You know you are a true breed fauji kid

1 You were born in a Military Hospital
2 Half your toddler years were spent being looked after by Bhaiyas ( no xplanation here)
3 You went to school either on Bhaiya's cycle or in a Shaktiman
4 You know what a shaktiman is. ( No! it isnt the TV serial about half man and half machine starring AB lookalike)
5 Jeeps & Jongas dont excite you - they were your regular mode of transport!
6 The only alternative to the Central School was the Army School.
7 You always called Kendriya Vidyalaya Central School. Gosh even today that sounds better!
8 Your entire family could survive in one room temporary quarters with 25 trunks, wooden crates, the dog, the bedroll and two bhaiyas flitting around.
9 The smell of Brasso & shoe polish was regular staple.
10 Mess was not what you created in your room, it was where you went every Friday for the free "english" movie.
11 The "English Movie" was very often a western and you couldnt follow a word! Sometimes you just went for the samosas and the local drink that they insisted was Cola.
12 At the end of the month your dad had to pay for many pink slips showing how many samosas and local drinks that they insisted was Cola you had consumed. They never missed any!!!
13 You attended many May Queen Balls before you knew what Miss India was.
14 Your mother regularly got dressed, perfumed and dissappeared for the Ladies Club.
15 You knew towns like Mhow, Wellington, Deolali and Bhuj
16 You werent a millionaire but hey you had Swimming, Horse Riding, Squash, Tennis and Golf!!
14 You thought the main reason to have a Golf Course was to have a Holi Bash.
15 You can still take one quick look at the epaulets and figure out the rank.
16 You discussed wednesday's Chitrahaar in the Shaktiman.
17 You can still recall the special & particular smell of the CSD canteen! A special prize for the correct concoction - mine is - it was a mix of Hamam Soap, Ponds Dreamflower Talc & Surf i think. In some corners it had overtures of Brooke Bond red Label as well.
18 Your vacations were a package deal consisting of D-forms, Sharma Uncle Ka jonga and Arty Mess ka kamra.


NOTE: One can see a lot of copies of this write up being uploaded at various websites / circulated in emails / mentioned in blogs...there is no problems with all that...spread the cheer! However, my only plea is atleast link it back to Fauji Kids@facebook so that whoever likes it can also enjoy the group & the comments from fellow faujikids.

God save the Queen

Latest board results were again a mixed bag, with lots of disappointments and less good news. It is amazing to note how they manage to contradict all the pre result predictions. The officers you think are most deserving don’t get promoted and there are as always lots of surprise packages or the dark horses as you may want to call them..

A surprise package for me this time was a rather unusual one. A lot of people known to me didn’t make it while few of the lucky ones were there on the coveted list. As the news trickled in there were heated discussions and great bonding to be seen. It was an evening which was a mixed bag of the happy and not so happy moments. What became a very obvious fact for us was that no matter how the results were each one felt that the esteemed CO’s wives had a major hand in making or breaking an officer’s professional life. A friend noted, “In Meerut, my daughter was very young which prevented my wife from going to the welfare centers and ladies meet that regularly. This had irked the CO’s wife very badly. I had official orders to send her to all the function compulsorily which I did but there was a day when my daughter was sick and my wife couldn’t go. That was the day my fate was sealed and my ACR ruined.”

A wife noted that she had always been working while the CO’s wife didn’t. This created a cold war between the two. The CO’s wife would insist her to take leaves or half days very often to attend the welfare meets. She took leave whenever she could but there were times when she couldn’t oblige the CO’s wife. This resulted in a bitter war of words between the two and next day her husband was called up by the CO and nicely thrashed.

With great reports throughout their entire service this was the only time they were bad which withheld this decorated officer with a Staff College and Foreign posting under his belt. One wife noted, “I was very close to my 2IC’s wife. But the day her husband became our CO, her attitude changed. They suddenly become very dictatorial.”

With growing discontentment amongst the armed forces personnel due to various reasons this CO’s wife factor is also fast gaining popularity. Their dictatorial ways have made a mockery of themselves and are major subject of jokes. In the end I would only say to the officers, you are the men of steel, grit and zeal. Just don’t let some petty issues ruin a life of somebody who is deserving and commendable. There may be some exceptions but don’t let the wives call the shots. They are like mother to a unit, pure and unconditional love should be their forte not the politics!!

God Save the Queen

Latest military board results were again a mixed bag, with lots of disappointments and less good news. It is amazing to note how they manage to contradict all the pre result predictions. The officers you think are most deserving don’t get promoted and there are as always lots of surprise packages or the dark horses as you may want to call them..

