THE SUMMER-II

In my last post on Summers, I had brought the pleasures of tackling summers with indigenous means. In the years gone by, I was brought up in the Texas of India. The name Texas is synonymous with the state of Haryana and especially in the Indian Defence Circles.  The reasons are manifold but the best reasons are the weather,the standing hair of robust men from Haryana and their glazed model cowboy looks!! Circa 1985, I was roughing out Class IXth and many new factors had started emerging in my life and especially in School. The environment of the society and school was changing rapidly. We were all generating newer outlooks in our respective spheres.

           

I was getting favorable glances from the opposite genders and also the political scenario of the state was changing toward a new regime. Me and and a few friends were also great cricket fans and India after tasting its maiden World Cup triumph of 1983 was playing a major tournament called "World Championship of Cricket" Down Under in 1985. The changing personal life, the pressure of Class IXth and the love of the game were all mounting on our fragile and impressionable mindsets. Vociferously, a new leader was also emerging from behind scenes to take over the reins of the state. His rhetoric was "Power to the Rural Areas". As the power started vanishing from the cities, our lives also started changing.

         

 A teacher of mine was keeping a careful tab on our activities and one fine day after the Term-I exams he rounded a few of us. He wrote on the Board- " Intelligence is Only 1% and 99% is Preparation" and cited Arjuna's Mahabharata example. He advised us to conserve our precious energies to reach our goals. His cold looks scared the crow out of our "juvenile turning adult" minds and we pledged subservience to our aims and studies. The final match of the Cricket Championship was scheduled that afternoon and as usual the electricity had vanished from our town. We cycled straight from School to the Boys Hostel of Medical College , Rohtak which enjoyed the constant trickle of electricity. Whilst watching the finals and a historic win by India was followed by Ravi Shastri winning the famed Audi Car. I and my buddy pledged to ourselves that we would deliver what we had promised to our venerable teacher Mr Ishwar Singh Varma.

          

The hide and seek of electricity amidst the charged battle before the ballot was on. The same evening, my mother got hold of 02 Lanterns, a nylon rope woven chair and a vintage table was rigged up for me in my room. The spartan wooden plank bed had a thin mattress and a bed-sheet and the game was set. The electricity supply to the towns was for 8 hours a day and in patches. The longest hour was from 2000- 2300 hrs and then it was all darkness. The lanterns used to be kept ready at 2230 hours and sharp at 2300 hours, both the lanterns used to be fired up. Sitting on the nylon rope chair which bent at an angle, the studies used to be peaking up at around 2300 hours in the light of the lanterns. The night was set for a long haul and the tryst continued.

           

The   wily crusader for electricity to remote areas of the state won a historic election in 1987 and my classmates roughed out their XIth and XIIth in an environment sans electricity at crucial hours. The summers and winters came and went and we continued in the search of our aims. The distractions of our lives also left us after Class Xth when en-masse they decided to take admission in an All Girls College. We became a closed knit bunch of boys in an otherwise co-ed school. The final results after school were encouraging and most of us embarked on our professional journeys.

           

 The Summers have not changed and neither have the temperatures. Also, the slogans of powering up remotest parts of our vast Nation have not changed. The Met Department has been putting forth the big data and this week the temperatures have broken the 62 year old records. This means that 62 years ago also we had similar temperatures in our Country!! So, what has changed in effect? It is the resistance to survive the heat and cold which is changing and the blame is on the climate and the man who gives the slogan but then struggles to fulfill the same. The solution is simple- either bear or wither. We are consuming and consuming we are at a big pace. We gobble faster than we generate. Probably, the Teacher was right- we need to focus on our core jobs and conserve our energies. Each one of us needs to contribute. Switch off the light and fan that we do not need. Reduce the wattage at homes and do not keep the appliances on a standby. Go green and motivate children to conserve energy for a better tomorrow. Let us help the institution in its efforts- let us consume minimal to stay happy and share the precious energy with more consumers. 

