The NDA in Pune

I like to compare the old with the new. How it was then and how it is now.
For example the first Passing Out Parade (POP) at NDA was reviewed by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru.

This was 55 years ago. As you can see all the three chiefs (Army, Navy & Air Force) were present at the POP. And that was the basic idea of starting the NDA, to train all the three services together.
West Point, the US Military Academy on which NDA is modeled, has a poignant unofficial motto: “Much of the history we teach was made by soldiers we taught.” The same holds true for the NDA too.
To cite a few examples, one is Lt Arun Khetarpal.
It seems one evening he surprised all present by suddenly announcing that, in the coming war, he would die and would be rewarded for gallantry. Something in his demeanour made everyone believe his premonition.
Deployed across the Basantar River on 16 December 1971 his last radio message was “No Sir, I will not abandon my tank. My gun is still working and I will get them”
He did, dying as he knocked off his fourth Patton tank. He was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously.

From left: Capt Salaria, Lt Arun Khetarpal, Capt Manoj Pandey.

38 years later Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, an ex NDA, did the same by his heroic death during the 26/11 terror strike at Mumbai.
“Do not come up, I will handle them.” These were probably the last words which Major Sandeep told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj Hotel, Mumbai during the Black Tornado operation.










Had been to the NDA (National Defence Academy) recently and was impressed by the way they have maintained the standard and the surroundings even after half a century.

The dining hall is one such place. Apart from the wood work, and the grandeur, the quality of the food is something worth mentioning. Had poached eggs after a long time and washed down with cold coffee (forefront above)









I am sure the cooks must be having a tough time, but then it’s a daily routine for them.

The regimental flags adorning the entrance to the dinning hall.


That’s a view of the Sudan Block.


And this one is from the Sudan Block

Incidentally the Sudan block was built by the donation given by the African republic which gifted a hundred thousand pounds in 1941 for the construction of a suitable war memorial, in grateful recognition and commemoration of the gallantry and sacrifices of Indian troops in the defence of Sudan in WWII (inaugural photo below)

You can get more information at the official website






It was not surprising to see monkeys, deer and peacocks roaming around with no fear.

The cadet’s gym may look a little out dated but just have a look at the things they had to do at the Gym on a daily basis.


Coming back to the dining hall, at the entrance of the hall there is a table set for one, with the chair tilted forward. I found this interesting and had a closer look. This table is set for the Prisoners of War who are forgotten, but holding on to the hope that they will return one day.

There was a placard placed on the table with the following written on it:

The table set is small, for one, symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner against his oppressors.

The single rose displayed in a vase reminds us of the families and loved ones of our comrades-in-arms who keep their faith awaiting their return.

The Red Ribbon tied so prominently on the vase is reminiscent of the red ribbon worn upon the lapel and breasts of thousands who bear witness to their unyielding determination to demand a proper accounting of our missing.

The candle is unlit, symbolizing the upward reach of their unconquerable spirit.

The slice of Lemon is on the bread plate, to remind us of the bitter fate.
There is salt upon the bread plate - symbolic of the families’ tears as they wait.

The Glass is inverted, they cannot toast with us this night.

The chair – it is empty. They are not here.

Remember ! All of you who served with them and called them comrades, who depended upon their might and aid, and relied upon them, for surely, they have not forsaken you.

Remember until the day they come home.

Uniform

Most of us detest uniform or rather wearing an uniform to work. Maybe its because we were forced to wear it in our school days and this is a form of protest.
But I am fascinated by the uniforms that are used in different aspects of life. The most common ones are the military uniforms.

How smart Isac Stevens would have looked when he led his men against the enemy.


Or the Indian Army wearing their Khaki uniform which was introduced in India by the British.







The nurses in the Army had their own set of uniforms. It must have been very difficult being in the field hospitals and the rough life, but they are a clan who has decided to take up the life of Florence Nightingale where care and compassion comes naturally to the dedicated ones.

The Finnish nurses in the early 20s had the head gear similar to a nun and with arm bands (above)



The two pics above are from the early forties.
While surfing the net I found some uniforms which may look like nurse’s uniforms but they were not.
For example the one below may look like a group photo of the complete hospital staff, but they are actually the spooling room workers of a Lancaster Plant for spinning which was clicked in 1929. (I appreciate those two guys perched precariously on the sides)


This one (below) looks like a line up for a lighting the lamp ceremony, but they are the elevator operators of the Sterick Building (late thirties)

Then there was the Carry on Doctor series which was ....ummm... some say funny, but I found them under the category “forced humor”
As time progressed these uniforms kept changing based on the needs of the time.

