early.
• JS Antal – Jerry, as he was known in the regiment, he was my guru in the corporate world who gave me enough ammo to survive in the big bad corporate world.
• Shivpuri – Prakash to his peers, I feel short of words for him. An officer and a gentleman to the core. They don’t make officers like him anymore. His another great asset is Mrs. Veena Shivpuri, the most adorable loving and caring lady I have met in my entire army career.

SAYONARA ! ALVIDA ! GOODBYE !

As a Rhino Veteran today, when I write down the reminisces of my journey with the regiment, my only earnest request to the Gen-Next is – “KNOW YOUR REGIMENT” “KNOW YOUR MEN”, dig the history and learn about the great officers and men who built up our regiment. The Rhino and Badluram are inseparable and we have carved a niche in the armed forces for ourselves in a very short span. It is our rich history, valour and leadership that has withstood the sands of time.

KAR CHALE HUM FIZA JANEMAN SAATHIYO – AB TUMHARE HAVALE YEH REGIMENT SAATHIYO.

TAGRA RAHO. ONCE A RHINO – ALWAYS A RHINO

COOTS

POST SCRIPT.  The views are my personal and have not been dictated by anyone. My apologies for addressing the seniors by their names as their ranks kept changing at various stages in their careers and the bonding is more cemented by the first name than by their ranks. I may have missed out some names due to old age and time factor. Regrets for the same.