THE WAR DIARY OF OUR FATHER, MAJOR BALWANT SINGH (1911-2004)
Preamble A commission in the British Indian army was highly coveted by our ancestors. Military officers ranked high in the pecking order, since the Commander-in-Chief was next only to the Viceroy. Consequently, military officers were placed higher than the civil servants. And for a long time, the army was officered exclusively by the British. Until as late as 1919, …
A Hug is all I Need
CONFLUENCE OF ‘SHANTI’ and ‘DHIRAJ’ The Hindi word, ‘Shanti’ means peace, and it includes equanimity and tranquility. ‘Dhiraj’ means patience. Both these virtues are desirable attributes of human personality. During my service I had the good fortune to meet father-son duo, who were known by these names. The elder of the two was about twelve years senior to me, while …
OUR ‘MAKAAN’ IN FAROOKA 1947
Thumbing Through a Bunch of Old Papers Last week, I was seeing some old papers, to weed out the ones which I do not need any longer. I saw an irrelevant pencil sketch, and just before throwing it into the dust bin, I noticed that it was the outline of the house we left behind in Pakistan, in 1947, drawn …
30th April 1997 and 6th May 2004
Twenty-three years ago, on 30th April 1997, our revered mother, whom we called ‘Jhaiji’ left for her Heavenly abode. Almost exactly seven years later, on 6th May 2004, our father, whom we addressed as ‘Pitaji’ joined her. Since then, during this period, we pray for the eternal peace of their souls. We also recall moments out of their pious and …
PITAJI’S DIARIES AND PHOTO ALBUMS
Pitaji’s Archives Our revered father, Major Balwant Singh ji, whom we called Pitaji was born in Faruka (Dist Sargodha, now in Pakistan) on 30 June 1911. During the last few years of his life, he recorded the story of his life, in three diaries. The memoirs go back to 1919. Early in life, he acquired a camera, and the pictures …
Post Cards from “Uncle KS”
Prologue I have some pretentions to being a story-teller. But when I look at my writings and compare them with the works of legends like Khushwant Singh, I find that I am not even a midget. In age, he was almost as old as my respected father. It would, therefore, be sacrilege to refer to him by his name. In …
Pandit Nehru and our Jhaiji
Note. We called our mother ‘Jhaiji’. This term was, perhaps, derived from ‘Bharjaiji’ used by our father’s younger brothers to address her. Prologue. The contrast was so glaring and so stark, that the comparison was a bit misplaced, if not invalid altogether. Jhaiji was born in a mud house, in a remote desert village, near Sargodha (now in Pakistan) …
I discovered a treasure trove!
AN INVALUABLE BEQUEATH Death has a ghastly face. I have seen few people who are able to face it with courage and equanimity, especially if it arrives early in life. It is generally believed that, when death knocks at our door, we go through five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. But angelic people are made of a different material. For them, …
A ‘Middle’ on Military Meetings
Preamble Before the Television age, the newspapers were our only source of information on the current events. The morning began with a cup of tea and the ‘paper’ For many of us, the ‘middle’ article on editorial page was a great attraction. I, for one, read them with very intently. In due course of time I began to write such …
Milestone Fifty!
The Editor’s Foreword It is said that ‘Time Flies like an Arrow’. This proverb implies that time travels at a very high speed, and also that it can move only in one direction: forward. Therefore, just as the arrow cannot return to the bow, yesterday can never come back. As for the speed, I notice that this is relative, as Einstein …
