dekho! is ko ‘Take It Easy’ lo

32 responses to “dekho! is ko ‘Take It Easy’ lo”

1. bonobashi says:

   April 9, 2009 at 12:36 am

   @D_a_n

   Absolutely delighted you understood so well. True, as a spectacle, it is entertaining, but my spirit squirms at good soldiers, even good policemen (at Wagah, those are policemen) being made to do this. However, this is a Rome of bread and circuses. ‘O tempora, o mores’.

   I note with some grimness the gratuitous reference to Col. Haathi. If my identity had not been such a closely-guarded secret, I might have suspected some clandestine correspondence with the old lady, who has herself stayed trim and has an entirely excessive amount to say to me and to everybody else about a certain amount of ballast that has settled in and refuses to move away, in spite of all effort. This exchange settles the issue: 20 kgs must go, and we must retire Col. Haathi (I am, after all, 59 in August).

   Having conceded that the masses must have their show, there is little to say, except for two little facts and a very proud thought:

   * I was ranting a bit unnecessarily about the Check-1-2, which is used in modified form on very long parades to synchronise the squad’s steps, just before the saluting dais; due to the speed at which sound carries, we found ourselves slightly out of step if each rank followed the beat of the band. This is still done at the Republic Day Parade in Delhi, with indifferent results. A necessary evil, I suppose.

   * You will be horrified to learn that Russian drill during inspection has come into the Indian services (through, I regret to say, the Army) from the 80s, from the days of Hindi-Russi bhai bhai, when some toad-eating idiot brought it in. I yearn for the day when it is thrown right out again.

   Regarding respect for one’s enemies, I would like to present some evidence to you in about a month’s time, evidence that has been lying around scattered, and that has always filled me with pride.

   On a personal note, when my father was healthy and my mother alive, the last major tour they did was of Rajasthan, where they stayed with the AOC-in-C, Air Marshal Cariappa. As you may remember, this gentleman is a reminder to both Indians and Pakistanis that good manners among opposing soldiers was not – I daresay is not – entirely obsolete.

   It would be wonderful to hear from a person with your heritage about the stories you mentioned. If permitted, I would like to share it with my small circle of ex-military friends. My batchmates have just started retiring; the seniormost, one year older than I, was a brigadier who took premature retirement. Younger chaps have died in action, one, a year my junior, due to the effects of the weather in Siachen. May lightning strike the bastard who thought of that misadventure.

   Regarding Hesky Baig, he was like a flickering flame on the field. I just rubbed out a play-by-play description of that match 47 years ago. Now I watch polo on YouTube; somewhat different.

   @Bloody Civilian

   I have been present from end to end, and nearly ran out onto the parade ground to stop them. Although it doesn’t please me, it is difficult to disagree that it is a crowd-pleasing spectacle; on the other hand, you and I have already discussed what we would like to see instead.

2. Bloody Civilian says:

   April 8, 2009 at 6:20 pm

   D_a_n and Bonobashi

   FRom your comments, I suspect you have not scene the whole diabolical display. It is more like the mating displays of Birds of Paradise, except synchronised and not solo performances. The mentality and insult to civility and humanity though reminds one of gorillas and baboons (two troops facing off at their territorial borders in the jungle). It’s an insult to the guys having to do it. The two governments sponsoring it ought to be thoroughly ashamed. See the whole shameful affair

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgWZ_trHdQQ

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWbj3wDR21Q

3. Zahid says:

   April 7, 2009 at 4:17 pm

   I will simply say I don’t see any reason to elevate public patriotism by paying this game right at the border with our neighbour. It is just hard to understand what we are doing and teaching our comming generations and what the rest of the world is doing. It looks clearer sitting 1000’s of miles away in a place where things are different, just because people want it to be different and not because they are supoosed to be.
   This whole drill episode each and every day, is an open demonstration of our minds stuck in 1947 and what ever history we have.

