The Calf Path of Mind-4

The picture  is self explanatory.It was a memento showing the end of wintering period of 5 thwinter team of Indian Antarctic Expedition. But the point to note is that four winter teams had 

 completed their tennure  and returned to India.What was the task generally assigned to a winter team.?Basically to project India's Image in the world Forum that an year long activities are conducted.The scientist to conduct experiments,the administrative staff ,and for command and control,a leader.

                     Having known the cruel nature of Atarctica,the wintering activies are mostly confined to the safety of the station and protecting the physical and mental state of the team.So it trickles down that the wintering at Antarctica is the soul responsibility of the leader.He must be physically and mentally fit himself ,creative,patriotic to establish his country,s image in the world forum.

                   Ganesan was selected as wintering leader in April-May 1987 and he was to leave in November 1987 for Antarctica.In this about six months time Ganesan ,not only acquainted himself with the Characteristics of the wild and cruel continent Antarctica,but also mentally designed his conduct of wintering.

                He started collecting materials and details about India's heritage and also discussed with the past wintering members.He felt that most of the people thought that the wintering activities in Antarctica was just like any other duty.But Ganesan did not accept their views.The world exhibits great wonders but to understand that the inner faculty of the man must be prepared to understand and makes his contribution for the benifit of posterity.

          The day to day activities of Ganesan, as India's wintering leader at Antarctica was based on this understanding.It was fortunate that his team members though unknown to him before were very much co operative and contributed their share.

                  Contrary to the pen picture given by the organisers about the Indian Station "Dakshingangotri",the first sight of the station was very much threatening whether the team will return safely back to India.

    The double story station was fully burried and every blizzard the first act of all members were to remove the snow from the roof.

             But every act was taken in National spirit and the team started enjoying the hazardous life.

        It was under these circumstances our wintering period was coming to an end.So we decided that a be fitting camp fire would be held.The old and unserviceable clothings and equipments were thrown into fire.Ganesan collected the remaining of an ice ax after the fire and made a momento out of that,which is displayed at the top.

                That is how the calf path of mind was broken by Col Ganesan.

 

                          Command is not a transitory appointment-2

                 In the previous article I had explained about the bond that develops between officer and P B O R.(personnel below officer rank ).Having understood that I had started paying attention to their welfare by suitably designing their living area.recreation room and dining hall.Sine we were in field area,all ranks get free forces envelopes.But these letters will be censored by unit censor board comprising of people who knows the language.

                The recreation was filled with many inspiring quotations and since I used to read many great leaders biographies,I used to select from that and place it in the recreation room.

                     On one fine evening one Havildar came to see me.After customary salutations ,he started crying and sobbing silently.I consoled him and asked what is the matter.He narrated a personal event.When he had gone on annual leave of two months,there was lot of works at home,and was very busy.In the last few days of his leave,there was lot of arguments on family matters between himself and his wife and he had even beaten her.He left home in the same angry mood and came to unit.For the last two months he did not write a letter to his wife  and did not reply to her letters also.

                 Under these circumstances,a few days before when he visited the recreation room one of the writing by me and kept there attracted him and felt emotionally weak for not writing to his wife.He immediately wrote an apology letter with love and affection to his wife regretting for the stupid thing he did before leaving home.His wife immediately broke the ice and also felt sorry and sentimentally replied.So the Havildar came to thank me for boosting his morale.

                 What was the writting ,that was kept in the recreation room. 

வானுயரப்பறக்கும் பறவையும் வந்து அமர்வதற்கு ஒரு இடத்தைத்தேடுகிறது.எல்லைப்புறத்தில் எதிரிகளுக்கும்,இயற்கைக்கொடுமைகளுக்கும் ஈடு கொடுத்துப்போராடும் நமக்கும் வீடும் உறவும் உண்டு என்பதை மறந்து விடாதீர்கள்.ஓய்வய் நேரத்தில் அவர்களுக்கு கடிதம் எழுதுங்கள்.விடுமுறையை மகிழ்ச்சியான நாட்களாக செலவிட்டு விட்டு புத்துணர்வோடுதேசசேவைக்கு வாருங்கள்.

