GENERAL HANUT SINGH RATHORE, I KNEW

He was a legend for the Mechanised Corps and for soldiery overall. He is remembered long after he has gone because he left his deathless spirit behind; his guts, grit, and ethic of Mai Baap are for us to imbibe and execute. He was my mentor; he was everything.

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The 1971 Indo-Pak War - we could see it coming since June 1971 - saw my brothers; all ex-NDAs and therefore nobly born in their esteem - one on each of the three principal axes of advance into then East Pakistan. Two, a major and a captain were older and from the Cavalry. The third was younger to I and from an elite Garhwal Rifles Battalion...just out of IMA; a batch which had passed out a month earlier, in November 1971, to make this braveheart batch of young warriors available for the coming war. Unlike my brothers, I being from the Arts stream was ineligible to apply for NDA entry which demands PCM (Science) credentials. I thus entered the Army as a Short Service officer who was later found fit for permanent absorption. I was a Cavalry Subaltern who'd left University studies to join the Army.

When you are very young you are very impressionable too. You actively seek role models to emulate and channelise you to become a capable and responsible officer. I was a little past 20 when I joined my tank Regiment in January 1969. I was by then prevailing standards well read; a quiet teetotaler by choice and a bit of a listener rather than talker in my limited Army friends circle. That's all we had as young Cavalry officers. Today's young will be shocked to realise that back then, in princely Patiala Cantt, there were no computers, no play stations, no IT pods, no social media, no TV, no apps and, honestly, neither phones nor anything more sophisticated than my sturdy Raleigh cycle which I bought on instalments from my salary of Rs 400 per month. What we did have was a very regulated life that kept us busy on weekdays from 5 AM to 10 PM with troops, military manoeuvre drills, operational discussions, games, physical training, dinner nights in a mess dress and occasional social events. Yes, for unwinding, I had a Phillips three band transistor to listen to, a progression that then seemed so modern. Simple days, those!