dekho! is ko ‘Take It Easy’ lo

Posted on April 3, 2009
Filed Under >Owais Mughal, Photo of the Day
32 Comments
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Owais Mughal

This show is part of the daily drill performed by Pakistan Rangers at Wahga border. We would like to hear your comments. My comments are:

dekho! is ko ‘take it easy’ lo

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

  1. bonobashi says:

    Obviously that last post should have read:

    I DO NOT have a military mind.

    I am not sure why the two words in parentheses got left out. Apologies if I’ve alarmed you, Bloody Civilian. Unintended.

  2. bonobashi says:

    @Bloody Civilian

    Ah, now I begin to understand!

    You pickled gherkin, I have a military mind! But I can’t pretend that family roots and affiliations and my own work for the forces doesn’t exist, or that their welfare and well-being doesn’t concern me. That would be letting down hosts of people who are relatives, friends or working acquaintances. And I have used some of my training and upbringing in managing software and IT firms with excellent results.

    Soldiers aren’t bad people; most military institutions aren’t bad places (some ultra-conservative cavalry regiments were). It’s always, always, always about leadership. Bad leadership can mess up any set of good soldiers, and subvert the best institutions.

    In case someone has read that last and is looking up Google Maps to feed the coordinates of Calcutta into things that go bang, I wish to clarify that I am speaking about the unfortunate events of 62, with particular reference to a set of generals listed as follows: Kaul, Monty Palit, Bogey Sen. I won’t speak further as the first two have left their own written records (brazen cheek!), but they illustrate the point. The other side is Prem Bhagat, Harbaksh and Jagjit Arora (that’s too Punjabi, so I’ll add Manekshaw and Sundarji to balance things a bit).

    This is by way of explanation, and I won’t intrude Indian factoids here again.

    Anyone who wishes to extend analogies does it on his or her own. I disclaim any further involvement.

    Apologies, Bloody Civilian, let’s go back to bloody civilian topics again. But in parting, a stint in the NCC or whatever equivalent there was in Pakistan would have done your dyslexia a lot of good ;-)>

  3. Bloody Civilian says:

    D_a_n

    My (highly) suspected dyslexia obvioulsy applies to both my writing and reading ability ;-)

    I’ll let you and Bonobashi enjoy what will never make much sense to my non-military mind :-)

  4. bonobashi says:

    @D_a_n

    Absolutely delighted to be understood so well. I suppose as a spectacle, one must concede that it is a brave one. This is after all a Rome of bread and circuses: ‘O tempora, o mores’.

    I note grimly the references to Col. Hathi. If my identity had not been such a well-guarded secret, I might have suspected a correspondence with the old lady. Having herself managed to keep trim and able to get into her wedding clothes, she has had much to say, far too much, about a certain amount of ballast that has been inevitably acquired over the ages, and refuses to drop off in spite of strenuous efforts made. This exchange settles the matter: 20 kgs must go, and Col. Hathi retired off (I’m 59 in August after all).

    The men at Wagah are doing what they’ve been told to do. I am mad at the COs who thought it up and exposed their men to this. Even policemen (at Wagah, it’s policemen on both sides) deserve better.

    The check-1-2 stop is alive and well in India, in less belligerent form, and I have seen it used to synchronise step during a long march-past, just before the saluting dias. It has its purposes, but I wish they wouldn’t overdo it.

    I am dreadfully sorry to inform you that the Russian inspection drill has come into the Indian armed services. Some sycophant introduced it during the 80s, the years of Hindi-Russi bhai bhai, and I long for the day when it will be thrown out.

    About pleasanter things: I can describe to you the Centenary Gold Cup finals, which I saw Hesky Baig play, chukker by chukker from the third to the sixth; Calcutta Polo Club went from 4-6 to 9-8, playing Alec Harper at back, Hesky at 3, Prem Singh at 2 and somebody else at 1. That was against a terrifying line up: Hanut himself at 3, his sons Bijai at back and Hari at 2, and somebody else at 1. The cool, very snooty ladies of Calcutta, my mother among them, were standing up and screaming their lungs out the last two chukkers. It’s a miracle nobody died. The Army was not the bulldozer it later became; some of them were standing around watching, looking very, very thoughtful. I was 11 then, and got to taste champagne for the first time and thought I’d gone to heaven. Today I watch polo on YouTube; somehow rather different.

    I would be delighted to hear about the anecdotes you gathered. If permitted, I would like to share it with a small circle of retired military people, including the first few from school. I look forward eagerly to hearing from you.

    The seniormost, one year my senior, took premature retirement this year as a Brigadier. Another, a year my junior died two years back due to permanent damage to his lungs in Siachen; Bengalis aren’t really meant for those conditions. Some others became civilians; the Chief Minister of Nagaland and several of their ministers are Sainik School boys.

    I read out your mail to my father, who can’t see any more. Regarding the manners that prevailed in better times, he said to tell you that his last holiday, nearly twenty years ago, with my mother,then alive, was in Rajasthan, where they stayed with the AOC-in-C, Air Marshal Cariappa. As you will remember, his story as a PoW reminds us of the manners that prevailed as late as 65.

    @Bloody Civilian

    I have surrendered reluctantly to the idea that this is a spectacle and should be treated at that level. If some day I am given the opportunity, I’d like to take you to the Beating of the Retreat at Raisina Hill, to show you that a military spectacle can be dignified and solemn, even moving.

  5. D_a_n says:

    @ bloody civilian…

    I have infact seen the whole thing…twice actually…and am not a fan of the ‘show’ as I did write….

    If you’d have read my rather long winded post you’d have seen that I wrote:

    ‘wagah seems inescapably childish to me..and frankly I feel its degrading to the Jawans on parade

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