                   இப்படி எழுதி வைத்து கீழே சில கடித உரைகளும் பேனாவும் வைத்திருந்தேன்.இது படிப்பவரின் மனதை நெகிழ வைத்துவிட்டது.

               The sky high flying bird also needs a resting place.Even though we are serving in the far flung border areas,do not forget that we too have family.and kith and kin.write letters to them regularly.when you go on annual leave ,enjoy the holidays with them and return fresh and rejuvenated.A board with this writing was kept in the recreation room and below that Free forces latter and a pen was kept

                           On reading this the Havildar changed his mind and their relationship had become normal.Having come to know these details, I had sent the Havildar on a short casual leave.It is needless to mention that the P B O R had grat respect for Colonel Ganesan.

                                                      The "Calf path of Mind"-4

The writings on this topic are just to show the readers that vertical,lateral and all round  analysis of a situation gives best answer to a problem.In this topic today I shall bring some information which could be usefull for serving as well as retired Army Officers.

             In oct 1982 I was serving with an Engineer Regiment in Punjab.Since I had been with them for about two years plus I was posted out to Chennai on my request.But at the same time the Regiment was ordered to move to Arunachal Pradesh on prestigious role as Div Engineer Regiment. At this juncture the commanding officer selected me to be leader of the Advance party to Arunachal  pradesh. Though I was very happy on this ,it was critical situation.Since I was posted out I must take my wife and children to Chennai.If I go to chennai,I will miss the golden opportunity of seeing the Eastern sector where 1962 war took place.As I have been repeatedly mentioning in my writings,the Cosmic Force came to my help and things eased out on its own.

                My wife and children safely reached Chennai with the help of a Jawan from my Regiment,and I landed at Tenga,Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Govt had recently taken decision to  a "Forward Posture Defence "and accordingly Army was given direction.A large amount of infrastructure was being developed in Kemeng sector.I was to move up and down in the border areas from Lumla in the east to Bumla in north  and to some more areas in the western part of Kemeng sector.

Arunachal pradesh always attracted me ,because  that was the mother earth turned into red  by the blood  of my country men ,thousands in numbers,defending her in 1962.The whole world knows that ,because of the foolish policy of people who does not know even the geography of that land ,the soldiers sacrificed their life.

       So when I was given an opportunity  to be part of the  defending force,I had best utilised that.After about six months of thoroughly understanding our role and  properly handing over I came to Chennai as Dy cdr works under CWE Chennai.But within a short period My promotion board result came and I was approved for promotion.My effort to stay in Chennai for some more time was mis understood and I was over night posted to Chief Engr Delhi Zone on promotion as S O-1,works.Surprisingly S O -1 Madras was vacant.So it was out of vengeance.But the Cosmic force was in my favour,and I was posted as Commanding Officer,4 Engineer Regiment with in a moth on the recommendation of a high level committee.

                 So I was back in Arunachal pradesh. Now I was fairly in knowledge about the 1962 war. The 1962 war did not come as a surprise.Some argument and discussions were going on between Govt of India and the the chineese  Govt. So Indian Govt started strengthening the Defences.An outstanding officer Brig Hoshiar Singh Rathee who was Dy Comdt N D A was overnight posted as 62 Inf Brigade to defend Sela.Another bright officer Brig Dalvi was potes as Commander,7 Inf Brigde  which was facing the chineese at Dhola.

             Sela was on the main axis and was well stocked for a a Defence battle.But the Army in general was poorly equipped in weapons and clothing.The chineese had entered from different axis to isolate strong positions of india.

  One can see here ,that the chineese had isolated Sela and had established Road blocks at Nyukmedong and at Bomdila.

                When my Regiment was in support of our Defences in Kemeng sector I made it a point to walk along many of these tracks.The famous Nyamjung chu  was one of the chineese route which goes into Butan. Similarly from Sela one can go to Rupa ,isolating Bomdila. From Tawang I had gone to Lumla and crossed Nyamjang Chu,to Bleting.From Nuranang one can reach Bisaki bypassing Sela.