A surprise package for me this time was a rather unusual one. A lot of people known to me didn’t make it while few of the lucky ones were there on the coveted list. As the news trickled in there were heated discussions and great bonding to be seen. It was an evening which was a mixed bag of the happy and not so happy moments. What became a very obvious fact for us was that no matter how the results were each one felt that the esteemed CO’s wives had a major hand in making or breaking an officer’s professional life. A friend noted, “In Meerut, my daughter was very young which prevented my wife from going to the welfare centers and ladies meet that regularly. This had irked the CO’s wife very badly. I had official orders to send her to all the function compulsorily which I did but there was a day when my daughter was sick and my wife couldn’t go. That was the day my fate was sealed and my ACR ruined.”

A wife noted that she had always been working while the CO’s wife didn’t. This created a cold war between the two. The CO’s wife would insist her to take leaves or half days very often to attend the welfare meets. She took leave whenever she could but there were times when she couldn’t oblige the CO’s wife. This resulted in a bitter war of words between the two and next day her husband was called up by the CO and nicely thrashed.

With great reports throughout their entire service this was the only time they were bad which withheld this decorated officer with a Staff College and Foreign posting under his belt. One wife noted, “I was very close to my 2IC’s wife. But the day her husband became our CO, her attitude changed. They suddenly become very dictatorial.”

With growing discontentment amongst the armed forces personnel due to various reasons this CO’s wife factor is also fast gaining popularity. Their dictatorial ways have made a mockery of themselves and are major subject of jokes. In the end I would only say to the officers, you are the men of steel, grit and zeal. Just don’t let some petty issues ruin a life of somebody who is deserving and commendable. There may be some exceptions but don’t let the wives call the shots. They are like mother to a unit, pure and unconditional love should be their forte not the politics!!

Army Son Rises

Nirvikar Yadava, programming head of MY FM channel and the undisputed king of Bhopal’s radio jockeys is a successful army kid.

Nirvikar feels his formative years in the army and rich traveling experience have been responsible for his success. It has made him stronger, more thoughtful and mature adult. Army kids generally move along with their parents to the other stations every two years. There is a general perception that this continuous moving and shifting houses would have a negative impact on kids but it actually makes their nature more adjusting and also resolute.

Ask Nirvikar about what he regards as the proudest moment of his army life, “Seeing my Dad in the army uniform has always been my proudest moment. I am so proud of my Dad and look up to him always. My parents have raised me to be a strong individual and I wouldn’t change my life for anything” he says. His grooming began quite early in life when at the age of five his house was attacked during the riots of 84’ in Ferozpur. Being alone with his Mom he showed immense courage and presence of mind and blocked all the doors with curtain rods and heavy chairs. Unable to crack in, the terrorists finally left without causing any harm. “Like a true army wife my Mom is a woman of great steel and strength. And that one night gave me a true insight into her persona.” A little prodding reveals that he himself never wanted to be an army officer because he saw a very vulnerable side of his mom during the many years of separation from her husband, because he was posted in field areas where families were not permitted. “I saw her cry a lot during those times, with not a single shoulder to lean on. It was during those times I decided never to join forces and to give my Mom all the happiness in the world.”

Further elaborating on his experiences he says, “But I must tell you that only we as army kids are able to do all the exciting things! We get all the opportunities to pursue the most mind blowing adventure sports and also learn the most expensive games like golf and horse riding. I surely wouldn’t trade my experiences as an army for anything. I am what I am today only because of my life in the army. “I really hope and pray that we Indians realize the sacrifices made by our soldiers and their families and take some meaningful action to make their lives a bit better” he signs off. I couldn’t have agreed more!

POW of 1971 : AVM Pethia

Challenge can be called Air Vice Marshal Aditya Vikram Pethia’s, middle name. AVM AV Pethia, Vir Charkra, was born on 24th Sept 1943 in the Siankheda village in Gadarwala district of MP in a family of zamindars. Son of an IAS officer, AVM Pethia joined the Indian Air Force as a as a fighter pilot in 1964. He was married to Geeta in the year 1973. She has the rare distinction of representing India both in Basketball and Volleyball. His elder son is an Air Force officer like him while his younger son is a computer engineer in the United States of America.

AVM Pethia’s first posting as Flight Squadron was at Kharagpur where he used to fly the old British Vampires Aircrafts. He then moved to Siliguri, where he flied French aircrafts. He was posted in the eastern sector during the war of 1965. Later he was posted at Adampur Air Force station in Punjab. He was then selected for a flying instructor’s course in 1970.After finishing the course he came back to his fighter squadron.

