Foreword by the editor

Brig Krishnan Nair Harikumar is a well-known name in the Corps of EME. I had the good fortune of serving with him in Sikkim during 1981-82, when he was a Major. Had he recorded his age appropriately, he would have surely retired as a general officer. This is a story of how he began his service and matured with the passage of time. It was almost a metamorphosis!

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A ‘Field Punishment’ Under the Watchful Eye of the Kanchenjunga

By Brig K Harikumar (Veteran)

I tasted my first alcoholic beverage at the age of 15, when I was barely out of school, and used to drink once in a while, in the engineering college. During our training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun we Gentlemen Cadets were not allowed to consume alcohol. I am told that they can have a glass of beer during social occasions now. The following incident occurred when we were on a forward area tour of Sikkim during our course break, in December 1965.

 

A group photograph of the course taken six months after the Sikkim jaunt. Harikumar is standing fifth from the right in the middle row.

After landing at Siliguri, the rail head, our batch of 20 cadets took off by road in military vehicles towards the Chinese border under the supervision of an instructor, a Major from IMA . After a lunch break at Teesta, we proceeded to Rongli, our night halt for the first day at an altitude of about 3000 feet above the Mean Sea Level. We were accommodated at the Officer’s Mess of an Animal Transport Company. The officer commanding the Company invited us for dinner. It was very cold at night in the peak of winter and, our host wanted to offer us all a drink. He requested our Instructor for permission, who reluctantly permitted us to have half a peg of any alcoholic drink.

 

While I was grudgingly sipping my rationed drink, a Captain from the host company asked me if I would like to have one more drink. When I said yes he took me to a side room and poured me a large peg of Rum. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it and continued drinking with him for more than an hour without our Instructor noticing it. I believe I took several large pegs and was later told that I was intoxicated, throughout the rest of the evening. I started singing loudly and indulged in disgustingly “un- officer like” behaviour. I skipped the dinner since I passed out on top of a ping-pong table. I had to be carried to the tent by my colleagues for the night.

 

All hell broke loose when we got up in the morning. Our Instructor wanted to take severe action and threatened to have me punished for my misconduct when we got back to the Academy. He told me that I would be relegated to the next batch, losing six months of seniority. The Company Commander of the host unit pleaded with our Instructor against this action and suggested that since this “offence” had been committed in a field area, I may be given a “Field Punishment” there only. He refused to write a letter to the IMA, giving the details of my misconduct. Consequently, I was ordered to march up to the next destination, Padam Chin which was located at an altitude of over 10,000 feet. Another cadet who tried to ‘save’ me by keeping me away from our Instructor, the previous night when questioned about my identity, was ordered to accompany me.

 

We started after breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed the six hours uphill trek. We bought some musk brandy on the way and reached the destination by late evening. The rest of the squad had reached there, by lunchtime. This episode occurred on the 31st of December and our hosts at Padam Chin, another Army Unit, wanted us to join them for a cocktail and dinner. We confided in the host about the prohibition on our drinking. He told us not to worry. What he did, surprised us for its sheer ingenuity.  He got our instructor drunk in his tent, before joining us for dinner. During the cocktail session, we played a game, singing “Nine green bottles hanging on the wall” and each cadet singing would move to the bar and take a drink in turn. Our instructor was present but he was in no condition to check. Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed that New Year Eve party. For me and my buddy, it was a special treat, because we had marched a long distance.

The route map. It involved a climb of about 6000 feet.

 

A picture of the Rongli-Padamchin Road

 

The Finale

On the following day which was the New Year Day, we were invited for lunch at Kupup, the Tri-Junction just short of the Jelep La pass, by the local Brigade Commander. He ordered beer for all the cadets and when our instructor objected, he told him to keep quiet as he, was in command and he called the shots in his territory.  We graciously raised our glasses and silently waved, ‘Three Cheers’ to the Brigade Commander!