                    Basically it was only to highlight that I went beyond the call of duty towards furtherence of my Commanders plan and I was mentally prepared to take up the role of an Infantry Battalion,if necessitates.

             The chineese should understand that India of 2021 is not  1962.The recent developments in ladak had demonstrated this to the entire world.
   

                                                      The calf Path of Mind.-3.

               I had posted few incidences where the "Calf Path of Mind "had been broken for the benefit of  posterity.Many people before starting a work,looks for precedence and try to follow the Calf Path.Here is another incidence. Most of the great achievers are generally self made and they did not follow any beaten track.

          I was commanding an Engineer regiment in Northern sector.For the benefit of  non Army personnel,all ranks of the Engineer Regiment are skilled tradesmen like carpenter,fitter,electricians etc in addition to being skilled shooters ,which is the basic quality of soldiers.It was command headquarters area with usual peace station facilities like Officers club,Swimming pool etc.Being a peace station ,families were permitted .

                      Once there was a call that we should provide two "life savers" at the swimming pool area in order to protect non swimmers and children.I replied that we don't have any one who has been trained in "life saving "skills, however good swimmers are there,and hence sent two good swimmers.How to utilise them is upto the swimming pool in charge.

                         About a month after this arrangement ,there was an accident in the swimming pool.A teen aged boy was found missing from the attendance register and our swimmer found the boy drowned in the deep water.A court of inquiry was ordered and our swimmer was blames as "Failure in Duty "and a letter came to me to take disciplinary action against him.

                        Whenever some work is to be done,people look around,and search the files  for seeking presidence. Because that is the "Calf Path of Mind ".We fail to exercise our mind and look towards line of least resistance.But Colonel Ganesan ,as he was an accidental entry to the Officer cadre,kept on looking at the basics of a problem and irrespective of the outcome he implements his decisions.

                     In this case,Ganesan ordered "Summery of Evidence " (S of E ) )to be recorded against the swimmer.For all those who may not be knowing about this,S of E  is evidences reduced to writing against the accused and all facts are to be brought forward.In this case the facts brought out were as under;

1.The accident took place on a day in the morning at about 11.00 AM.

2. It was the scheduled time for officers and children.

3.There was no "standing instruction" on for using swimming pool.

4.On that fatefull day,there were 13 Officers and 12 children in the pool as per "Entry and Exit "register which was maintained by the swimmer.

5.The swimmer was given to take care of valuables of those coming to the pool.

6. On that day a girl of about 10 years and her brother about 13 years had come to the pool.

7.All officers and children were swimming,diving and playing in water.

8.There was no alarm,or life saving shouting at any time.

9.After some time ,that girl child reported to the swimmer that her brother is not seen anywhere.The swimmer found that while entry time was written,exit time was blank.That means ,the boy has not gone out.

10.The swimmer went around the pool and found a body on the floor of deep water under the diving board.

11.It is presumed that as the children were using the diving board,this particular boy hit the floor and did not come up.

12.As the children and officers were jumping into water,no one has observed that this boy did not come up.No alarm was raised.The Officers and children were leaving the pool one by one,.That boy's sister started searching for her brother and complained.

13.Immediately on recovery of the body from the pool,first aid was given by the swimmer and rushed to hospital.There in the hospital ,the doctors declared "Brought Dead "

                  In the light of the above findings,where was the mistake or failure of duty by the swimmer.The Officers in the poll did not observe the diving of children,the swimmer was sitting in one corner taking care of their valuables.No alarm of any type was made.

                     Under these circumstances ,Maintaing the moral responsibility of "The safety,Honour and Welfare of men under command "by the commanding Officer,I,am of the opinion that the swimmer has not committed any offence.Hence no disciplinary action could be taken. How ever the swimmer at the pool be properly guided by the Officer in charge of the Swimming Pool  to avoid such lapses in future.

                     The swimmer later promoted to Havildar and retired.Even after about 30 years after that incident ,he keeps on spreading  his whole hearted message that "No one but for Colonel Ganesasn"could have saved his life.