The war of 1971 was a turning point in the life of AVM Pethia, as it was in the lives of twelve other Indian fighter pilots, whose planes were shot down and were taken as Prisoners of War (POW) in Pakistani jails. AVM Pethia’s nightmare lasted for five months, three days and eight hours to be precise. The memories and the torture at the hands of the enemies during his detention were enough to last for a lifetime. The reminiscences are movingly fresh and wounds still throb. Prisoners were made to sleep on a bare stone platform with no clothes and hands and feet tied up at a temperature as low as 5 degrees in Rawalpindi. Meal was offered once a day and lavatories were a figment of the imagination. Hearing such ordeals one is forced to question that what are we fighting for? Just a few peaks more or a few acres of land!! What we overlook is that we end up losing precious lives of our soldiers. If by chance a soldier is a POW then life is a series of never ending nightmares, which people like us dread even to envision. AVM Pethia was lucky to be repatriated because of his grave injuries which included broken knees, a broken collar, damaged lungs and large number of other wounds as a result of the torture. Back home doctors advised him against flying but here again his immense will power thrived and within months he went back to his first love, flying!

He was later posted as an instructor in Iraq from 1979 to 1981, where he saw the Iran- Iraq war from close quarters. A commander from a very young age AVM Pethia has commanded various stations like Lucknow, Amritsar, Secundrabad, and Jodhpur. He has the honour of being the first commandant of the Basic Flying Training School. His last posting was as a Director General of Air Force Naval Housing Board.

Even though his service was full of crests and troughs, this man of steel says that if given a chance he would again join the Indian Air Force. AVM Pethia believes that the future wars will not be based on ammunition but on economy. According to him officers today have to be more diplomat than warriors. Emphasis should be given to IT, latest technology and man management.


Presently AVM Pethia is presently settled in Bhopal and associated with the Purva Sainik Seva Parishad. He is also a frequent visitor to Matra Chaya an orphanage and an old age home in Arera Colony.

In the end all I can say is AVM Pethia, you left me speechless.

Of Kapoor and Kayani

We are a nation of patriots. We vote our Indian soldier as our person of the year. We get all expressive and teary eyed watching the fauji movies and their stories of bravery and valor. But that’s about it. Something that has been irking me for a while is that while Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is ranked among the “50 Most Powerful People of the World” selected by Newsweek, a leading American weekly magazine our Chief of the Army Staff Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor is nowhere. The list, carried in the magazine’s January issue, is led by President-elect Barack Obama while Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan also make the list but Gen Kapoor doesn’t figure at all. Gen Kayani is placed at 20 on the list.

I checked up the older versions of the list and was amazed that none of our high ranking Defence Officers have ever been on any such list worldwide. I don’t know what a difference it would have made but then are we a breed of miserable hypocrites? An unwelcome irony of this is that because of our jingoistic false ‘patriotism,’ and things have become far too dangerous and despised for all our soldiers. As a true fauji wife one of my first lesson was to complain less, to smile more and to cherish what I have today! For the past so many years I have been doing exactly this. But now I want more, a lot more for all my soldiers………

A Forgotten Soldier at Taj

An email regarding Capt AK Singh was forwarded to me and the shocking incident goaded me to take some tangible action. On 27 Nov, Capt AK Singh was one of these NSG commandos sent to Mumbai to deal with the terrorists he was one of those sent to Mumbai for dealing with the terrorists. Launched straight away into the operations at the Oberoi Hotel, he quickly established contact with one of the terrorists on the 18th floor at 1800 hr that day. Since the terrorist was holed up inside a room, they blasted the door open. However before Capt AK Singh and his men could throw a grenade inside, the terrorist threw a grenade at them. The grenade burst right in front of the Capt Singh and with splinter injuries all over, he fell unconscious. He was the only offr to be injured in the complete operation.


Later Capt AK Singh was operated upon in a hospital in Mumbai and all splinters
removed from his body barring one. That splinter had pierced the left
eye and destroyed it completely. Sadly the loss is irreparable which cannot even be replaced with a donor eye. What is more shocking that this incident was no where in news, no media coverage plus there was not even a mention in the press statements

The officer quietly fought a lonely battle in the in ‘Bombay Hospital’, while the whole country was grieving for the dead soldiers his family didn’t know whom to turn to for help. For Capt Singh it is a perfect case of Better to Die in a war than be Injured. Though the army stood by its soldier it was the sheer grit of another fellow officer Col IS Gill, a commanding officer who left no stone unturned in helping his brother officer. I was able to get Col Gill’s number after a long and tiring search and when I did speak to him he was one thrilled human being. He told me that Capt Singh is in a much better shape and is presently on sick leave in his hometown of Lucknow.

But the question is if this can happen to an officer, a soldier, what must be happening to a common man? I have forwarded the mail to all my colleagues in media, some of them have already jumped the gun and hopefully Capt Singh’s act of bravery won’t go unnoticed. Amen