A Truly heart-warming story.

A Truly heart-warming story. Courtesy: Banwari Singh On 25th Jan this year one of my course mates from NDA(now a Lt Gen) had come home to meet me during his official visit to Patna/Danapur to receive his PVSM (Param Vishisht Seva Medal) at the the Investiture Ceremony at the Raj Bhawan. During our chit chat the conversation drifted towards numerous interesting incidents which a lot of us have come across. He narrated this true story and it sure does have positive vibes……. It was the mid seventies – when we were just commissioned. Captain Rajinder, an Infantry Officer from G/R, was posted somewhere in the field beyond Guwahati. All communication – rail, train, air and telephones were a nightmare. Rajinder was married and his wife who had just been blessed with a child was staying with her in – laws in Gwalior. As was the norm in those days – families were permitted for three/four months in a year, in specified Field Areas. The summer months were normally reserved for families of officers who had school going children, whereas the youngsters of the unit were told to bring their families during the academic sessions. With the shortage of officers and the unit commitments the CO was not in a position to grant leave to Captain Rajinder to fetch his wife. However, suddenly the monthly cipher courier duty from Calcutta to the formation was allotted to the unit. The CO called Rajinder and told him that if he was detailed, maybe he could arrange his wife to join him at Calcutta and then the two could travel back together. To Captain Rajinder this was heaven sent opportunity. Now he started the laborious process of checking out the Indian Airlines schedules (the only airline in those days) and managed to book his wife and child on a flight from Gwalior to Delhi and then change flights to Calcutta, where Rajinder would be waiting to receive them and bring them to Guwahati. The only catch was that their fight would reach in the afternoon and his train to Guwahati was late at night. Thus, this left a buffer time of a few hours with no scope at all of any postponement. On the day of the flight Captain Rajinder’s father (also a retired Army Captain) was at the Gwalior airport with his daughter – in – law and grandchild one hour before schedule. Unfortunately, that was the time all the well laid plans started to go haywire as there was massive cloud cover over the airfield and the fight was likely to be delayed as it would not be able to land. It must be appreciated that in the 1970s there were just one or two civil fights a day from airports like Gwalior. The old veteran waited patiently hoping for the best, and then there was the dreaded announcement that the aircraft was hovering but due to inclement weather it was not possible to land. Rajinder senior being a diehard soldier that he was, walked into the airport manager’s office and demanded he be allowed to speak to the pilot.To his good fortune he was escorted to the ATC. The communication between a retired army Captain and the Captain of the aircraft was on the lines – “Sir, as a Captain to a Captain I wish to apprise you that my daughter – in law and my grand daughter……….and I must tell you that if she is not in Calcutta by today evening she will not be able to accompany her husband. I would also like to tell you that my son’s commitment does not permit any postponement of his departure and more important there is no likelihood of him being granted leave in the near future. Can you help?” There was a dreadful pause and then the response from the Captain of the aircraft was “Sir, the weather is bad but it is my promise that your daughter – in – law and grandchild will be in Calcutta by today evening.” An hour later the aircraft landed to pick up the passengers. Rajinder Senior walked up to the pilot and told him that though he appreciated his commitment but unfortunately because of the delay, the connecting flight from Delhi would in all probability have already departed. The Captain’s response was “Sir, the Delhi flight will only leave for Calcutta once your daughter – in – law and grandchild are on board.” And he was true to his words. “Incidentally, the Captain of the aircraft was Captain Rajiv Gandhi