- Staying Alert, Standing Firm, Striking Hard
- Camaraderie, Change, and Challenges
By Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni, PVSM, AVSM, SC, SM, VSM (Retd)
New Delhi. 15 January 2025. I joined the Army during the time when Mao Tse Tung passed away , General Zia ul Haq took over in Pakistan and in India we were witnessing the Emergency and first transfer of Power to Janata Government. Despite such tumultuous times as a young lieutenant it was enjoyable , most of our time went learning from the troops , preparing for courses and playing games and staying fit, my first posting was along the Kishenganga River overlooking Muzaffarabad. My post was dominated by enemy Karachi Hill, and had won a PVC in 1947 -48 War , the enemy bunker was less than 50 metres from my bunker and the area experienced very heavy snowfall , I was looking forward to great times. I reported to Jammu transit camp, then moved the next day to Udhampur transit camp and after a night halt moved for lunch to Ramban transit camp and in the evening we reached Srinagar transit camp. The Transit Camps were equipped with just basic necessities and would be run on generators for specific time and that was heaven, the rooms would be shared between minimum two officers and may be more and that is where we struck good friendships.
I was travelling in the month of November and it was very cold, the first lesson learnt was to be very well equipped and properly clothed if you have to feel comfortable, otherwise one was running looking for some fire lit to warm up every time we halted on the road. Those days the travel in Army buses was a luxury and if the number of transients were large then one had to rough it out travelling in a 3 Ton which next to the drivers seat was warm enough due to engine heat and one did not mind, The convoy had to move together and invariably one odd vehicle would get overheated and halt delaying the move , if that was not enough some landslide and even the hundreds of Sheep on the road would make life miserable. The destination to the Rear of the Battalion would be controlled by Srinagar Transit Camp depending on the convoy days and availability of seats , the mode of transport would invariably be a One Ton and it would take the whole day on road and in the evening after exchanging pleasantries on arrival one reported to the Adjutant and settled down in a room with ‘Aladdin ka Diya’ to find your way to a small room and if you were lucky with an attached toilet, if a senior was not occupying the only transit room with attached toilet, otherwise you enquired from the Rear NCO the alternative toilet in the cold, it was difficult, one had to stay fit, overeating was strictly NO NO.
After a night halt and depending on the weather ,one crossed the Sadhana pass( the more difficult the area more prettier the name) early in the morning and the driver invariably halted at some Pir shrine, lit some incense sticks folded his hands for safe journey and moved on , the roads were treacherous, to those with faint hearts kept mumbling their Gods name, even an atheist would admit he believed in God. The journey to the Battalion Headquarters was strewn with vehicles lying in the gorges totally destroyed and many tales attached to the numerous accidents. Those were the days and one always visited Vaishno Mata before proceeding on leave and on return to thank for safe journey . Those were happy go lucky days, made number of friends even while travelling First Class in Shalimar Express to Delhi. The books were good companions and the Wheelers a good place to buy.
Today when I look back, the transit camps have drastically improved, so has the food, the mode of transport is reliable, troops travel by Air or in air conditioned coaches, the journey on the road is drastically shortened and safe, the trunks and boxes have been replaced with trolley bags , limited stuff, a little swag in the walk, confidence, dark glasses, good Clothes, mobiles in hand , jazzy ear plugs and lips constantly moving , no wallets- all payments on line, selfies galore. Sometimes, this scares me, the need for self discipline has to be extremely high as cheats are looking for easy prays, even AI can track your habits, movements , weaknesses and can put you and the nation into trouble , in our times we had just enough cash to clear our Mess bills and very little distractions, today one has to be careful not to be honey trapped, the fear existed then too but one has to be more careful today. Binaca geet Mala , Forces Request , All India Radio for entertainment and Chitrahar on Doordarshan was a luxury, today I find nothing of that kind. It is ‘Karlo Duniya Muthi’ main.
I believe that only thing constant is Change and if the Change is for good , adapt and move on. The changes must reinforce camaraderie, devotion to duty, enhanced physical fitness, more confidence, pride in self and the duty, friendship, improvement in communication skills, responsible behaviour, better equipped to discharge your duty, more professionalism and better awareness of our surroundings , then the Changes are welcome and excellent. The role of leaders has changed they have to keep pace with technology, have more self control, they have to lead from the front, be physically fit and mentally robust, mobiles are a blessing and also a bane, proper control on them needs to be inculcated and also exercised by the Leaders, firing standards have to improve . There is a need to constantly familiarise and learn to handle the new modern equipment , to be able to use it proficiently when the time comes, keeping it safe and avoiding to handle less they get spoiled, can be catastrophic. The fully charged equipment must be available 24×7 , to know the codes, to be able to change the codes in darkness, vigilance, surveillance, knowledge of terrain, awareness of the situation, correct assessment which comes from being alert and knowledgeable and not panic, to kill and not get killed has to be ingrained , leadership today is far more challenging. A soldier gets a clean break from his duty for nearly 90 days in a year hence it is important to inculcate an habit of being on duty 24 x7 when in uniform, no complacency is acceptable.
Today it is extremely important to Stay Alert, Stand Firm and be able to Strike Hard when the time comes. The level of preparation at all times has to be high, the only way to avoid an embarrassing situation is to deter the enemy , the fear of the unknown must refrain him from acting unilaterally. Keep your eyes and ears wide open, stay positive, stay focused , be helpful, note down everything, do not trust your brain always to recall in high altitudes , write down for right recall. Probably the best service to the nation is to constantly update oneself on knowing your enemy and be ready to counter it. The armed forces have a huge role to play in India becoming the world’s third largest economy and then having attained that place to retain it, the armed forces have to constantly strive to create a peaceful environment to enable the nation to grow economically. An economically Vibrant India will help us to be Militarily strong , technologically advanced and have a diplomatic clout , only then can we deter our enemy from casting an evil eye on us. We are surrounded by an unfriendly neighbourhood which is constantly looking for cracks in our society to exploit, we have to ensure we are equipped to counter it even before they surface, Stay Alert, Stay Alive, Trust all , Suspect all, is what we must train ourselves 24×7 .
We as soldiers have a major role to play in the growth of our Nation. Put in you best, we have come a long way , we have to travel a long way and it is not easy even to survive, our population dividend must not become a disaster. We have had a great time and we wish the younger generation better times, more peaceful life more prosperity and more gainful use of time at their disposal. Be good and stay positive. If our country has a GDP of Four trillion dollars today and if we grow at 7% every year we will take minimum 12 years to become an eight trillion dollar economy and if all goes well we can grow to become a 15 Trillion dollars economy by 2047. Our per capita GDP is 2500 dollars today and that of China is 14000 dollars, their GDP is 18 trillion dollars today. Our adversary is China, be it militarily, economically, technologically or diplomatically.
Jai Hind
(Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni, PVSM, AVSM, SC, SM, VSM (Retd.) was commissioned into 4 KUMAON in 1977. In his illustrious career of 39 years, he served in varioius types of terrain and participated in Operation Polar Bear and Operation Meghdoot as a Captain in 1983 and 1984. For leading his Platoon to unfurl the National Flag on Bilafondla he was decorated with Shaurya Chakra. He commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in thick of the Insurgency and later commanded an Infantry Battalion, an Infantry Brigade and a Division along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh. He retired as Director General Infantry. The views in this story are totally his. He can be contacted at editor.adu@gmail.com.)
