DIVINE FORGIVENESS
Our parents, whom we addressed as ‘Pitaji’ and ‘Jhaiji’ were a study in contrast. Pitaji was a man in a hurry, forever chasing his self-assigned goals and objectives. He was an intense person: focused to the point of being ambitious. He was an achiever, in every sense of the term. Jhaiji, on the other hand was laid back, relaxed and …
The Genesis of two “Farooka” Schools
The Sindhu river was called “Hindu” by the Persians. The name passed to the Greeks as Indós. It was adopted by the Romans as Indus. The river’s annual flow is about 243 cubic km — twice that of the Nile River and three times that of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers combined. The earliest chronicles and hymns of ancient India, the …
MY TACHYCARDIA
August 1949 I was eight years old when our father was posted to the Indian Military Academy as an instructor. We saw the above spectacle every six months during the next three odd years, and it got embedded in our subconscious minds. We wanted to be a part of the scene. Our eldest brother was selected for entry into …
YOU HAVE LEFT US LONELY AND FORLORN, SURINDER!
Foreword There are billions of people on the earth. In the Chandigarh tricity itself, we have more than 11.69 lacs of citizens. The demise of just one person has caused many of us to feel forsaken. Reminds me of a couplet written by Nida Fazli and sung by Jagjit Singh and Lata Mangeshkar, which says, हर तरफ़, हर जग़ह, बेशुमार …
STARTING THE INDIAN AIR FORCE TEST PILOTS SCHOOL
Maj Gen Surjit Singh says : Thomas and I met as young teenagers back in 1958. We were coursemates and in the same squadron. Thomas stood first in the UPSC entrance process. He maintained this throughout the 6 terms and won the Silver Medal. He also won the Air Force Trophy, the Yachting Trophy and many book prizes. He …
FAROOKA (Distt Sargodha) in June 1947; and Now
Preamble Ninety-five years ago, on 2nd September 1926, our saintly grandfather, Bhai Hira Singh Ji passed away at an early age of 46. Ever since then, we observe this date as a remembrance day. Until the partition of Punjab, our family used to organize a ‘prayer meet’ in our ancestral house in Farooka, District Sargodha. But after we migrated …
A ‘Field Punishment’ Under the Watchful Eye of the Kanchenjunga
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 …
A SILENT THUNDER IN ‘HUNTER’ SQUADRON, NDA
A SILENT THUNDER IN ‘HUNTER’ SQUADRON, NDA By 2997 A Bit of History At the end of World War II, Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, then Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, led a committee around the world and submitted a report to the Government of India in December 1946. The committee recommended the establishment of a Joint Services Military Academy, …
The Portrait of a ‘Kirti Gursikh’
Prologue Our father, whom we called Pitaji, passed away in Command Hospital, Chandimandir on 07 May 2004 at the age of 93. Soon after that, we received a request from Mr Saran Singh, IAS who was the editor of “The Sikh Review” to write about the life and times of our father. I must add that Mr Saran Singh had …
Memories of 8 Squadron, IAF
BIRTH AND INFANCY OF No. 8 SQUADRON, IAF Preamble Sqn Ldr T J Thomas joined the fledgling Air Force in 1939 at the bottom rung, and worked his way up to a ‘field’ rank, equivalent to Major in the Army. In the process, he had to climb many steps.He commanded No 43 Signals Unit in J&K from 1960 to 1962. He …