TRAVELOGUE- GOLF AT NALDEHRA

Neem Chand is a part time Caddy at Naldehra Golf Course. Neem Chand happily trudges 3 kms when called to caddy for a mesmerized Golfer from the plains. The Golfer's brain spins the moment he enters the Naldehra Golf Course's Club House. A beautiful meadow awaits as one steps out of the Golf Hut and the pristine challenge of the Course unfolds.

             

Looking for a small getaway from the heat of New Delhi, self and the good lady (my trusted Navigator) stepped on the gas in Swift D'zire towards Naldehra located 22 Kms ahead of Simla. We booked ourselves at a resort called The Chalets, Naldehra which is 300 meters from the Golf Course. A night halt at a room called Siachen (which was boiling hot at 42 degrees!!!) at Chandigarh failed to lift our spirits as the heat was bad. We set pace for Naldehra early morning of 01 Jun 14 and soon the car was zooming up the hills toward our destination.

              

The up-climb of 115 odd kms was completed and we crossed many a scenic spots including Mashobra and soon the Golf Course emerged in front of us. It was tempting but I decided to play the game on 02 & 03 Jun 14 and we moved onto The Chalets. Our wooden cottage was a refreshing experience with bunched up roses all around us and also a few raiding Simians who were still not able to comprehend the human habitation in their natural habitat. The arrangements at the resort were great and value for the money. However, by evening my Navigator started feeling a bit feverish.  A shot of Paracetamol (PCM) and we thought that the fever would disappear as it was attributed to heat and tiredness.

                

The next morning we woke up well and after a light breakfast headed for the Golf Course. We linked up with Justice Mahajan and Air Marshal (Retd) Nayyar who congratulated the Golfing Spirit and wished me luck on the Course. Soon Neem Chand  came in to honor my booking and we went off to the Course. The Naldehra Golf Club constitutes a course perched at an altitude of 2,200 meters. It is a par 68, 18-hole course with 16 greens and 18 tees and has a design reminiscent of Scottish links courses. The golf course was built under the supervision of Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India in 1905. Captivated by the beauty of the place, surrounded by a thick mane of Himalayan cedar, which was also his favorite camping site just outside the British summer capital of Simla, he established what today is one of the oldest and most scenic golf courses in the country. It is also to be noted that in memory of his stay there he named his third daughter Alexandra Naldehra.Initially a 9 Hole Course, the Naldehra golf course was expanded to 18 holes, and further expansion has been planned to make the course at par with the best in the country.

                 

With Neem Chand in tow I took the position for the Tee-1. Taking a deep breath, I took position and rolled my hands to see the 2 knuckles of my left hand as I gripped my Driver with a light grip. With a silent Golfer's prayer, I lined up the Green 1, swung the Driver back with a deliberate motion , kept my head down on the ball, swung with the might and as my left knee folded towards the Tee the connect was made with the ball and hooray, the Titleist-3 Ball flew up from the hill where I took the hit and crossed the meadow down below and settled on a climbing hill just below Green-1. The beauty of the first shot holding of the ball on a straight flight. The ball seemed to be hit for a long time as the atmosphere helped the ball to take a straight Course. Neem Chand lifted the set and soon we were pacing up and down on this majestic Golf Course. Each Tee Off, Roll, Chip and Putt were a treat in itself and I hit my first Par on the 6th Hole. Neem Chand was happy with my eventual score of 2 Pars, 4 bogeys and 3 double bogeys in the 9 Hole round.  The Naldehra Club measures 4,285 yards. It is a preferred lie course that comprises ten Par 4’s; Six Par 3’s and Two Par 5’s to complete the Par 68 course. The front and the back nine are equally divided into five Par 4’s; three Par 3’s and one Par 5 each. The longest hole on the course is the Par 5, 431 Yards 6th Hole with the shortest being the Par 3, 117 Yards 14th. Most of the Par 4’s have common fairways and are easily drivable by long hitters.