                  I have simply broken that "Calf Path of Mind ".That is all.

                                                  The calf Path of Mind-2

                        "The calf path of mind" is a good phrase to remind the easy going people that people of historical importance generally attempt on "Road less traveled".They were fully aware of the consequences of their act and mentally prepared to face the situation.

                   Colonel  Ganesan  took ove command of an Engineer Regiment in a Mountain division which was placed to defend Arunachal pradesh.The year was 1984.In reply to the people's voice that "Are we going to sacrifice Tawang " ?,the government started preparing a "Forward Posture "and large amount of defense  works were going on.The border areas were in high altitude and there was no roads.Army personnel were to march on two-three days with staging camps en route.Mules and porters were used to fetch heavy loads.

                 Under these circumstances a Field Company affiliated to a forward Brigade  was preparing defenses at an altitude of 4770 m ie approximately 15,000 feet.When ever a working party is to be replaced minimum 4-5 persons will march on with their personal load and reach the the first staging camp.The care taker of the particular unit who stays in the staging camp helps the team for rest and gives packed food  for the next day march.

                 Under these circumstances,in April-May 1984 a team of 5 persons left the base for their border post.It was steep climb and quite tiering. The team was nearing the first staging camp.But one of their member was not able to go with the team but was lagging behind.How ever the care taker at the staging camp came down to meet the team,and went further down to help the weak person who was lagging behind.For a long distance he did not see that person.He came up and took other members and went down to the place where the team left him.They all searched here and there ,but there was no trace.Message was flashed to all that one person was missing.

                      Since the Brigade had come to their Operational location,the entire Brigade was put on search operation.No trace of the missing person was found.He was carrying personal load of about 25 Kg,7.62 SLR rifle and was in combat dress.Finally a court of inquiry was ordered presided by the Brigade commander,and senior officers as members.The court concluded that missing person is a Deserter,and it was counter signed by the Gen officer Commanding.

                            There was change of command of Engineer Regiment and Ganesan took over.After a short period the court of enquiry file was received by the Regiment for further action. Ganesan was the Advance party Commander who brought the Regiment in October 1983 and was in complete picture of the operational areas. Fortunately he came back to command.He went through the file in detail.Army personnel would be aware about the difference between a "Missing "person and a "Deserter ".Deserter  term puts the entire blame on the individual and the unit.It is an indication of poor discipline,lack of patriotism,and poor training,and lack of "esprit-di-Corps". 

                  What happened to him is a million dollar question and no one could answer that.But declaring him as "Deserter "is an easy way to bury the problem.But does that absolve the responsibility of officership who took attestation as 'THE SAFETY,HONOUR AND WELFARE OF THE MEN UNDER COMMAND ? Certainly not.

                             So Ganesan ,kept the file on one side and started his own investigation.He walked all along the operational areas,talked to "Indo Tibetian Border Police people,",local headsmen and came to the conclution that it could be a case of hallucination or kidnapping and canot be simply set aside as  "Deserter ".Informers and spy personnel are spread along the National border with China and Pakisthan are known facts.The missing of an Army person could be a tip of an ice berg.However without going into wider details,confining himself to the welfare of men under command ,Ganesan wrote a detailed letter to Adjutant General of the Indian Army ,requesting him to direct the court to re open the case and declare the individual as "Missing "

                      The initial stage of the application brought bombardment from the G O C of the Division,as he had accepted as "Deserter "and countersigned the proceedings.But Ganesan stood the ground and application went through to Army Headquarters.After about a month Ganesan was flooded with sweets and congratulatory messages,as AHQ accepted Ganesan's views and directed the court to re write the "Findings ".

                  The basic training imparted to all Army personnel are the same.But the subsequent situation handling is upto their conscience and upbringing.Many Officers take the "Command Appointment " as a launching pad for their future.Where as Ganesan  took it as an opportunity to prove the Officership "as understood by him. Whether, his future was protected or not is a matter of time and history to tell.

                           Ganesan had certainly driven out "The calf path of mind"out of his mind.

                                  The Calf   Path of Mind.

