LANSDOWNE,GARHWAL RIFLES REGIMENTAL CENTRE

REMINICENCES OF YESTERYEARS

Kalundanda -‘Those were the Days’


1. Having survived a helicopter crash at Khillanmarg (Gulmarg) in April 1968 & after my discharge from 92 General Hospital, Badami Bagh-much against the wishes of the Surgical Specialist who knew that I was lying about the recovery & pain status of my broken leg, I hobbled up the stairs leading to the office of the Commandant for my final discharge interview The moment I entered, I did a good ‘thum’ & saluted him. He seemed impressed by my ship-shape posture & prior to signing off my papers he said that he will miss his million dollar patient. I thanked him for the treatment & the care that I was afforded. I saluted & came out. The moment I walked a few steps, there was shooting pain in the ankle (as I had banged my foot hard to show the Commandant that it had fully recovered!) & I caught hold of the wooden railing. The Principal Matron came rushing to me & admonished me for the drama & asked me to go back to the Officers Ward. I looked up & my eyes pleaded for forgiveness from her. True as a mother she said “Go home but look after your self. May god bless you”. Years after, during Kargil Operations, on our touch downs at Badami Bagh from the battle front, I made sure that in returning MI 17 sorties, maximum casualties were evacuated; some of them I literally carried on my shoulders. I vividly recall that one casualty with his one eye blown off whispered to me to say “Sahib, take me to 92 BH, I will be saved”. The Army medicos rose to superhuman heights & saved hundreds of precious lives. Later as BGS 15 Corps & GOC Dagger Division I saw the same spirit, professionalism & swagger in All Ranks of 92 Base Hospital .I salute them.

2. On 11 June 68-exactly one year after I had passed out from the IMA Dehradun, I was waiting for the Fokker Friendship to fly me out of the Srinagar Airfield. It landed on time & I boarded the aircraft. The leg space was restricted & I managed to take out the injured leg in the aisle little realising that my foot had disturbed the lady passenger in front of me. She turned back & I promptly apologized. She was Sadhna the famous film actress of those years .Their team was returning to New Delhi after the shoot in the Valley. She wished me well.

3. After my Sick Leave I was transferred to MH Bareilly & was attached to Station Headquarters. One fine day I received my posting order to Lansdowne (people thought that it was an overseas posting & congratulated me!). My limping foot & Medical Category C did not come in my way & I continued to take part in all activities much to the annoyance of the centre RMO & the Surgical Specialist of MH Dehradun. Their moral lectures notwithstanding, I continued to represent the Centre in almost all sport disciplines .The highlight was my getting third place in Bird Wood Vase Trophy (Match No 6 ARA) at Mhow.

4. Right from my childhood I had taken a fancy for Shikar. My close contact with relatives & their friends ensured that I invariably accompanied them in the initial stages, did odd jobs & learnt many valuable shikar tips. The most enjoyable thing used to be listening to their shikar stories & experiences near born fires savouring chunks of meat of all varieties with rum or beer depending upon time of the day. I had learnt to sit motionless on top of machans for hours at a stretch in hot & humid nights with great mosquito menace around. This taught me patience & discipline. Mostly our shikar activities centred around hills of Kumaon and Bhabhar areas to include Ramnagar, Dhela , Kashipur, Jaspur , Laldhang & adjoining areas to name a few. Even in a short span of time that I spent at Baisakhi camp in erstwhile N.E.F.A., I had shot Pheasants & Chakors near Se La, Bumla, Ghese La, Jung & Bomdi. I looked forward to the Long Range Patrols where one used 9 MM Carbine to respond to fleeting opportunities.

5. So posting to Lansdowne meant a golden opportunity for renewing Shikar activities. My uncle’s place at Ramnagar, Dhela & Sanwalde was quite close from Kotdwara & one could reach it through the jungle route which in itself provided ample opportunities for shikar. Once while returning to Ramnagar near Kalagarh our jeep was chased for over three kms by wild elephants. It was indeed a hair breadth escape.

6. I had a BSA 12 Bore DBBL & a .22 Long Range Rifle. In addition I had an access to .375 MAGNUM & 450/400 DB Rifle. The latter two weapons were part of armoury of the famous Belwal Family of Ramnagar who were my close relatives. Even today when you visit their house, you see a fully stuffed Tiger & Black Bear in their drawing room. On big game shootings I accompanied my uncle who owned these weapons.
7. In the GARHWALI Mess, we were about 6-7 dining in members. Our messing those days used to be about 3 Rs 50 paise per day. The PMC & the Mess Secretary were unhappy over this high rate & had advised us to keep the messing low. The trick suggested by the balding Mess Secretary was that beyond Rs 2.75 paise, everything should be reflected as extra messing. We had some unforgettable personalities dining in. One of them-a rotund Major who spat while he spoke & the other equally well fed Capt who in between his meals started snoring. The rotund Major had artificial set of teeth that made squeaking sounds while talking, as if, two skeletons were rubbing each other. Except for these middle-aged fellows, we were young, unmarried & happy-go lucky eligibles between 21-25 years of age who could not care less for what was happening around But we all were dyed-in-the- wool GARHWALIS - extremely proud of our Regiment.
8. From my early child hood days, I had the habit of getting up early. I made it a point to go for a walk/jog on the Mall, Lansdowne -Jahrikhal Road or the Lovers Lane. From the Lovers lane bridle path, I used to climb up straight to the ROBERTS-a short yet tough climb. I frequently came across clusters of Khaleej, Jungli Murgi & Chakors during these walks. Earlier, on two occasions, while going towards the Saint Mary Church, I was lucky to have ‘darshans’ of two leopards.