                 

I finished the 9 Hole game and we were hitting a rough patch. My Navigator reported high fever. We retired to the resort and a check revealed a 104 fever. A quick call to the Doctor in Delhi and the advise was followed. However, the intensity of the fever did not come down albeit in phases and soon we were looking in to the end of the Day. The night was very rough as the fever did not subside in-spite of SoS Medicines. The non- availability of a good doctor near the place of stay was proving to be a handicap. We kept the fight on for another day but then I took a call to head back to New Delhi to avoid any further damage. We cruised from Naldehra at 0900 Hrs on 03 Jun 14 and Navigator was by now in great discomfort. However, the fighter in her kept her going and we reached the Armed Forces Clinic after a drive of 7.5 hours and with SoS medicines trying to ward off the fever attacks. The Navigator braved the chills, sweat and pains and was soon inside the confines of Base Hospital.

                

 Things are under control as of now and its been the longest 5 days of my life. The Golf Ball seemed to hold up in the air at Naldehra and these 5 days also seemed to have held on for long. The ball landed after a straight flight and we also landed back at New Delhi after a a straight drive. The Greens were uneven but speedy and the fever maintained its line and mercury kept showing 104 always. The sweat hardly broke on the Course but hydrotherapy was utilized extensively to keep the fever from hitting a dangerous blow. The game ended well and now the life has also started moving again. In true punishment terms, this visit to picturesque Naldehra is a big NC (Not Counted). As I stepped on the gas from Naldehra and Golf Course fell back- I promised- We shall be back to play 18 and for 03 days. The link below would show you a few glimpses of our Travel:-

 https://plus.google.com/photos/101238588481972006061/albums/6021866454386878785?authkey=CJbojrCQhqBa

THE SUMMER

The Summers are here again. Peak summer has its own charm and Bryan Adams had immortalized the "Summer of 69"  in his epic song. Summers provide an excellent opportunity to shed the baggage of various kinds. On 29 May , New Delhi sizzled at 46 Degrees. The peak load was its top and soon enough the big transformer powering up the Colony bursted into massive flames. The power factor requirements had made the big transformer imbalanced and its flames sent the entire mechanism into a tail spin. The machines stopped moving and soon enough the sweat toiled bodies were out into the open with various forms of hand held fans.
                 

Back in school days, I was brought up in a small town- Rohtak. The town used to become a dust bowl during summers as the peak heat would kick up black dust storms at regular intervals. The houses of yonder were not as beefed up as they are today and it used to be a herculean exercise for the women folk to remove the dust from these open structures after the dust storm had battered the town. It was a common practice for us children to wear the traditional "Kurta - Pyjamas" made of a coarse material. Even the elders used to wear the thick material clothes as India was still struggling as a nation. This attire had many advantages and the best part was that an initial bout of sweat used to be absorbed by the cloth and then it used to maintain the body temperatures. No mosquito could penetrate this cloth's armor and greenery all around was always maintained well.

                 

 Those days we used to sleep in the open in the backyard of our houses or on the rooftops. A few buckets of water from the hand pumps used to be sprayed on the floor and then the folding beds would be laid with a "Dari" (a thin mattress without cotton) and a bed-sheet. It was a frugal arrangement which regularly gets highlighted in the Newspapers of today as influential people have started visiting Tihar. The temperatures used to start falling down as the night progressed. The tales by grandparents would enthrall us. The moon would soon be on top during its outings and one could gaze into its cold light. This light had a soothing effect on the eyes and the grand parents would say that this light is healthy for the eyes ( a 6/6 at 40+ and with endless use of screened gadgets does prove this saying!!). On moonless nights, we would gaze at countless stars and galaxies. Occasional streaking stars would make us seek secret wishes (most were for a 5 Star bar and not the Bar of today!!). As the night would engulf and temperatures dipped, the comfortable sleep would engulf us. The dog would curl under the folding bed and grunt occasionally to ward off the creatures of the night. The big Neem tree in front of the house would fill its aroma as the Sun would break out and everyone would get up afresh. A solitary rotating fan would lead the charge against the heat and the summer night would pass away peacefully.