The latest ones are more comfortable, easy to wear, and colourful too. And why not? Nothing like cheering up the patients, like the ones that you can see here on this site for Nursing Scrubs.
The best I liked in this was White notched collar top. So cool and convenient to move around.

The night stalker

This happened about 3 years ago.
One night (or rather early in the morning around 4.30 am) I heard some movement at our bed room window. First I thought that it must be some pigeon trying to settle down on the window ledge. But the commotion did not die down and I had to get up and put on the light. Imagine my surprise when I drew the curtain aside. There was fully grown Barn Owl staring at me, or rather we both were staring at each other sizing up the situation. Or so I thought.
It flew inside and landed on where ever it could find a perch. My wife scrambled up and ran out of the bedroom. Now it was only me and the owl in the bedroom. I kept the windows open and tried to shoo it away. But that did not work. Then it dawned upon me “why not some photographs before I send him out” So I opened the cupboard slowly and took out the camera and clicked some frames without the flash. (in case our little friend did not like the celebrity status)

Meanwhile he kept hoping from one thing to another (was it posing in different angles?) And finally he settled on my music speaker (the tweeter) which I had kept temporarily on my World Space box. Now this was not acceptable to me. I could imagine the harm those claws could do to my speakers. So I quickly took some more shots (this time with the flash) When I went a little close he spread his wings (maybe that’s the best it could do as a threatening stance) I said good, and took a picture of that too.



Then I continued the task of shooing it away. Slowly I realized that the poor thing could not see well with the bedroom light on. I found that he was going and banging himself straight into the wall. I inferred that the white wall must be appearing as some blank space for him to escape. (the things you learn in the middle of the night) The poor thing was going to hurt itself. How to prevent him from banging against the wall ? I took the bed sheet and threw it over him (remember the Gladiators in Spartacus ?) I was surprised that he did not struggle when I bundled him up and picked him.
Meanwhile the bedroom door opens a crack and my wife pops her head inside “is it gone? Eeeks you are holding it in your hand?”

I carried him out on to our terrace and set him free. Now he was on familiar terrain as it was dark out side. He sat on the ledge of the terrace, turned back, gave me one last look and flew away. That last look could be deciphered in many ways, but for me I think he was saying “thank you”
Now coming back to grandma tales, I don’t believe in them but this one came visiting one day before we were shifting house. That may be a coincidence, but here comes the funny part. Two years prior to this incident, when we shifted house there was a visitor who was silently sitting on the window grill. (see picture below)


Was it the same guy coming back after 2 years to wish us good luck ?

Mask

The man in the iron mask is a gripping story by Alexandre Dumas. Imagine staying behind a mask for a life time. But that was a story woven into some real facts that happened three centuries ago.
In the present era, when I think of Mask, the first thing that comes to my mind is Jim Carrey and his movie The Mask.

The story was a bit far fetched but extremely entertaining, thanks to the antics of Jim.
But come to think of it what if things really come true like in the movie. What if we are bestowed with some special power when we wear a mask?

For example if I wear a mask of a cat will I be able to climb a tree like a cat ?














Or if I wore the smile mask will I be always smiling and happy ?


Came across these masks on a site of Venetian Masks which has a collection of some real good Masks. While going through the site I found the history and the making of the masks really fascinating.
As for me I always co relate things. For example,


the mask Arlecchino (above) reminds me of the “angry wig” that Rumpelstiltskin uses in the movie “Shrek forever after” which I saw last week. (enjoyed the movie especially with the 3D effect)

Coming back to the masks, the one I liked the best was Full face Tiger mask.


The lower part of the mask is so perfect that one can mistake it for a real face (except for the white colour) Maybe the perfection comes from the fact that each mask is hand made in Venice.
It seems some of these Venetian masks were worn by Tom Cruise in the movie Eyes wide shut.
So when I make my next trip to Venice I am definitely going to pick up a few of them.
Nothing like hiding behind a mask.

Comic book characters

Was always fascinated by comic books.
When you look back, its probably because of the visual treat that you get while reading a story. And I was more fascinated by the quality of the drawings that were produced in these old comic books.

Some of the illustrations that I liked were those of Phantom, Rip Kirby, Tarzan & Mandrake the magician. The illustrations were three dimensional when compared to Tin Tin & Astrix which were two dimensional.

Not that Tin Tin and Astrix were bad. In fact my pseudo name in this blog Haddock is my favorite character Captain Haddock from Tin Tin.

I was so fascinated by Rip Kirby that I decided to draw the character Rip by magnifying it ten times. So I set about the task of drawing grid lines (in pencil) on the comic book and painstakingly reproducing it. Once I was satisfied, I inked it with a simple black sketch pen. This was done about 25 years ago.