                 The wintering period at Antarctica is a great  psychological struggle of every wintering member.Loneliness,Biological disturbances, lack of intimate relationship with family members  etc affects them.The barren long stretch of white surface for miles and miles long  creates dryness in eyes as they don't see anything other than white snow field for days and days.

                           Under these circumstances ,the responsibility of the wintering Leader need not be over explained.Firstly he himself should be fit enough and secondly he must  design wintering activities in such a way that it is entertaining,educative and constructive towards over all purpose of wintering and the Government towards future planning.

                            The readers may be aware that Colonel Ganesan  was on different plane amongst the officers as he was rational in thinking, logical in action,highly patriotic, deeply interested in Military ethos.He was very well read about Antarctic conditions and came to Antarctica fully prepared as a General entering the battle field with his forces to face the unknown enemy.

                      He was fully aware of the "Calf path of Mind ".Please gothrough the poem.

                    The Calf-Path

                                                 Sam Foss

 For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,

And work away from sun to sun,
To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,

And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move.

                    Having read such stories,Ganesan's  approach was not only vertical and lateral but multy directional.It was fortunate that the rest of the 14 member winter team was highly co operative, contributed in co existence.Look at the design of our winter team photo done by Major Pramod Deogirikar,an M.Tech graduate of E M E team with the help of Dr,Lt Col Kochhar,our surgical specialist and winter team official photographer.

   I don't think that any where in the world any Antarctic winter team had a design like this. With this type of attitude "the calf path of mind" was brocken at every stage and the wintering went on very well.

     The Soviet union station "Novolazaravskiya " was 85 Km away and their Fuel dump was at "Indian Bay "close to our station "Dakshin gangotri. Whenever they come to this side they also call on us.The above photo was that of a "Foot ball match " played between them.A big board was kept by the side and written "Indo-Russian Football match."Both the countries National flag was hoisted by the side.

                  The onset of "Polar night "and the first sight of sun after polar night was welcome by "ice bucket dance " by our winter team.

              These were some of the examples to show that the calf path of mind has to be broken at every stage.Colonel Ganesan has demonstrated this quality time and again and never took matters at the face value.

           He took over as Battalion Commander,M E G &  Center on return from Antarctica .This Battalion was responsible for Center J C O 's Mess.Every year the center was to honour Late Sub Subramaniam,George Cross.This was going on since 1944,as Sub Subramaiam was killed in a battlefield in 2nd world war on 24 Feb 1944.The retired J C O s with the help of Training Battalion-1 organises this.

                   When Ganesan took over in 1989,the secretary of the retired J C Os approached Col Ganesan  for a grand show of the above function.Ganesan,promised him to help in all aspect and wanted to know more about Sub Subramaniam's family,children etc.As the information was not coming through ,he called the secretary and gave 3 days time to get the details. On third day he called the secretary  and told him that he will not conduct a function "just for name sake " and demanded the details.

                 The retired Sub Maj &Hony Captain,humbly submitted to Colonel Ganesan,that for the past so many years,Subramaniam Day was being celeberated with a Photo,and one or two individual who had served with Sub Subramaniam ,speaking about him for few mts.He regreted that "Other than that" he has no details.At this stage Col Ganesan opened his table drawer and took out a cover. He opened the cover and spread about 10 photographs of Sub Subramaniam.The secretary was spellbound ,wide opened his eyes and asked Col Ganesan,how did he get those photos.

                     Colonel Ganesan,after warning the secretary three days before,decided that the secetaray has got the "Calf path of mind." and wanted to break it.He took a camera,and went to "Keela othiwakkam "the village near Kanjeepuram to which Sub Sbramaniam belongs.Spoke to his people and from there went to Madras ,met his only son,Mr.Durailingam, and invited him to attend his fathers function and returned to Bangalore.

                    Mr.Durailingam,wrote a highly sentimental letter to Col Ganesan is posted below.

It is needless to explain further about "Calf path of Mind "

Command is not a transitory Appointmwnt

       Command is not a transitory Appointment-1.