               

The Country has since then moved on. The dust storms have reduced in my home town as more and more concrete has captured the swathes of land. No more does the sky turn black and in any case the houses are fortified and one door can shut out the entire house from the barrage of dust and dirt. These days, most of us wear shorts and vests whilst sleeping. The Air Conditioners pump out cool air all day long and we continue to move from one AC to the other. The mosquitoes have taken deadly avatars and are no more the silent victims of Quinine. They fight out the best of the chemicals and in turn leave us with dangerous variants of diseases like Dengue, Malaria and Chickengunya. The deadly chemicals turn out to be equally deadly for us too and nebulisation is a common tool for our children. Most of us find it difficult to hold our noses anytime a bit of irritant crosses our nostrils. However , we need more and more comforts as we are changing and dumping out tons of garbage.

               

This Country is moving and its population is swallowing miles to move into cities. We are gasping for infrastructure. A Colony like ours was conceptualized in early 70s and the concept was overrun in early 90s itself. We are struggling each day on thin resources and are not willing to lower our demands. Tomorrow's plans are shaping up today and they need to factor the future needs and aspirations. A plan of today must not be overrun before its successor has started taking shape. This would be gargantuan challenge for our planners.

                

No more our children hear the grand parent's stories under the night summer sky. They never see the moon and never savor its chilled moon light. The galaxies and stars only feature on the science pages. The dog does not grunt anymore as the creatures of the night do not crawl on our floors and in any case these animals have also lost their edge inside cramped homes. Modern cities await us with balconied houses-but most of us encircle the balcony into the rooms. Even if we leave the balconies- we do not venture into balconies to locate the summer night.

                

The standby portable transformer was installed within a few hours by the engineers. The power factor was balanced and the electrical current raced and powered up the rotating machines. The sweating population gave a loud cheer and the agony linked bonhomie was broken immediately. Life moved on again. Ah, Bryan Adams- You said it right - 

Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

THE VANISHING DESKTOP- A LEGACY

Back in 1988, I was graduating from Class XIIth. Those days, the country had just woken up to a new dawn and new rhetorics were trying to penetrate through the masses. Our school had been fortunate to get some 286 PCs in Sep 1987 and we would eagerly go to the Computer Class to gaze and marvel the polythene covered PCs. My Computer Teacher had been a tenant in our house and would take a special interest in my Class's introduction to this new technology. We were happy to write a few lines on these machines and especially the programme- Hello World. Before, I could attain a meaningful knowledge on the PCs , the heat of Class XIIth and the pressure to join a professional college mounted on top. The only agenda in the life was -To deliver a good result and follow it up with a seat in the medical college or the National Defence Academy (NDA).

                

By Jul 1988, I landed at the and the stringent routine at NDA Wing wiped off whatever little I remembered of my connect with the PCs. The introduction to PCs came again during the Second Term when we were ushered into an introductory capsule by Maj KL Vishwanathan (Kelly)/Fox/42. Maj Kelly was a pioneer of the NDAs Computer Lab and the Fox Connect did ensure a decent time marveling at the miniaturized TV screens and the neat type writers connected to them. The grand routine of the Academy and the perpetual fear of losing the OP Shoes ( which had to be kept outside the PC Lab) did ensure that the Shoes remained safe and the PC knowledge remained scant. This situation was made complex with the availability of an air conditioned environment in the lab and various aromas leaving the Cadet's stockings!! A delirious sleep was all that we could manage in this technology intensive cabin.

              

Computers remained an enigma all throughout the Engineering Degree at Naval College of Engineering where Lt Commander Sabu John/Fox/62 was at helm. Sabu Sir with his cool demeanor and soft skills imparted the programming skills to our batch. Programming is not everyone's cup of tea and soon we all realized that we needed to practice harder. Many a Sundays were spent in the PC Center of the College with those big Floppy Diskettes which always fell pray to the wet weather of Lonavala. A failed attempt to retrieve these floppies invariably was followed by some hard thinking and planning over a few hard pegs. A few of our geek seniors,peers and juniors were constantly evolving with these machines. Soon , many of them were spending mid-night fuel at the PC lab, loosing their sleeps, gave up on sports, drinking and traveling to town. They wore disheveled looks and soon greyed up. We looked at them with awe and worried about their well being as we constantly saw them with programming books in tow.

