MEMORIES “He has not changed.” I thought. I was looking at my friend and course mate Suharu, with a half-smile on my face. He was making small chopping motions with his right hand, as he put emphasis on some point that he was explaining to my wife. Suharu had brought Parvesh Handa with him. Parvesh was a pilot and Suharu an observer in 310, Alize squadron. Like any other course mate Lieutenant Jagdish Singh Suharu, retained the right to bounce us any time. He had another reason to feel that he had a special right to visit our place. Just like Suharu, my wife’s mother was also from Himachal Pradesh. So that made my wife his ‘Gaon-Wali’. We were sitting in the common drawing room of the Lieutenant Commander’s flat that had been allotted to me and another squadron mate, on sharing basis. I was reminded of our cadet days. He had the same style of making small chopping motions while talking animatedly ……… -------- “Come on Gautam Mukherjee! Don’t sit like there like a bloody sissy! Zor Laga! (Use force)” Suharu shouted. “You are telling me Suharu! If we get back today, it will be because of me!” Gautam shouted back. “You Bloody Mishra! I have told to pull your oar in and just sit on your bloody ass doing nothing!” We were all snapping at one another, while the Thevra Bridge was moving inexorably, foot by foot, towards our cutter. The current in the Cochin Channel was strong and on our way out from the Venduruthy boat jetty we were elated at the swift progress that we had made. Now when Petty Officer Bijjan told us to turn around and row the cutter back to the boat jetty, we realised how heavy the cutter was and how strong the Cochin channel current could be. Everyone had yelled at Mishra and finally told him to pull his oar in and just sit quietly. Mishra was the ‘trip’ specialist of our course. At the parade ground, he specialised in tripping cadets marching ahead/behind and on his sides. Now he was tripping the oars of the cadets sitting ahead and behind him. Actually Ashok Soman was the strongest of the lot. But he was a ‘He-Ha-Ho’ specialist. Ashok Soman was Karate brown belt second or third degree. He also had expert knowledge of Admiral Yamamoto, his naval war strategy and the Kamikaze tactics used by the Japanese during the World War 2. Ashok Soman was very strong and very swift; but his swiftness was restricted to Karate moves only. He seemed to go blank when shouted at. Who can say; it was the brute force of ten cadets (Mishra excluded) or the Channel current relenting, that we did come back to the boat jetty. Earlier, Jagdish and Gautam had almost come to blows one evening and had remained at loggerheads ever since then. It was a Saturday evening. The Sub Lieutenants who were undergoing courses at Cochin had invited some of the aviation cadets to have drinks with them. (Cadets were not allowed hard drinks.) Suharu had come back to the Jet barracks and was happily narrating his meeting with an officer. He was explaining the meeting with small quick chopping motions of his right hand, “Sub Lieutenant Makkhan Singh is a very nice chap. He told me, ‘If anyone troubles you; tell him you know Sub Lieutenant ‘फलाना-फलाना’!” (Sorry there is no English equivalent. Nearest that I can come to is—Sub Lieutenant—XYZ!) Just then Gautam had come in to the barrack singing loudly. Obviously he had had a good evening and fair amount of liquor that his system was not used to. He stopped in the middle of the barrack and shouted at Jagdish, “Suharu, ba..s to you!” Suharu shocked beyond comprehension, got up and advanced towards Gautam, “To me, Mukherjee! TO ME!! YOU ARE SAYING BA…S TO ME!! YOU MAA…..!!!” Other aviation cadets jumped in before the free for all could begin. --------- “Are you listening to me Kumar?” “Sorry Suharu, I was thinking of our cadet days.” I replied with a laugh. “What fun we used to have then.” Jagdish spoke wistfully. Out of the eleven aviation cadets, four could not pass out from the Elementary Flying School, Bidar. Jagdish Singh Suharu was one of them. One more was suspended from the final stage at Hakimpet. Suharu re-joined the navy as a direct entry officer and then went for the observers’ course. After the course he was appointed to the 310 (Alize) squadron and was happy to be with some of his former aviation cadet friends. “OK S. Kumar we have taken too much advantage of you already. Today you are coming with us for dinner.” “Suharu, dinner is ready. Let’s have it here only.” “No! Today we shall go out.” Parvesh said. He and Suharu had decided to take us out. Both the Seahawk and Alize squadrons were disembarked from Vikrant after another hectic phase of flying. This was a small break to enjoy rest and peace. Next day there was no afternoon or night flying planned for our Seahawk squadron. I took my wife to the AED hangar for badminton. By her own admission, he had never participated in even 50 meters race in the school. She did not have the figure of the models (Allah be praised!). And not even her most jealous college friend could call her plump. But I was an almost fitness