Attributes of being a commander

In a tent-pitching competition in an artillery brigade, a rookie Second Lieutenant was appointed leader of his regimental team. He wondered what speciality there was in pitching a tent that warranted a competition. The answer came from the Jemadar Quarter Master, who referred him to the equipment regulations.

The British were past masters in writing detailed instructions for everything. He found a wealth of information: team composition, duties of each member, angle at which the peg should be hammered in, the circular direction of wrapping the rope around the peg, et al. He trained his team accordingly. In the competition, his team was far ahead of all the others. Buoyed up and motivated, he read every military regulation in existence.

This story of his younger days came to me from Maj Gen VK Das when he was posted to raise an infantry division and I was his General Staff Officer (Grade 1) or GSO1. “Knowledge of rules enables you to speak with confidence,” he would say. “You cannot be bullied by seniors or be bluffed by juniors.”

There was so much to learn from him. He was a moving encyclopaedia. He instructed me to hold a monthly written test for all staff officers on regulations. When I mentioned that I would put up before him only a summary of results and not the individual scores, he readily agreed. His aim was organisational improvement and not pettily targeting individuals.

He was remarkably methodical in managing his hours, and never worked beyond office time. His instructions were clear, concise and timely, which was a great boon for the staff. I do not recall even a single occasion when he said, ‘On second thoughts…’, which can be very disconcerting for the staff. Brevity was his hallmark. Serving in that headquarters, I remember even single-sentence letters being issued.

He issued orders that no one would work after lunch and the offices would be locked. The purpose was two-fold. Firstly, it would impel all to finish their work in time. The second reason pertained to security. In the hot climate of western Rajasthan, the clerks preferred to spend their afternoons in the offices where coolers were installed. Since officers invariably went for games, and the maximum risk of leakage of classified information occurred during that time. He was spot-on. When I pointed out that being a new headquarters, at times post-lunch working may be unavoidable, he modified the order allowing latitude to the GSO1 to open offices selectively.

When the Army Commander made his first visit, the GOC gave me certain points on which I was to prepare a brief to be handed over to the visitor. “Send it just before I have to leave for the Circuit House to receive the Army Commander. I will read it in the car,” he said. On noticing the doubt on my face, he added, “I have full confidence you will make sure it is error-free.” That made me so conscious that I re-checked the document some half-a-dozen times.

During our first wargame, an important document pertaining to the ammunition scaling policy had to be conceptualised. Three of us worked for six hours nonstop. I sent it to the flag staff house in the evening. The same courier brought it back in half an hour. Having made changes, the GOC had also pared it down to half its original word length. Next day, when I conveyed my amazement at his speed, he laughed, “Don’t forget the many hours I spent in thinking about it. My mind is not cluttered with the mundane that you as Staff Officers have to deal with.” He conveyed the essence of what differentiates commanders from the staff.

Unable to pick up his promotion due to age, he retired as a Major General and is settled in Lucknow. His regular posts on social media could animate a teenager. On March 4, I called up to greet him on his 94th birthday. Barring some impairment in his hearing, he is as alert and sharp as he was five decades ago. When I mentioned that he must earn his double pension (on reaching 100), he turned philosophical: “The earth has a finite capacity to accommodate humans; we oldies must go, to make place for the younger generation.” Luckily, his strong voice and sound cerebral health betray no such hurry. I knock on wood!