               

The email bug hit us all hard and one fine day Lieutenant Sandeep Asolkar/Fox/75 took me to a standalone PC in a library and I had my first Hotmail account. It was a eureka moment as I received the first email from Sandy Sir and the ease of handling the 486 over 286 dawned on me. Soon as I got my 5th Pay Commission arrears, I bought my first AMD Athalon enabled Desktop in 1998 at Visakhapatnam with a similar configuration as that of Col Alok Bajpai/Fox/52. The PC was coupled with a slow Landphone of BSNL. The internet was slow and one could take a walk and come back to find the site opened up. The connectivity matrix started to grow. This Desktop served me well till 2008 when finally it died due to an old and heat loaded AMD Processor but not before it criss crossed from Visakhapatnam to Mumbai to Wellington to New Delhi. I did feel sad when I had to bid farewell to this machine when it refused to wake up at the repair clinic.

              

 I exchanged my old PC with a new configuration HCL PC with a flat screen for 20,000/- at a shop in New Delhi. This PC brought in some good luck and with the 6th Pay Commission, we got in a Laptop, a Note Book PC and many smart phones (as these phones do not last for more than 2 years and you cannot throw the old ones away!!). This desktop has been occupying a prominent corner of our house. It does get powered up but is now unstable as its processor has deteriorated faster than the AMD. The availability of multiple options and a panache for speed to complete the many tasks, we forget to use this machine and it stands in one corner as other machines get powered up to accomplish our missions. With changing times, convergence and miniaturization have become the buzz words. The World is experiencing a new tide and new traditions are stepping into India. This is the time to change and move on with the crest. This is the time for my bulky desktop to finally leave our home along with its table and accessories. A thin laptop is all that I need now to move on and accomplish my passions. A click of a button would wipe off the data of its hard disk and then the hard disk would be crushed forever. It has done its job and I need to clear the space to let new things move into our house.
 

Legacy is a good memory only if it has served its purpose. The change has been ushered in and its legacy has begun.

On Tuesday morning, a post in Flying Officer (retired) M P Anil Kumar’s blog ‘chairbornewarrior’ came as a shock to his many followers. “MP has taken off on his final sortie into the sunset,” it said.

This was the first disheartening message ever posted on the blog, which, like the blogger himself, had served as a source of inspiration and strength to those following the blog ever since it started four years ago.

Kumar, who suffered complete paralysis neck down in a motorcycle accident in 1988 after which he was retired from the IAF, would key in the posts with a pencil-like probe in his mouth from his bed in Pune’s Paraplegic Research Centre (PRC), the home for paraplegic and quadriplegic soldiers.

A fortnight ago, Kumar’s batchmates at Sainik School, Kazhakootam, had gathered at the Military Hospital, Kirkee to celebrate his 50th birthday. Kumar was bedridden and could hardly speak a word. But none imagined that the Acute Myeloid Leukemia he was diagnosed with barely a month ago would claim his life so soon.

They had faith in the capability of their friend, who for 24 years not only stood strong against the vegetative state he was in, but became a guiding light for many — including schoolchildren — through his writings, motivational talks and mere presence.

But not this time. Kumar went down fighting the cancer at 8.15 am Tuesday- 20 May 14.

Originally from Chirayankizhu in Thiruvananthapuram, Kumar graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA) (65th India Sqn) in 1983 as the best IAF cadet. Next year, he was commissioned into the IAF’s fighter wing and posted in No 3 Squadron of MIG- 21 fighters in Pathankot.

But the young fighter pilot’s dreams crashed on June 28, 1988. While returning home after completing a night flying exercise, Kumar, who was then 23, met with a motorcycle accident. He survived but the paralysis  permanently confined him to the PRC in Pune.

“For two years after the accident, he was under depression,” his friend Brigadier (retd) Jose Kurian said. “He was totally dependent on the PRC staff for his routine needs.”

Although reduced to a vegetative state, Kumar slowly started his fightback. He took to writing, holding a pen in his mouth. “At that time there were no mobile phones. The first time I learned about his mishap was when he wrote to me sometime in 1993-94 with a pen in his mouth. He did not stop there and took to typing. He would hold a pencil-like probe in his mouth and type essays, which were published in various newspapers and journals. One of his articles, which he wrote with a pen in his mouth, was published in The Indian Express in the ‘90s. He even published a book titled Air Borne to Chair Borne,” said Col C B Bhaskar, Kumar’s schoolmate.

