Learning from embarrassments

Col DS Cheema (Retd)

IN 1976, I was posted at Jodhpur as a Company Commander in the rank of a Major. When I arrived on the battalion premises, I learnt that the Commanding Officer (CO) was highly unpopular among the officers, including the 2IC (second-in-command), also a Major, and four company commanders because of his theoretical and undoable instructions that he would pick up from books and the pamphlets issued by our training establishment, the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME). He had recently undergone the all-important Senior Officers’ course and believed that the words contained in the study material were the gospel truth that must be followed religiously. Incidentally, I was an instructor and the director for the same course for 10-odd years; during the later years, I understood well how wrong the CO was.

It so happened that the CO was appointed an umpire for an important Army exercise near the border with Pakistan; the 2IC was on leave and I, the next seniormost officer, was to officiate as the CO during the absence of the incumbent. Hours before he was to leave early next day, the CO briefed me about what all had to be done during his seven-day absence. I assured him that everything would be done exactly according to his instructions. One point that he had emphasised was punctuality — he wanted me to be in the office before 8 am to set an example for the officers, JCOs and men.

Next day, as the officiating CO, I exercised my discretion and reached the office at 8:40 am. As I was getting down the jeep, the CO’s stick orderly came running to inform me that the sahib was looking for me and wanted me to report to him immediately. I was left shell-shocked and my morale came crashing down. When I saluted him in the office, all hell broke loose and the dressing-down that I received sends shivers down my spine even today. Enquiries from various sources revealed that the GOC, whom the CO was to accompany, had changed his plans because of an urgent operational commitment.

In 1990, the same officer, a Lt Col who couldn’t get the next rank, was posted to the MCEME, where I as a Colonel was the Dean of Faculty of Industrial Engineering. As luck would have it, he had to report to me, even though I had requested the Deputy Commandant to avert this for obvious reasons. We worked together amicably for more than a year before he retired to settle in Ludhiana. I must confess that off and on, I would feel the temptation to get back at him. However, my wife helped me make peace with the unexpected turn of events.

He did have a good effect on me — since that fateful day in 1976, I have never been late for any event and have been trying my best not to breach the trust reposed by others in me.

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