Once I realised that I could do this enlargement bit, I tried it out on another character from the same comic book (I don’t remember her name) but it did not turn out so well. So I stopped it at that and dropped Desmond (Rip’s butler) from being enlarged. (poor Desmond)

Now that I started dabbling with Photoshop, I thought of doing the same in the soft form. Tracing my original work in Photoshop took some time and I must say there are many things that I have yet to learn when it comes to these software tools.
After all learning is a continuous process.

Coming back to reading, I think the best thing that happens when you read a book is that you start to visualize the scene in your mind. But when you watch TV that freedom is curbed as you are forced to “see” the scene that is depicted on the screen.

No wonder they say “What a treasure of books” The treasure is not the books but the freedom of visualization.

Bollywood heroes

Saw an ad in the telly. A boy having his breakfast, fiddles around with his poached egg and asks his father "I heard that we are not supposed to eat eggs in summer as it generates more heat" His father replies that he never heard anything like that and counter checks with the boy's grandfather. The grandfather also answers in negative and passes on the question to the boys great grandfather (all sitting at the same table)
The great grand father also answers in the negative with a smile and says that he too had never heard anything like that and has been having eggs through out his life. (the ad was for promoting the consumption of eggs and to say that egg is vegetarian)
What I liked about the ad was the smile of the great grandfather. He was none other than Dara Singh. Yes the famous wrestler of yesteryears who later got into the movies and churned out a lot of Bollywood movies like King Kong and Rustom E Hind.
Talking of Dara Singh reminds me of an old photograph I recently saw in which the Gandhi family was there along with Dara Singh and Randhawa Singh (Dara's brother), but the one on the extreme right is the one to look out for. Yes the evergreen Amitabh Bachan. It's a rare picture I must say. The old bollywood hero and the latest one. Came across this in one of the forwarded mails.

For those who can't read the fine print, they are (L to R)
Sanjay, Randhawa, Rajeev, Indira, Dara, and Amitabh
Talking of pictures, I joined a site where you can upload your photographs which is viewed world wide.
If the photographs/illustrations are good, people buy them for designing web sites, blogs etc and you are paid in dollars. I joined recently and have uploaded 6 of mine out of which one got sold.
For more details click on the icon on the top right (Dreamstime) and read through. If you feel that that your pictures are worth uploading then register yourself and start uploading. (registration is free)

The morning walk

It is good to see that more and more people are concerned about their health.
Went for a walk early in the morning. I think the best time to go for a walk is in the morning. The reason being less vehicles (so less pollution) and the rays from the rising sun is good for health. (far infra red rays) A word of caution is to keep your mobile phones and watches/valuables at home.


You get to see the morning paper vendors busy sorting out the papers according to the delivery. I noticed that they were shoving in a lot of hand bills/ pamphlets in the paper. A slight extra income for them but a little irritating for the people who settle down with their morning cup of tea and out falls a handful of the hand bills when you open your morning paper.

On the way there is a huge open space where I could see a group of senior citizens doing their little bit in the form of exercise and laughter. Probably they are a part of the laughter club as I could hear them laughing away to glory at regular intervals. It was really interesting to halt and watch them. Everyone doing their bit (as it is not easy to bend and stretch at this age) And at the end of it all there is a cake to be cut for David uncle’s birthday or Mr Joshi is distributing sweets as he is a grandfather now.


Young couples go about with their brisk walk. What the experts say is that if you can cover one mile in 15 minutes then you are OK. If it takes less, you are fine, but if its more then your cardiovascular system is not up to the mark.

Talking of cardiovascular, a lot of people are joining the Gym and that could be the reason why Gyms are sprouting up everywhere. Some observations that I made in the Gym are that many (especially the young) come with their mobile phones. They are busy either talking or texting. I think no one is going to miss them if they are off the phone for an hour. So leaving that instrument at home would be more helpful to them (and less disturbance to others)

Then there are some who insist on taking the elevator to go to the Gym (even if it is situated on the second or third floor) I mean if you are going for a work out and sweat it out, why not start from the ground floor and use the staircase? It will definitely add up to the warming up (and save power too)

Coming back to the morning walk, passed by the basketball ground and felt good to see these boys engaged in their game. Incidentally this is the second fastest game in the world, the first one being ice-hockey.

Saw a father trying to teach his son football in one of the school grounds. (they are in the middle of the ground and far away)

As the day progressed, the number of vehicles kept increasing on the road.

Once upon a time Pune was known as the city of cycles. Then it gradually got replaced by the mechanized two wheelers. Now it is a mad frenzy of four wheelers and no roads to match.
Talking of cycles reminds me of an article I read where Mr Joe Simonetti of New York cycles down to his work place twice a week. The distance ? 44 miles !!