When Sam's car flag few away

The Army Commander, Lt Gen Sam Manekshaw, then the GoC-in-C of Western Command, was on a visit to Srinagar when during the dinner in the officers’ mess, he started talking to me, then a Captain. He asked me a number of questions, including my activities in Srinagar. I told him of my interest in duck shooting and making the best of the excellent facilities available for these in Kashmir. I also mentioned my interest in angling.

He asked me if we could go fishing the following morning, which happened to be Sunday. Since I had a seasonal licence for fishing, there was no problem.

I reached the place where he was staying a few minutes before 5 am. His staff car was there, but no pilot jeep and escort. So I asked his aide-de-camp (ADC) about these two essentials. He told me that the Army Commander did not want any of these. Soon, Sam came out of his room, carrying some fishing gear and getting into the car, told me to hop in. So, Sam, I and the driver set out towards the Sindh river on the road to Sonamarg.

As we got close to the river, I told the driver to turn right along a track and after travelling about 100 metres, we got out and thereafter walked another 100 metres or so to get to the spot where he could cast the line with a spinner.

While the General was busy casting his line, I stood some distance away. We were there for a few minutes when a civilian carrying a cloth bag joined us. I was alarmed, as he could be carrying a weapon or an explosive, so I told him to go away, but he refused to leave. Consequently, I remained focused on him, in that should he reach for some thing in his bag, I would pounce on him. After a while, he, on his own, decided to leave.

In the meantime, the General landed a few good-size Mahseer. He appeared quite happy with this trip and told me that we could return. We walked back to the car.

Those days, there was hardly any traffic and that too on a Sunday. Somewhere along the way, the car flag flew off and the driver took some time to stop the car. I got out and told the General that he should carry on and I would locate the flag and some vehicle could pick me up. Sam said, “No, it is my flag and I cannot leave it like this.”

So both of us walked back to where the flag could have fallen. The flag had obviously flown away from the road. I was searching the bushes on one side of the road, while Sam was doing the same on the other side. Finally, it was he who located it and we walked back to the car where he handed it over to the driver and told him to fix it properly.

Next, I met Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw at a dinner in 26 Infantry Division Officers Mess. He had earlier commanded the Division and I was then commanding 16 Corps at Nagrota.

He did not recognise me and when I reminded him of the incident of his car flag flying away, he started laughing. Then he turned to me and asked, “Would you leave your flag behind?” I said, “Never.” We both had a hearty laugh.

With time, memories fade but some incidents remain embedded forever.