Some good in everything

Col DS Cheema (Retd)

MOST of us develop a high level of gut-index when we are in our twenties and thirties; thereafter there is a slide as we grow wiser with experience and lessons learnt from such experiences. In younger days, a majority of decisions are made by the heart which playfully holds the scale that judges the pros and cons of any situation and vetoes any voices of dissent by the brain. We are generally fair and honest and are guided by the principle ‘management by heart is the best management’. Only in later years, especially sunset years, such decisions seem immature and illogical. There is one such decision which I do not regret even today.

When I was detailed for the mandatory three-year engineering degree course, the first half of which was to be conducted at College of Military Engineering, Poona (Pune now), I decided to get married without appreciating the problem of family accommodation in the big cantonment. After having roughed out for three months in various officers’ messes, I was allotted a Captain’s flat within the campus. My wife had taken a month’s leave from the college where she was teaching and was keen to get back to her job. However, I was able to convince her that what was important in life was the quality time we spent together rather than she making some additional money. Accordingly, she took the train back home to resign and return after a month. In the meantime, another friend, who was detailed for the junior course, also took the marital plunge and brought his wife to my flat unannounced. It was decided that I would continue staying with them and they would move out once my wife joined me. 

The arrangement was going very well, till one day I was called by the Quarter Master, a Major, and told to get in the formal dress and report to him in an hour. I did not know the reason and he refused to reveal anything further even on my repeated requests. At the appointed time, I was marched to the Commandant where the QM was present with some rule books and when ordered, he read out the charges and the punishment. I was told that I had tried to steal the affection of a brother officer’s wife and I had sublet government accommodation. The Commandant, a short man who was barely visible from behind the huge table, told me to get my wife back within 15 days, failing which the accommodation would be cancelled. I was flabbergasted and didn’t understand. During lunch- break, I narrated the episode to my friend and his wife. I learnt that the previous night the couple had a fight and the lady had walked to the residence of the Commandant and met his wife. I also learnt that they had been allotted accommodation out-of-turn and they were to move out the next day.  

I had no option but to send a telegram to my wife ‘situation out of control, come back immediately’. This telegram became the butt of many jokes with my four elder co-brothers and my brothers and sisters. The episode had two positive outcomes; one my wife joined me earlier than expected and two, the friend got accommodation for which he would have had to wait for at least three months.