Then Kumar started blogging. From cricket to life in the armed forces and from memories in NDA to his own experience as an officer, Kumar’s blog showed how much he loved life. In August 2012, Kumar received Air Chief’s commendation for displaying “indomitable fighting spirit, courage, determination and the will to overcome adversities”.

“An hour with him, and we would be charged to face all the odds in life,” Kurian said. The schoolmates had also gifted Kumar a specially designed ambulance with which he travelled thrice to his alma mater NDA. “He has now donated it to PRC,” Col Bhaskar said.

“In 2012-13, he presented the case of Flt Lt Herojit Rajkumar Singh, who was disabled while ejecting from an aircraft during training, to the then IAF chief. According to the rulebook, Singh would have been boarded out. But it was Anil’s follow up which resulted in the then chief considering Herojit’s case and giving him commission. It was the first time in the history of IAF that an individual disabled during training was commissioned as an officer and is serving,” said Air Commodore B S Krishna Kumar. “This is Anil’s legacy.”

On Tuesday, Kumar’s room, with his specially designed computer, wore an empty look. A picture on the wall drawn by a child read, “We love reading your lesson in school”. Kumar’s story continues to form part of Class X syllabus in Maharashtra State Board and Class VIII syllabus in Kerala. A memento gifted by his squadron kept in the showcase read: “To Anil, for the good times.”

  

 Kumar is survived by his mother, two sisters and a brother. His brother reached Pune from Thiruvananthapuram to perform his last rites on Wednesday. According to Col Bhaskar, it was Kumar’s wish that he be cremated in Pune.

 

Dear Folks, I had the personal honor of meeting MP Anil Kumar Sir when I was myself admitted with paraplegic injury at MH, Kirkee in 1988. He was an enigma, a great soul who opted to motivate many many who saw him going through his life at MH Kirkee. Last I met him in 1995 when I graduated from INS Shivaji and he conveyed to me that I have been very lucky in rehabilitation of my injury. RIP Anil Sir- a true Fighter.

MP ANIL KUMAR/INDIA/65

THE GLINT OF HOPE

I am walking the last mile in my beloved Uniform. It has been a wonderful journey of 26 years since I joined the National Defence Academy in 1988. These days I drive to MDI, Gurgaon for my Management Course. As I get into the maze of traffic, I cross the New Delhi's Airport's 03 busy runways. Yesterday, on my return leg, I parked my car on one side and just watched plane after plane landing into New Delhi. On my side was a family of four who had also stopped their 2-wheeler to admire the flying machines. The glint in the eyes of the young children and their excitement with each landing reminded me of my tryst with air planes.

 My first journey in a plane took place in 1989 when I had to rush to New Delhi from NDA on receiving the news of my father's sudden death. The memories are hazy as my mind was racing between rigors of 2nd Term and the future that lay in front of me post this news. So much so that I did not even acknowledge the passenger sitting next to me. He was also aloof  but somewhere in the flight he asked me whether I was from NDA? I said yes to Shashi Kapoor and he told me a few details about his association with NDA during the shooting of his movie "Vijeta". I was engrossed in my tiredness and did not connect much with the aging movie star. Post my stay at my hometown, I returned on a connecting Delhi-Mumbai-Pune Indian Airlines Flight. The flight was late and the airline put me into a hotel at Mumbai for the night halt. The next day I was delivered at Pune and was back to NDA.

              

Thus began my account with the air planes. The fascination to fly is universal amongst human beings. This invention of Wright Brothers is infectious. After all-it has the components of speed, design and shapes and they are all encompassed together in a composite frame. However, all fascinations do not turn into reality. Soon, my career also took its own shape and I contended myself with diving and surfacing Submarines into the depths of the mighty oceans. A badge remained the common identity with the Fly-boys. The Services gave me ample opportunity to fly to various destinations. I flew with Pilots from the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and Commercial Pilots from India, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and America. The thrills of flying were at their extreme during mid-flight emergencies and air-turbulences. I calmly sat through a couple of engine failures on twin-engined commercial air planes and also through an emergency landing . I witnessed the dare devilry of a Russian Tupolev Pilot when he took off with us in a blinding weather and also clapped with fellow Russia bound passengers as another Russian Pilot landed his plane safely amidst a frozen Moscow. A Naval Chetak pilot almost got my guts out with his antics over the picturesque backwaters of Kerela. A smooth take off and landing is all that a passenger needs.

