The Military Special
I made
up my mind not to care so much about the destination, and simply enjoy the
journey.
~ David Archuleta ~ (Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul,
Song and the Power of Perseverance)
It was nearing
the end of the training of our first term at the Indian Military Academy (IMA),
Dehra Dun. The training was so rigorous that it was but natural for all of us
to eagerly look forward to the end of the term, so that we could take a
well-deserved break. The break was very essential to help us refresh and recoup
ourselves so that we could complete the next leg of our training, which would
only be tougher.
Background
The incident
related below occurred during December 1959.
Hence it is necessary that the readers appreciate the scenario
prevailing at that time. Rail travel those days was very much different from
what it is today. The number of trains were few and far between. Further, the
colonial legacy of three gauges – the broad, metre and narrow were very much in
existence. Thus, very often one had to change the train so as to go from one
gauge to another – meaning one had to physically move out from one train to
another along with bed and baggage. That also implied one had to change
platforms which often meant going up and coming down stairs, with one’s
belongings that one carried on the journey!
Reservation for berths was normally possible only at the starting
station. However, when reservations were required at intermediate stations, it
generally never materialized. In such cases (intermediate stations) one had to
send a telegram to the concerned intermediate station requesting for the
seat/berth. More often than not, action was seldom taken on such requests.
Thus, journeys where one had to change trains were always a nightmare. Thus,
travel by the Military special was welcomed as it assured that we had a berth
to ourselves from start to finish (providing that it was the same gauge
throughout the journey) - at least upto the destination of the special.
Another point
to note is that the present day - light-weight fibre glass suit cases were
non-existent. It was normal for each one of us to carry one – and in some cases
– two ‘coffin sized’ steel trunks. The dimension of these trunks varied between
60 to 90 cm in width, 30 cm tall and 100 to 150 cm long. Generally, that just
about fitted into the bottom of the seats in the compartments. Occasionally they were a trifle too tall,
when it would be placed between the lower berths and provide adequate place for
another to sleep, without of course permitting the dangling of our legs! Other
points of differences from the compartments of today are that the 3-tier
compartments had not yet made their appearance and neither was there vestibule.
One had perforce to get down from the compartment, get on to the platform, if
one had to change the compartment.
Memory is the basis of every journey.
~ Stephen King
~ (Dream catcher)
Notwithstanding
all this, authorities involved at the IMA tried their best in having a military
bogey attached to some of the more important trains. Thus, one could get in at
Dehra Dun and at Delhi, the military bogie would be attached to either a train going
towards Bombay (now renamed as Mumbai) or Madras (now rechristened as Chennai).
Many cadets preferred this arrangement as they could travel with their own
colleagues – without changing at Delhi, which was otherwise mandatory. Another
factor, which was always at the back of our minds, was that we were never sure
of the reservation beyond Delhi – whereas it was assured in the Military
special.
All of us who
were Southbound – say to Hyderabad, Madras, Bangalore, Cochin and Trivandrum
travelled in the military bogie attached to the appropriate trains. Keeping in
tune with the Army ethos, one of the senior cadets travelling to the further
most point would generally be designated as the Cadet in Charge (C in C) of
that complement.
We were a
fairly large number of cadets who had given our consent to travel by the
“Military Special” from Dehra Dun to Madras. One more feature of the special
was that cadets could choose their own berth in the compartment. The special
bogie was a two-tier coach. The berths – both upper and lower were made of good
quality timber strips. The width of the berth was quite narrow and ensured that
one would not doze off easily. The cushioning effect was to be provided by the
occupant – depending on the amount of bulk that he carried on his bottom.
Thanks to the strenuous physical training at the IMA, all of us were lean and
thin. However, those days, as no bed rolls were supplied by the railways, it
was quite normal to carry a ‘hold-all’, which as the name implies, contained
bedding as well as some clothing, and thus helped cushion us when we were in
the somnolent posture.
The bogie
catered for about 40 odd passengers. And those south bound were almost that
number. Luckily, no outsider was
permitted to travel in our coach. In case there were any extra berths, they
were filled up by our luggage. And in case we were short of accommodation, the
coffin boxes helped in providing that extra ‘berth’.
Even in those
days, the Passing out Parade (PoP) was held on Saturdays. The main difference
was that the cadets to be commissioned had to spend a day extra – as the
commissioning was done at midnight and they could leave only on the following
Sunday. And of course, the date of commission was on Sunday and thus losing out
on a day’s pay and allowances!
However, cadets
of the junior courses - all those who were not being commissioned – would leave
soon after the PoP – generally by trains leaving Dehra Dun after lunch. In our
case, we were to leave by the Doon Express, which left late at night and
reached Delhi station the next morning. Our special bogie was attached to this
train. On reaching Delhi, we saw off all those cadets who were living in Delhi
or in the surrounding areas. Those of us, who were occupying the Military
Special compartment and were south bound, had to wait patiently for the train
to empty itself. That took about one hour or thereabouts. Our connecting train
was the Madras bound Grand Trunk (GT) Express, which was to steam off from New
Delhi railway station. The bogie would be shunted to the yard and placed there
till a shunting engine was available, when the bogie would be hauled off to New
Delhi station. Cadets had the option of staying in the bogie itself or going
out into the City to meet friends, relatives or just ‘time pass’. We were responsible for the security of the
compartment. Thus, we could lock up the bogie from the outside and get back
into the bogie at New Delhi station. I
believe that a couple of cadets stayed back and looked after the safety, while
the rest went out in the cold wintry morning to meet up or do shopping – it
being Sunday, shops only in a couple of areas were open.
