” I joined in 1982 and reported to my unit. On my second day, I was sent to an important place that I was supposed to guard. I was young, energetic and naïve and had no idea of what the place was and what I was required to do. I had my service rifle and ammunition. My supervisor, who I was told to consider as god, asked me to guard my weapon and ammunition even at cost of my life. I would not partwith my rifle and ammunition at any cost and distraction. The place was very big with gates and posts on the perimeter. There was hardly any manpower. Just guards at respective posts. Food was brought by one of us for our guard. No one knew where other posts were. I was told to guard a stretch and shoot any intruder if he did not stop on being warned. The supervisor would give an ‘All OK’ report at 10 pm each day to the Subedar Major of our unit that was 30 km away. Subedar Major, in turn, gave ‘All OK’ to our commanding officer and so on. Reporting was on actuals and no one dared to miss the hierarchy. On that day the telephone line broke, and the report could not be given to our Subedar Major. The pressure was too much and the Subedar major, assuming all was fine, gave an ‘All OK’ report. At 8pm my supervisor noticed that one guard on duty was missing with his rifle and ammunition. Panic gripped. We searched inside and outside but did not find him. He could not report since telephone line was broken. At midnight the local police inspector came and informed that one person in military uniform and weapon was threatening truckers to stop. Our supervisor jumped and took few armed soldiers. After much persuasion, he disarmed and brought the missing soldier to camp. ‘All OK’ report by then had already gone higher in the hierarchy. Next few days were hell for everyone. Court-martial and jail for the deserter, punishments for wrong reports and more. I came to know about details when I had put in five years of service when a senior on duty with me gave complete details years later. Only then I came to know what had happened around me in my two days of service!!! I felt so happy ‘not’ knowing what had happened. But I understood one thing clearly. The army was not for the faint-hearted. It is for the tough and the resilient. You must either give your entire life to it or don’t bother at all.”
Served the country for: 17 Years