Mixed unit's amazing integration

IT was the end of 1984, a tumultuous year for Punjab and Sikhs. I, as a youngster fighting insurgency in Nagaland, was awaiting the move of the unit to a peace station when I received a message of a different kind. I had been posted to a new raising at a place I had not heard much of. I joined the unit in February 1985.

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After somehow finding the rail/road route to Pithoragarh and landing there, a bigger surprise awaited us all. Though designated as a Sikh unit, it was mixed and had an equal representation of Sikhs, Garhwalis, Dogras and South Indian Classes (SIC). Someone had decided to raise such units on an experiment basis. The CO organised the troops into pure (rifle) companies, with the company commander from the same regiment and company officer from a different regiment.

The second key decision was that the salutation would be ‘Sat Sri Akal’. The longest conference we had was over the war cry — whether to retain the Sikh war cry ‘Bole So Nihal’ (we were a Sikh unit), or add those of the others too (‘Durga Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Badri Vishal Lal Ki Jai’ and ‘Veer Madrasi, Adi Kollu’). After much discussion, the CO decided on one which combined all four. To drill it among the troops was another challenge. This took a little time to absorb and for some to pronounce.

Pithoragarh was a small station which soon reverberated with our extraordinarily long war cry — let off by troops and officers alike on any occasion, be it a sports competition, ‘bara khana’ or simply commencement of a route march. We were in tentage and a combined mandir-gurdwara was established for prayers — it stayed that way till additional tent availability allowed us to set up these separately. Prasad distribution responsibility was alternate; one Sunday the gurdwara served karha prasad and the next time the mandir served sweet savouries. This continued till we organised separate prayer tents. Then came the first request. Non-Sikhs also wanted karha prasad instead of the dry mixture the mandir served!

The next impact was the typical North Indian tadka. Most Sikh and some Dogra troops liked to impart a special tadka to the langar dal. This was done in the barracks with onions, desi ghee, tomatoes and some condiments. Soon, this trend caught up with the Garhwalis and even the SIC, who had some amazing masalas of their own. One I can never forget was colloquially called ‘gunpowder’ — it has the same effect when put in any food item! It was not long before one saw Sikhs borrowing this item from the Tambis. The Tambi company soon started its Sunday dosa breakfast routine. Some Sikhs and Dogras also wanted this, but after enjoying a few Dosa Sundays, they soon reverted to their poori subzi. The Tambi roast mutton was another hit, as was the Onam sadhya platter.

The dominant language and hence the quickest integration was Punjabi. Though a very sweet and respectful language, a few boys had this habit of using cuss words. Some fights later, most non-Punjabis realised that these words were just a way of expressing ‘emotion’. In fact, some of the SIC took to it with a vengeance, so much so that an SIC Subedar Adjutant was reported by none else than Sikh troops for excessive usage.

Sports competitions were hard-fought and each group had its strong points. Sikhs and Dogras were good at long-distance running, basketball and hockey, the Garhwalis in boxing and football, the Tambis in short sprints and volleyball. In inter-battalion competitions, our pan-India ability permitted us to prevail over others who had only one or two strong games. It was amazing to see team-mates who couldn’t understand each other’s language manage excellent coordination with hand/eye gestures and grunts. Victory celebrations, too, were uproarious with Tambi and Garhwali versions of the Bhangra.

It, perhaps, took us a year, but at its end, Panditji was permitted emergency leave during Janamashtami because Babaji assured that he would conduct the mandir parade that day (which he flawlessly did, less the Punjabi accent). And moving around the unit, one could see a Sikh and a Tambi or a Dogra with a Garhwali walking with hands around the other’s shoulder. National integration was complete!

The experiment had succeeded.