freak in those days; either fast bowling practice in the evening or my six km jog! So my wife had to be somewhere close my level of fitness. My newly wedded wife was still at the stage of ‘Chandra-mukhi’. (Suraj-mukhi and Jwala-mukhi stages were yet to dawn!) When we were still in Bombay for a month after our marriage, awaiting transfer from Kuthar to INS Hansa, Goa, we stayed in the army mess. Every evening after dinner (never in the mess) I would take her to the sea front near Hotel Oberoi, park my Jawa there and then take my wife for a walk up to Chaupati and back. ‘Chandra-mukhi’ bore with the ordeal in her not too high, 2’’ heeled, sandals till one day she burst in to tears and showed me the blisters on her feet. I got her ‘sufi’ (sophisticated) PT shoes and also purchased a copy of ‘6BX’ by Jane Fonda. I asked her to perform these six basic exercises during the morning hours when she had nothing to do in the mess. The fact is that, may be for Jane Fonda those 6BX (six basic exercises) were basic, but for the average womanhood of India, completion of the course qualified her for the state level athletics meet! After coming to Goa badminton was added to Ms Jane Fonda to hasten the transformation of Ms Hissar to Ms Los –Angeles! Even though mixed doubles did not provide the exercise I needed, these were fun. I would ensure that my wife was playing on the opposite side of the net for the mixed doubles. There were three reasons for this:- 1 My chances of losing were minimised. 2 I could make her run for the shuttle thus improving her fitness level. 3 Most important- I could keep looking at her! (Had been married only for four months!) I think it was Lt Saini, the supply officer who came and announced, “Today, Jeetendra is at waiting in the IAC (Indian Airlines Corporation) lounge. The lounge was housed in the old ATC building, just three hundred meters from the AED hangar, where we were playing. Film stars in the IAC waiting lounge were no novelty, but Jeetendra was at the zenith of his carrier then. Both Tutu, wife of Maj CP Singh our CBGLO (Carrier Borne Ground Liaison Officer), and my wife ran towards the airport lounge. CP had tough time convincing them to get in to the jeep. Two newly married, wide eyed girls ran it to the lounge, frantically looking for their Heart Throb. Mr Heart Throb upon spotting two very pretty girls rushing in his direction went in to the preening act. The wide eyed fans came to an abrupt halt 20 feet from the ‘object of their dreams’. “He is getting old.”—Fan number 1. “He is nothing great to look at.”—Fan number 2. “And who does he think he is; preening like this!”—Fan number 1 and fan number 2 together. Readers please note; not a word was spoken about anyone else. But somehow the younger and not as handsome duo of husbands of the, ex-wide eyed fans of the ‘Heart Throb’ felt that the ‘fans’ with whom they had taken ‘char/saat pheras’ had given a vote of confidence to the Indian Armed Forces! We resumed our game under the flood lights of the AED Hangar. Every day six or eight players would come for the game and we kept changing players as the games continued. An Alize taxyed out from the 310 dispersal with it’s navigation lights flashing. We stopped the game and waited. It was not possible to hear anything so long as the aircraft was close by. It was almost dark, but we all were enjoying the game too much to care about the time. Anyway my wife had already made all the preparations for the dinner. She was very much keeping her word, “I am very fond of cooking.” that she had given me in Connaught Place a few months ago. The dinner was going to be:- Asparagus Soup (from the 2.5 lb duty free tin from Vikrant) Russian Salad. (Mayonnaise Sauce, prepared by her in the National Blender, which I had purchased for Rs 750/- from a squadron mate who had got it from Australia during his ship’s cruise. Our first expensive acquisition after marriage. My total monthly emoluments, including Flying Bounty were Rs 1250/-only!) Fish Fried-(King Fish also called Surmai in North India) Potato Chips Bread Rolls (Obviously there had been a party in Hotel Zuari, the previous evening, so we got the surplus from the bakery shop. Normally only local bread was available.) And Fruit Cream with jelly and Custard. Despite her feeding me like a spoilt pig, I never became fat! My weight always varied +-1/2 kg from the ideal for my age and height. The game was getting interesting. The scores were equal. The opponents, including my wife were playing well. Suddenly the siren went off. Night had fallen long time back. The Alize must be having some problem. Hydraulic system of Alize was the culprit most of the times. The Squadron Commander 551, who was playing from the opposite side went to the phone to check up with the ATC. “There was a phone call from Canacona police. The Alize caught fire and has crashed. All three are dead.” “Pradeep Kumar Parvesh Handa Jagdish Singh Suharu!”
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 05:27:24 +0000
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