PZ who was to
become a Sergeant (Sgt) in the coming final term was designated Cadet in Charge
(CinC) of our train. He and a few others had joined IMA after spending six
terms at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Poona. There were a number of
cadets from Technical Graduates scheme. They had catapulted from the first term
to the fourth and final term. Some names which come to mind were – two Pillais
– one a Tamilian and the other from Kerala, KAS Rajan, Rajagopalan, Kannan,
Balasundaram, Satyamurthy, Vijay Kumar – the last two were bound for Bangalore
like self.
The GT express
was scheduled to leave from New Delhi station around 5.00 pm. Hence PZ had told
all of us to be seated inside the compartment latest by 4.30 pm. We still had
not got over the hang over from the Academy – hence all of us were back by 4.00
pm itself. Another point about the trains those days was that many of them still
used steam. A few had graduated to diesel, while very few ran on electric
power. People, who travelled by the steam hauled locomotives, invariably were
quite blackened by the soot carried by the wind, by the time that the journey
was over. Air-conditioned coaches had still not been introduced. The journey was quite uneventful the first
evening that we left New Delhi. But none of us realized that the next day would
more than compensate us for the action that was waiting for us.
Sometimes
it's worth lingering on the journey for a while before getting to the
destination.
~ Richelle Mead
~ (The Indigo Spell)
The next morning,
many of us lazed around and got out of bed quite late. Well before noon, we
found that the water in the bathroom was more a trickle than a free flow. And
after a little while there was no water in any of the taps. While Delhi was
quite cold, as we came down the plains, the temperature was building up. None
of us had tried out the fans the previous evening when we steamed out of Delhi.
As we switched one fan after another, we discovered that most of them were
non-functional. One by one, we informed PZ our C in C, that there was a
shortage of water as well as air as fans were nonfunctional! During those days, the GT was the fastest long-distance
train in the country. The Shatabdis and Tamil Nadu Express had not even been
thought of. Hence the GT stopped at only a few stations. As the train was Not
vestibule, there was no way that we could get the attention of the Guard of the
train, unless it stopped. Anyway, it finally did stop at some small station –
possibly a technical halt. PZ lost no time in getting down and briskly walked
across to the Guard. He informed the Guard of the difficulties that we were
facing – of no water, no fans and no attention to our coach. The Guard then
accompanied PZ to the Station Master (SM) and mentioned our difficulties. The
SM said that it was a small station and he had no facilities to attend to any
of the problems that we faced. PZ then
said that he could at least inform the SM at the next large station to have the
problems sorted out. And that is when the situation took an interesting turn.
It’s
not so much the journey that’s important; as is the way that we treat those we
encounter and those around us, along the way.
~ Jeremy Aldana
The SM said,
that the Railways had nothing to do with the Military coach. The responsibility
of the maintenance of the coach was that of the Military and hence he could
really do nothing in the matter. He suggested that PZ inform the Military
authorities that we lacked water and that fans were not functional. PZ then
said that was fine. He requested the Guard and the SM to have our coach
detached from the rest of the train. He said that he would get in touch with
the military authorities and once the coach was fully functional, it could then
proceed further. Apparently, the Guard and SM had not bargained for such an
argument. Both vehemently maintained that they could not detach our bogie –
they had set out with a certain number of bogies and they had to haul that
number of coaches to the destination with no changes. Due to the discussions taking place on the
platform many of us had got down and were giving valuable moral support to
PZ. As the train was stationary for far
longer than scheduled, many passengers from the rest of the train had got down
and were keenly watching the tamasha that was unfolding in front of their eyes.
They could not believe that the boys – men from the military coach could have
any problems that could not be resolved. PZ was adamant that none of us would
board the train till all the defects had been rectified. Then the SM went into
his cabin and made some calls to the next large station where we had to halt.
Apparently, he got a satisfactory answer from that station. He pacified PZ and
told him that all of us should board the train. He said that everything would
be attended to when we reached the junction – which was about an hour and half
away. Reluctantly PZ agreed and told both the Guard and the SM, that in case
the things were not rectified at the next large station, he would have no
alternative but to request that the Military special bogie be detached till it
was rectified before we proceeded further.
Having made his point, we finally boarded the train.
Failure will never overtake me,
if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
~ Og Mandino
After about 90
minutes, we steamed into the Junction. Within minutes of halting, a large posse
of mechanics and other tradesmen poured into our compartment. All the fans and
lights were attended to. Bulbs were changed and new brighter ones were screwed
in. The water tanks were filled to the brim. The Guard sheepishly walked up to
PZ and requested him to confirm that everything was satisfactory. He further
added that his tour of duty was over, but he could not leave unless PZ
certified that all the defects noticed in the Military special bogie were
attended to satisfaction. PZ made a show of asking people in each cubicle that
they were satisfied and then only confirmed to the Guard, who was now
accompanied by the local SM. Once again, this SM checked with PZ and then
allowed the Guard to sign off his duty.
All journeys eventually end in the same place,
home.
~ Chris Geiger
We had no
further incidents on the train till we reached Madras the next morning, thus
ending an eventful journey.
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ब्रिगेडियर_नरेन्द्र_ढंडBrig Narinder Dhand,Founder & ConvenerVeteran's Web Portals.
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