Bidding farewell to arms

IT was a picturesque and emotional drive through soldiering memories and history, my last in uniform before ‘hanging up my spurs’. The staff car carrying me was departing Srinagar’s Badami Bagh Cantt, with the Zabarwan mountains towering above it, for Yol Cantt, nestled in the snow-clad Dhauladhars in the Kangra valley. Posted as the Chief of Staff to the under-raising Rising Star Corps there, I wasn’t riding alone. My many yesterdays were riding shotgun with me, scattered over almost 39 years in uniform.

I had first entered the Valley after a tempestuous year as Rashtriya Rifles Sector Deputy in the badlands of Doda. Underdeveloped amid an oasis of excellence in erudite Bhadarwah and sapphire-encrusted Kishtwar, terrorist haven Doda was about sparse habitats perched above the Chenab. Many close encounters remain singed in memory along with touching human interest tales. RR Sector command in South Kashmir followed where the Lidder debouches the gaunt Kolahoi massif and ice floe-imbued Sheshnag Lake to meld into the Jhelum at Khanabal — Kashmiri for merging waters.

I recall briefing the stern Army Chief, Gen VP Malik, about ongoing operations. He had limited time; I was seeking his approval to retain command after a gunshot injury. His slight smile of approval after briefing remains a high because in operations, the Chief was invariably dead serious.

Later, posted in the Dagger Division, I was to brief foreign officers attending the National Defence College course on operational challenges at Baramulla. Expecting the standard graphics-heavy presentation, they were intrigued to have the GOC show them just one slide — happy children bursting out of school with flying hair and orbiting bags. ‘Gentlemen, this is my desired end-state,’ I said.

Badami Bagh followed; it’s amazing awaam steeped in seerat and soorat and exquisite taqreer (tete-e-tete) ever since Asoka the Great founded Srinagar/Pandrethan in the 3rd century BC. Pre-inauguration, I had briefed President APJ Abdul Kalam on the Ibadat-e-Shahadat Museum. The erudite President expressed his joy in finding the museum ‘focusing not just on heroism, weapons/war-like material, but also on highlighting the history, heritage and unique culture of Kashmir.’ He recalled the 14th century Kashmiri mystic poetess, Lal Ded’s vakhs (verse) on regaining paradise by reviving heritage and culture. My Corps Commander Gen Nirbhay Sharma, who anchored the project, smiled as we locked eyes.

I bade farewell to arms in Kashmir, exiting the unforgettable Valley through the Jawahar Tunnel across the Pir Panjal at Banihal on the wistful notes of ‘Auld Lang Syne’.