Soldiering On......................!

Whatever I have known about him is through press only although I have partially read his book “Soldiering On” which is quite fascinating to say the least. That he was an upright officer who held on to his principles goes without saying. But what was more intriguing is his courage of conviction. Moral courage as he defined was – “The ability to distinguish right from wrong and having so distinguished it , be prepared to say so, irrespective of the views held by your superiors or subordinates and of consequence to yourself.” And it showed. It was evident when he ran into trouble with the then Home Minister Mr. Krishna Menon just before the 1962 war with China. That the minister had to eat his words & bring back Sam to the front was a testimony to Sam’s standing in the military higher echelons. In 1971 when the war was imminent he had the guts to tell the then all powerful PM Ms. Indira Gandhi – “you mind your own business, I’ll mind my own”. What guts man! The enormity of his forthrightness is incredible!
He, having always led from the front, the Military Cross that he won in Burma was proof enough, commanded respect of his subordinates, peers and superiors alike. His courteous treatment of all, his men included, perhaps was the most significant reason why he was admired by all and he had unflinching support from the rank and file of the Army. His astuteness in tactics and his calm, calculated execution of the same came to the fore during the 1971 war. But above all, his poise, his ability to mind his own business when he could have gone on to be a dictator puts him among the rarest & the best of the leaders of India. The unselfish leader didn't relinquish but he just wasn't interested in the bigotry of politics. It was one of the reasons why he didn't accept any ceremonial posts by the Government & was quite content in advising many a corporate instead, who were all ears to the old man’s experience in handling the logistics, man-management skills and to give it a management lingo….management by objectives!
It is indeed ironical that the very class of people (read politicians) whom he held in contempt didn't bother to turn up for the funeral of this great soldier. He was no longer of any use to them so they didn't find it appropriate to spend their precious time on paying homage to India’s finest Army man. Sometimes, if not always, we know the character of people on their spontaneous reaction. Where the top politicians of country had failed the test, an unassuming crowd of youngsters had won hands down. And that is why I was overwhelmed when I saw a crowd of young collegians gathered over there at a short notice. It was not compulsory, there were not many who were NCC cadets but it was the spur of the moment, the sense of occasion that had brought them there. I feel it’s not what you are obligated to do but what you do on your own, going out of your way that matters. The bubbling energy, the overflowing enthusiasm was uncharacteristically restrained as we mourned for one of the bravest officers & one of the finest gentlemen whom the nation will always look up to. And as we lit candles & put a flower each in front of Sam’s photograph I felt proud to be part of that spontaneous gathering!
Long Live “Apro Sam”!!!
12 Comments:
Good one.. I just think I know why your first blog was something related to Armed Forces !
Keep it up..
By
Unknown, at 4:06 pm
Well Written.... keep it up....
By
Unknown, at 4:08 pm
Great effort Amogh..as I said earlier..!!
Happy Blogging..!!
By
Kirti Kelkar, at 6:13 pm
great!!
this is one more 'pailu' of ur personality which i've come across...a good writer!
keep it up buddy! :)
By
D, at 10:25 pm
Sam Manekshaw was indeed a great person - have not read his autobiography, but something that I intend to read, after reading your post.
Well written!
Welcome to blogging, hope to keep reading new posts on this blog.
Cheers,
~Ketan
By
Monsieur K, at 12:12 am
HEY AMOGH
WELL WRITTEN MAN. KEEP SHARING SUCH INCIDENTS.
By
CASaideepDhoblePatil, at 5:52 pm
hi amogh
very nice keep it up
By
Bharti Ingale, at 10:21 am
Excellent Writing...!!!
One more passion...??
Njoy Blogging...!!!
By
Unknown, at 10:57 am
This comment has been removed by the author.
By
The Common Man, at 2:07 pm
Hi,It was great to read about Sam..Justa few things I would like to add about Sam Sir.
1. He used to call Indiara Gandhi as 'sweetie'
2. When there was a huge demand to cut offf funds from army budget, infact bring down a entire division from northern front, he strongly opposed it & hence it remained in place.
3. He was a very jovial person by nature, once while delivering a lecture, he told the ppl that the then General of Pakistan Ayub Khan and he were class amtes earlier & Ayub khan had taken off with his bike without making the entire payment.He however said that Ayub repaid it with the gift of entire Bangaldesh! such was his beautiful satirical Parsee humour!
4. He made the famous statement ' if a person says he is not afraid, it means he is either lying or he is a Gorkha'. For info, Sam belonged to Gorkha Regiment.
Keep up the good work Amogh!
By
The Common Man, at 2:15 pm
Amogh, needless to say, a very well written blog. What needs to be appreciated more is that you were one of the few who actually attended the homage ceremony, while many of us, despite having admired Sam Bahadur, just whiled away our time in the office. Keep up the good work.
By
Anonymous, at 3:39 pm
Hi! Thanks for your comment on my blog.
I enjoyed reading this post too. Hope you continue! And by the way, I'm an an ex-student of BMCC too, though I passed only this year.
Well, happy blogging!
By
Gauri Nawathe, at 5:14 pm
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