   From

   Calgary, Canada

4. D_a_n says:

   April 7, 2009 at 9:11 am

   @ Bonobashi…

   you were not in trouble at all…I knew that you were from the old school but I didnt realise just how old school till I realised you have actually watched Brig. ‘Hesky’ Baig play polo :) ….
   my apologies for pointing out the old school-ness but it was meant as a compliment…

   but back to the drill..and it was a pleasure to hear you talk about marching bands and goose stepping :) … a bengali version of ‘Col. Haathi’ from jungle book ( I’ll allow myself a chuckle here)

   I will however, make the following observations…

   ‘I am objecting to the distortion of the drill book insofar as the huge exaggerations at Wagah are concerned; I see no sense in the elevation of the arms beyond shoulder height during the parade step, in the raising of the knee above the waist-line, and those features. Those were not part of standard drill; why are they brought in?’ …

   the distortion is there true……the elevation of the arms above the shoulder is not very pretty…and the raising of the knee above the waist can produce a curve in the back ruining posture…but all this…at Wagah…is not strictly military in nature…think of it as a production…militray does cirque du soleil I like to think :)

   ‘Given their height, these two sets of jawans at Wagah should march to a slower, more dignified beat, without those tendon-wrenching exaggerations and wild flourishes ‘ …

   that would make for drill that is definitely easy on the eyes..but what of the mob? :) this show is not meant for people like you and I…

   ‘And what is that hip-hop that has become fashionable in South Asia before coming to a halt?’

   That ‘hip-hop’ dear sir, is what we call a ‘Check-1-2′ stop….the intial raising of the leg to stop is the check…..and the 1-2 is the marking time movement to stop where you are ….at Wagah the check is hugely amplified…
   normally officers are not encouraged to amplify it while on parade…but the Jawan is asked to really put his all into the check to give it some swagger…’nakhra’ is the Urdu word for it…

   ‘I regret the decline of the slow-step parade inspection gait, and I regret this bizarre Russian business where the squad being inspected turns to face the dignitary as he/she moves along the front’

   that slow step parade inspection is still a major part of drill…and the harder one to master actually….but the format at Wagah and the nature of the ceremony makes it hard to incorporate that into the ‘show’ …

   I dont like the russian turning/tilting of the heads to face the dignitary either….thankfully that’s not followed in any of the services in Pakistan and I believe the Indian services are the same….(correct me if I am wrong)

   ‘I prefer the slow, swaggering march of a Pipe band (please God, to a Highland tune, Cock of the North or Bonny Dundee or Hey Johnie Cope, and not one of the abominations dreamt up by a Goanese or Anglo-Indian band master), and a Highland regiment in step to it, to any other martial sight that I have seen’

   you are a man after my own heart….no comparison for a highland marching tune…I never was a fan of the local band tunes….crusty…but they dont make crust like that anymore… :)

   now, the reason I think the drill is fantastic is thus:

   you have to take it for what it is…a show…Yes it is vulgar..but sadly that is the whole point and the jawans are asked to carry out the drill in a particular manner…in fact the steps at Wagah are a whole separate genre and the jawans need to be trained extensively…
   and those soldiers put everything they have into it…I detest the idea and the intent behind the ceremony…but I still think the standard of what the soldiers are asked to do is very very good….

   This vulgar show serves no purpose and does us no favours and I often felt that if I were one of the jawans on parade at Wagah…I would feel disgusted..that here I am a finely trained soldier…a prime martial specimen…and I am being used for mob entertainment……a 3rd rate gladiator that is only allowed to preen and swagger and not even given the diginity of single combat…..(folks are literally eating pop corn there)
   but the good people on both side lap this sort of stuff up and so the show shall continue..
   This is cricketing equivalent of T20 cricket….something that I hate!

   I am in the mood to ramble so I will…as a soldier…(and I got this from my forefathers who were far more dignified men at arms than I was)…..I always had a lot of respect for the ‘enemy’…it seemed natural to respect a man who was willing to face you in combat and spent his life preparing for it….and never thought that anty one side had a copy right on courage…
   I wondered if people on the other side also saw it that way…I remember stories from both my grandfathers of how they interacted with officers from the other side right on the battle field in the days just after the cease fire in 65…I can share details later if you are interested…they will surprise you

   not to mention my Taya who post retirement…started a correspondance with a Pilot from the IAF who’s plane he had shot down….this was to give you an idea of the mentality of my mostly military upbringing…
   coming from that….wagah seems inescapably childish to me..and frankly I feel its degrading to the Jawans on parade…

5. bonobashi says:

   April 6, 2009 at 10:25 am

   @D_a_n

   Oh, well said, Sir!