 

Harikumar was commissioned in 1966, and this is how he looked, then

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A Sequel to the Above Episode (inserted by the Editor)

Gentleman Cadet Krishnan Nair Harikumar, whom we fondly called ‘Hari’ to save time, got away lightly in December 1965. He was duly commissioned along with his course-mates and was appointed OC of the high altitude workshop in the same area in 1980. After successfully commanding the unit, he took over the post of 2nd in command of the Battalion, and that is when I joined the unit, in Dec 1981. Soon after I assumed command, there was an incident which I remember till this day. On a fateful evening, two young officers who had no more than two lunar months of service got into a scuffle in the bar. They carried their quarrel to the next morning and came to blows out in the open; where the men were working, The Senior JCO came running to me to tell me that the scene which they had created was very bad for the unit because it would send wrong signals to the men. I called Hari and asked him to institute a court of inquiry and to proceed against the belligerent officers. Hari went out and returned after about 15 minutes. He suggested an unorthodox solution. He proposed that we order them to climb a difficult post to inspect the weapons and equipment. The post chosen was ‘Untdhar’ just next to ‘Nathu La’ He drafted the instruction, and they were required to leave the unit before 3 AM and return the same day. It was a stiff three-hour climb and the return journey was equally hazardous because the mule track was quite slippery. They were required to carry their weapons and also some test equipment. Indeed they were not allowed to take any soldier with them.

Having sent them, I kept my fingers crossed, fearing for their safety, because the mule track was slippery, due to some fresh snow. It was a great relief, when they returned, with a written report signed by the OC of the piquet confirming, that all was well on the post.

This is how Major Harikumar looked when I met him in 1981.

The Tailpiece

Sikkim is truly a Himalayan dream, blessed with natural beauty and resources in abundance. The crown jewels of the state are the revered mountain peaks and Mt Khangchendzonga is considered the guardian deity of the Sikkimese people. Standing tall at 8,586 metres, Khangchendzonga literally translates to ‘khang’ – snow; ‘chen’ – great; ‘dze’ -treasures and ‘nga’ – five or treasures of five great snows.

The hallowed mountain did, for sure, protect Hari and those two young officers. It made sure that no harm came to them, as long as they were prepared to respect the slopes and March on them with grace and courage! And as far as the Sikkim liquor is concerned, it has a flavor which is completely unmatched.

And, indeed, this piece would be incomplete, if one does not remember the immortal lines of a ghazal rendered by Ghulam Ali, which says:

हंगामा है क्यों बरपा, थोड़ी सी जो पी ली है

डाका तो नहीं डाला चोरी तो नहीं की है

ना तज़ुर्बाकारी से, वाइज़ की ये बातें है

इस रंग को क्या जाने, पूछो तो कभी पी है

हंगामा है क्यों बरपा.. 

In English, it means: “Why all this din when I have only consumed a sip of wine? I have neither looted anyone, nor even embezzled or stolen. The Priest is saying all these silly things because he has never experienced this ecstasy. Just ask him, has he ever tasted this elixir? We end this story by inserting another picture of the Kanchenjunga sent in by Joseph Thomas

 

Post Script

As I was going to post this piece on the website, I was reminded of a small incident, which is related to both of these incidents.

Around sixty years ago, we were celebrating the first birthday of our niece, whom wall Nuri. On the cake, we lit a candle and our parents stood up to say a prayer. Nuri was fascinated by the flame and wanted to touch it. Every time, she moved towards the candle, her mother pulled her back with due alacrity. And the infant headed back towards it with similar eagerness. My brother, the late Brig Surinder Singh found a different solution. He picked up the child, caught her little finger, and took it close to the glow. When the infant sensed the heat, she said, “Ooyee…” and pulled her hand back. She had learnt a lesson, for the rest of her life.

I find that young men are made like that. In the NDA there was a very strict ban on smoking, but Cadets found ingenious methods of violating the embargo. In the IMA, there was no such restriction. We observed that on the average ex-NDA cadets smoked more than their direct entry course-mates. It is a time tested fact that the law cannot effectively ban drinking or smoking.

It is my firm belief that Hari and his friends would not have misbehaved if their tour leader was more mature. Rebellion is an inherent feature of youth because there is a ‘child’ hidden in them, who wants to experiment!