9. Looking down from the GARHWALI Mess towards the valley lies the village of Bauntha.Over the years, a number of new houses have come up in this sleepy hamlet. One can reach this village from a number of goat paths/bridle paths. Going down is very easy but the return climb is tough. Those days the jungle between the Mess, the village & the adjoining areas was very thick. Our Sunday lunch used to be a grand affair. It took me just about two hours to go towards Bauntha, shoot 3-4 Jungli Murgis/Chakors & hand these over to the Mess Havildar.I invariably took a Bhula along to help me. In spite of my detailed briefings, the Bhulas in excitement used to shout ‘Murgi or Chakor’ & I had to start all over again. In any case I never shot more than four Murgis.

10. On Sundays, there was no traditional breakfast. While I went for shikar, other bachelor boys went to play foot ball, hockey or basket ball. We then used to assemble on the grassy patch of T Barracks around noon. Our Bhulas used to make a semi circle of chairs with stools in between & await our arrival. We washed our hands & then sat for the grand Brunch. We guzzled litres of beer with sumptuous supplies of Jungli Murgi as endless snack .Two out of us were hardcore Punjabis who believed that any breakfast/brunch was not complete without ‘alloo paranthas’ with lodes of butter on top , ‘egg bhujji’ ,‘achar’ & ‘lassi’. The Sunday session continued for almost three hours. After about one hour, we again descended at the Parade Ground & sweated out the Beer, Jungli Murgi & the Paranthas. None of us slept in the afternoons. In fact on some days, we saw an old movie at the dilapidated cinema hall of Lala Gyarsi Lal.

11. In April 89, I had gone on a weekend shikar trip to Adnala Shooting Block.To reach it; one has to take a left one kilometre ahead from the old Toll Tax Barrier on road Lansdowne-Kotdwara. It is a sudden & sharp turn & the kucha road descends to Sindi Khal.It is a small village on the far end of which lies the Mundia Pani Dak Bunglow.This area is adjoining the National Corbett Park with its best portion having been included in the sanctuary. Later in the day, I walked on this track up to Rathuadhao & to the adjoining jungle trails inside. I was lucky to shoot a sambhar & a few pheasants.

12. Tiger hunt was permitted up to June 1969.The Commandant was keen to join me for the shoot & it took quite some effort & time to obtain a pass from Chief Life Warden, Lucknow. It was mandatory to possess a weapon that could shoot a bullet with nothing less than 3000 Lbs per sq inch of pressure. Luckily, here again my uncle’s .375 MAGNUM & 450/400 DB Rifle came in handy. We camped at the Amangarh Dak Bungalow awaiting Commandants arrival. No one came. I went back to Ramnagar and rang up Lansdowne only to find out that the Commandant had been called to Lucknow. Any way, we then divided ourselves into two parties – one for Jaspur (East) & the second for Jaspur (West).I was with my uncle in Jaspur East. He had brought a ‘para’ & we spent two nights on the ‘machan’. The Big cat did come close, but for reasons best known to it, never attempted to attack the ‘Para’. We only saw the burning eyes a couple of times & there was no luck. On the remaining two days, we shot 2 big Jhanks (Local name of big Cheetal) & a number of Jungli Murgis & partridges.

13. Whenever I visit the Garhwali Mess & look down towards Bauntha from the GARHWALI Mess, I recall with nostalgia the good old days. Four decades plus – it is a long time. While the jungles around have thinned out, our oak trees around the Mess & in the Cantt stand as majestic & serene as I saw them while I was limping up the bridle path from the Roadways Station to our Mess in Jul 68.

14. Last when I visited the GARHWALI Mess, I stayed for a night & the very next day I had to rush to Haridwar to attend an important meeting. I was served breakfast in GAZEBO. To my sweet surprise there were plain paranthas with curd & achar. Recalling the T Barracks Sunday brunch, the paranthas were not stuffed & there was no Jungli Murgi & egg bhujia. It is almost thirteen years since I left eating any type of non vegetarian food including eggs. This notwithstanding, I was fully charged to walk down the jungle trails towards Bauntha even without a gun.

15. Lansdowne, Oh! Lansdowne, you build up on people who have LOVED you. As I pay obeisance to our Regimental war Memorial & pass the Centenary Gate, I say to my self “THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!”














(Note:-Readers may refer to the Regimental Shikar Scrap Book kept in the Garhwali Mess Library. The author then a Lt has written in his own hand full description of his shikar experiences including some hand drawn sketches – Editor)