The biggest Tiger in town

Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd)

THIS is a tiger tale, albeit of a different variety as it is about a General (also called ‘Tiger’) out on his morning walk. There was a buzz in Jodhpur in 1998 as a new Corps, referred to as 12 Corps, or Desert Corps, was being raised. The new Tiger in town — the Corps Commander — was most unlike the wild beast. A short, simple South Indian, he looked every inch (though he had a limitation in this physical dimension)  an approachable, large-hearted and sensitive General. Due to the initial problems in getting his personal staff, compounded by an injury to one of the incumbents in an accident, I was drafted to serve as a temporary MA- cum-ADC; also probably because I had got a competitive vacancy on the Staff College examination. My friends said “you are now officially qualified to be in the rat race”, and so it was a double bonanza to be a rat in the company of the Tiger in town.

The Corps Commander was addicted to his morning walks and liked to set a target for himself. Every morning he would get dropped out of the cantonment and would walk back 5-8 km. Being a simple soldier, he detested an accompanying entourage, but allowed me to accompany him, though with a direction to walk a minimum 10 paces behind. Defying age, the old Tiger set a fast pace. As we were entering the Jodhpur Cantonment, we passed the Quarter Guard of 74 Armoured Regiment. This being the Corps Commander’s first week, there was no reaction from the guard. I tried to catch up and signal to the Guard Commander to present arms and give a General Salute. The General noticed that my hand signals evoked no response and asked the Guard Commander: “Aap jaante hain, hum kaun hain?” The NCO in a state of panic responded: “Saheb, aap Poona Horse ke naye RM saheb lagte hain.” Now, a Corps Commander being told that he is Risaldar Major can unleash a tsunami as a chain reaction. It is to the credit of this real Tiger that he just smiled and walked back to the MES Inspection Bungalow.  Being a fitness freak and a simple man, the General wore big boots to get extra exercise, white T-shirt and shorts sans the “cap with stars” which seems to be a signature statement currently.

He insisted on the usual tea and dismissed my apologies, his only direction was to expedite the display of his photographs in offices and Quarter Guards. Though I did see marginal changes in his walking attire, yet to his credit there was not even a minor storm in the proverbial tea cup. The incident was forgotten and there was no victimisation of the unit or the NCO despite repeated suggestions by the staff. The lesson that I learnt and carried till my Army Commander days is that real Tigers keep their cool!