MY regiment celebrated its Raising Day at Dehradun recently. Christened ‘Rendezvous 2024’, it was a soul-rejuvenating homecoming for over 250 veterans and serving soldiers, ranging from the 1960s to the 2020s. People travelled from places like Guwahati, Coimbatore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur and Hyderabad, validating poet Robert Southey’s words: ‘No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth.’
When the movie of the regiment’s glorious past was played, every photo had a story to tell. ‘I took the telegram to your dad, and we celebrated your birth with rum and shakkarpaare amidst the booming of our guns,’ my first commanding officer (CO), a walking encyclopaedia of the regiment’s history, told me as he regaled everyone with stories of the 1971 war. Everyone had something to say about the bits of history flashed on the screen.
It was a solemn occasion when the wife of a fallen hero, a Kirti Chakra awardee, inaugurated a motivation hall named after him. He was my senior subaltern and she fondly remembered the day I received the newlyweds at Bhuj railway station three decades ago. A daughter of another officer was very curious to know all she could about her late father, who was killed in an air crash when she was still in her mother’s womb.
Ours is a ‘Khandani Paltan’, having seven second-generation officers and over a dozen second-generation jawans. The regimental photographer was quick to capture us in the frame when we got together. It was an honour to share the stage with former Cos, including my father, my first CO (son of the founder CO) and a former commander, while addressing the regiment. With my brother posted at the same station, for me it was a family reunion as well.
As we bid au revoir, everyone was brimming with gratitude to the current CO, a crowd-puller, for getting us together. His wife was in tears while handing over the goody bags with customised souvenirs to departing guests. Their well-knit team was already planning for the platinum jubilee, seven years away.
‘It is this sense of belonging and esprit de corps that differentiates you guys from others,’ said a civilian guest, overwhelmed by the camaraderie on display. A happy memory never wears out; the moments captured in our cameras will be recalled many times to relive those three days of ‘celebration of unity’.