Colonel Ganesan was not one of the Army officer who was dreaming of army life and physically and mentally prepared from very young age.Being a village lad he was physically very strong with excellent stamina and high flexibility of body and mind.When he became an Army officer accidently,he had capitalised those qualities to suit his career.

            Even though he was not a brilliant student in academics, he left no stone unturned to learn the Military law and Army regulations.Most of the people who had no knowledge about Army and its functioning had created an imaginary world by them self and happy with that.But in reality it is not so .Because the Defence service ,by itself is a separate world . Even those people serving in one branch of it may not know in detail about the functioning of other branches.

           Under these circumstances,He was commissioned as Emergency Commission Officer.The officership in the Army consists of Regular,short service,special list  and Emergency commissioned officers.With in the category of Regular officers,there are N D A entry,Direct entry,Technical entry,ACC.It is needless to explain that each category has a place of pride.Even with in N D A entry,there are sainik school entry,Military school entry,ordinary +2 entry and ofcourse the cream layer R I M C entry.

                With such a vast difference in the background,the officer group is a conglomeratory mix and it will be a tough job for the Commanding Officer to assess the leadership quality of each officer and recommend them for higher appointments.In the Diving competition in swimming events,the diver selects and executes a particular dive with  different degree of difficulty.A dive with zero degree of difficulty and a dive with 3 degree of difficulty  has to be appropriately assessed.

                      In the same way an Emergency commissioned officer with no Army background knowledge and an R I MC trained NDA entry officer  has to be suitably inspired and motivated  by the Commanding officer especially at the early stages of entry..During British rule, a number of indian soldiers were correctly identified and commissioned by British officers,who later became outstanding Army Commanders.

                       This quality of leadership training was lacking in the Army at present. Because of  lack of such devoted leadership and easy going attitude many excellent caliber officers were wasted out.I take my personal case  and put forward to the public to judge themself.The bond that develops between officer,Jawan,and the "spirit-de-Corps "cannot be explained but to be felt by each individuals.

                   The Officers of the Army are highly respected by Personnel Below Officer Rank (P B O R )With in six months  of my service I was sent on road recce in high altitude area of UP-Tibet border.My team was myself,a surveyer,jeep with driver,enough resources for 4-5 days outings. At one stage ,there was no road  and we came to a dead end.But My task was to find out the details beyond that.I decided to walk about 30 Km and reach other end.The driver will go back and take different route to come to other end and meet us there.Myself and surveyer will walk.With this plan, the next day we started.The driver left on his way.It was shivalik Ranges of Himalayas,and Kumaon hills.Complete claim upto 2.00 Oclock in the afternoon and then slowly going down.When the Sun goes down on other side of the hill, it gets dark even by 4.00 oclock evening.

                    It was getting darker and darker and destination was not in sight.I was dead tired.The surveyer was having about 10 years service and was used to Army way of tough training.We reached the destination in total darkness, and time may be 7 or 8 PM.There were two-three huts and a kerosine lamp was on.We reached there and as I could not stand,felldown on the floor.My assistant covered me with the blanket we were carrying.The driver has not reached,and I had no idea whether he will reach or not.In middle of night,I heard the sound, "Saheb ! Saheb !

                            It was the driver. !Get up Saheb ! I have reached safely.The surveyer was in panic and did not know what to do.As soon as I came ,we prepared parotta,fish curry and dall,I had bought fish en route,.I was given a bottle of whiskey by company Subedar saheb.. Please have one or two pegs.I will massage your legs with mustered oil and then wash with warm water .Morning you will be absolutely fit.

                                I was in a dream world and tears were bubling out of my eyes.Who are these people.? What have I done to them ? How they are showereing such boundless love and affection. Is that loyalty,Officer-PBOR relationship.Will I  be  worth to return that loyalty to them.?

                           On that day I decided that I will develop myself physically,mentally  to be better than them,My professional competence will protect them like an Armour. In the officership I will stand second to none.

                    The honesty,integrity and uprightness  was a self generated energy  in my life.In the next few writings I will bring out few more incidents which will be unique in an Army Officer's life.

                                                                                     Contd.......