Pomp and Cicumstance Elgar composed the march Pomp and Circumstance. BR 3020, the naval Marine Engineers Handbook, otherwise a rather dry document, made a rare humorous attempt at a pun titling one of its chapters Pump and Circumstance! The Tamil word Hota, probably originating from Urdu signifies the pomp and show, which comes with power and authority. Some of our senior officers, otherwise very nice people, manifested Hota to a great extent. Admiral Rusi Gandhi, a very pleasant person, was a prime example of Hota, with his conscious imitation of Lord Mountbatten, whom he had served as a Flag lieutenant. Some like Admiral Awati with his bluff humor had no time for it. Some even try to cultivate Hota as a mannerism. My good friend and colleague late Captain Lohana , when he headed the design setup in MDL would enter our conference room only after every one else was seated and waiting. He would enter the room through a private door from his office. A very pleasant and good man, Lohana believed in Hota! I dispensed with the practice when I took over from him and went to meetings bang on time, through the common door. If my juniors came late for the meetings, I would just look at my watch and then look at them.They would sheepishly apologize. Late coming stopped soon after. My late father was disappointed with me and my wife- at our total lack of Hota. We used to carry our office bags, not wait for the driver to open the door etc. My wife never used the red horn in her car as a commissioner and chief commissioner of Income-tax. If I am not mistaken Hota is more in the Army. The ultimate exemplars of pomp are Tamil Nadu ministers with their cavalcade of cars with red lights ans screaming sirens.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 07:20:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015