Claim & honour go together

Lt Gen RS Sujlana (retd)

ADHERING to the adage of ‘Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire’, an age-old policy termed ‘Parental Claim’ exists in the Indian Army. Under this, tradition is preserved and the fire remains kindled in generations that follow their forefathers to serve the nation in the Army. 

On commissioning, cadets from the Indian Military Academy can opt for the same regiment that his father served in. However, this option is restricted to only the fighting arms — Infantry, Mechanised Infantry, Armoured Corps and Artillery. The word appropriately used is ‘parental’ and not father, as an Army wife is equally wedded to the olive green and its ethos. 

A sudden flash enlivened this tradition, when at a gathering, a former Brigadier, a blue-blooded Rathore who goes by the initials of SMS (today’s technology has ensured daily usage), announced that their son was soon taking over the command of an artillery regiment, where he too had served. The joy and pride of the parents was visibly infectious. They were looking forward to be by their son’s side on the day he takes over command, to bless him and pip the Colonel’s rank on his broad shoulders! What emotions will flow that day is difficult to comprehend by anyone who has not been through a similar experience, but for me memories flooded back and took me back some 25 years.

I was commanding 3 Sikh, the same battalion that my father had also commanded — both did so incidentally in J&K; he during the 1965 War and I fighting the same enemy, but in a sponsored form. Later, when I moved to a peace station, my father visited us for a few days and then came a day we both eagerly awaited. I was immersed in a file when the stick orderly (a soldier dressed in ceremonial standing duty at the CO’s door) smartly saluted and announced: ‘Saheb, wadde CO saheb aye ne’ (Sir, the elder CO has come). I sprung up from my chair just in time to simultaneously salute my father who stood at the door in his habitual smart posture in attention and was saluting me. ‘Son, I cannot express my feelings at this point, but how I wish your mother was alive to cherish this moment. But we both are here to bless you!’ 

Humbling, indeed, were the words of my father but also an incomparable honour. Even today, those moments and his words remain etched in my memory. My father’s heart was a cornucopia of pride and joy, but yes, we both missed the better half of the Parental Claim!