Corps Commander’s house, Tezpur, 1966 — a watch that was not entirely reliable and a General who was always affable
The flag was fluttering in the wind and the sun was going down fast. The year was 1966. There was the usual sepoy section on guard at the Corps Commander’s bungalow in Tezpur, Assam. It was about time to lower the flag of the flagstaff house.
The guard commander looked at his ammunition boots, satisfied himself that the shine was bright and the leather shoe laces weren’t wrinkled. Then he counted the hob nails of his boots; all 13 were in order. He shouted the command and the squad started marching towards the flagstaff of the Corps Commander’s house.
The General was going around the flower beds and trimming some leaves with a pair of secateurs. He slipped the tool into his pocket and moved closer to watch the lowering of the flag at retreat. The maali came out with a watering pot and started tipping the water onto the saplings and peonies. The General was a lover of flowers and liked his garden well kept.
I was sitting with Subedar Sube Singh (of the Jat Regiment) as he narrated the incident. He was 93 but remembered that evening well. He was a Havildar in the defence company and they were on guard duty at the bungalow that summer several decades back.
“I was taking down the flag at 6 pm when I felt that the General had come quite close to me and stood watching me. I was tying the rope on the flagpole having taken off the flag. My eyes fell on the General’s wrist watch. It showed the time as five minutes to 6. My watch showed exact 6 pm.”
“Sahib galti ho gayi mujh se jhanda utarne ke time mein (Sir, I am afraid I made a mistake, I lowered the flag five minutes early),” Subedar Sube Singh recalled having told the General.
The General, he said, laughed. “He was a very good man.”
“Ghabrao matt, tumney sarkari ghadi pehni hai (Don’t be nervous, you are wearing a government watch),” he told Sube Singh, “and I am wearing a personal watch. And a government watch can never be wrong. You did the right thing going by government time.”
Then the General Sahib said “shaabash” and it was such a relief, Sube Singh smiled.
“In those days, we were issued a wrist watch from the quarter guard to do duties. We could not afford to buy watches. Niwar ke feetey waali ghadi hoti thee (Those hand-wound watches used to have a canvas strap),” Sube Singh recalled.
India used to import watches from Switzerland and HMT had just started manufacturing hand-wound watches in collaboration with the Citizen Watch Company of Japan. The demand for watches was very high and these were fearfully expensive.
The Army used the Omega military watch but since it wasn’t shock-proof, it often developed variable movement and time errors. It was also the job of weapon armourers to check the watches for accurate movement.
After the incident, General Sahib gave orders that every week, all watches will be synchronised.
“Subedar Sahib, but you didn’t tell me who this General was?” I asked Sube Singh.
His name was Sam Manekshaw, he said. Who else I thought. The stuff of legends.