             

The excited family standing next to me were counting the landings and excitedly reading the Airliner's company name. The father and mother were holding the hands of their chirping children. They all were dreaming- a new future was all that ran into their minds. The mother told her children to study hard and become big people to sit in the air plane. The son exclaimed that he would also become a pilot. The time stood still for me and turned around the images of the past. The country has hopes,wishes,dreams and desires. The young generation of India still has to travel and travel far and wide. The popular verdict proclaims that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We need to traverse the tunnel-each one of us in his/her unique way. Our future has a young dream.

             

I took out a few candies from my bag (you need a few shots of glucose in 6 hour long classes at MDI) , introduced myself and handed them over to the young children. I wished them good luck for their dreams and started my car. As I pressed on the gas to merge with the speeding traffic, I was clear- there is a glint of hope and I must continue on my tryst with the destiny.

SOCIAL NETWORKING- AN ENIGMA FOR DEFENCE OFFICERS BUT A PRE-REQUISITE FOR A SECOND CAREER

I entered inside the portals of the majestic National Defence Academy on 02 Jul 1988 at the age of 17 and I realized that my contacts with the outside world would fade away. However, I carried one good habit with me in this arduous journey. This habit was –LETTER WRITING. A generous package of almost 50 inland letters and 50 postcards was my parent’s gift into the big steel trunk.
             

By the time I finished my First Term at the NDA Wing, my trunk had no postage left. What I achieved in effect was that I had developed a bridge with my relatives, teachers and friends whom I had left behind when I joined the “Fauj”. This good habit sustained me throughout my NDA stay and also helped me to deeply connect with a girl who is now my wife. We know each other for last 22 years since the time I was a 6th Term Cadet at the NDA and it was only courtesy the letters that we exchanged.
           

My letter writings continued unabated to people far and wide till the Internet revolution shook the World and we all became hooked to the WWW and I got my first email id. The ever evolving technology soon ushered in the concept of Social Networking. Now, Social Networking ushered in a new dilemma for the Forces hierarchy. On one hand, it’s a bridge which reduces the distances in the Global Village. On the other hand, it can lead to a wide sharing of vital information.
          

As was expected, serious security lacunas were reported regarding the usage of the Social Networks and soon enough there were ambiguous restrictions in forces over the usage of Social Networks. Non-descriptive and primitive technological gadgets were and are still encouraged amongst the defence personnel to preserve the sanctity of the information. However, this has led to a grave disconnect situation. Today, we have amongst ourselves soldiers who are isolated wanderers in this ever connecting and digitally shrinking world. Many of the uniformed personnel find it difficult to amalgamate with the Civvy Street as their digital signatures do not meet the requirements.
         

These days it is common for potential recruiters to scan through the network profiles of individuals to gauge their potentials and their expected productivity. The World of today and tomorrow would belong to multi-askers who can deliver diverse results. This phenomenon cannot be achieved in isolation. Gone are the days when vocabulary and intelligence could outshine the competition. Today’s World depends on the Speed of Delivery which is a direct outcome of the connectivity matrix.
         

It is, therefore, vital that we utilize the tremendous potential of the Social Networking sites, create our profiles with our skill sets sans the Jane’s Military Information and commence our link up with the World. You would be surprised that today if you connect only with your Class Xth and XIIth Batch Mates- you would have arrived into the scene.
       

These are trying times for all who are migrating towards a life without uniform. We are staring at a big change and we need to be geared up if we have to have a meaningful second career. So, open up your laptops, log into LinkedIn and start crawling on the Web. Meet people from the convenience of your home and it is only possible if your digital presence is known to others.