Learning one lesson after another
HALF a century ago, on my first posting to Ladakh, I arrived by the Air Force An-12 courier flight. As I stepped on the tarmac of the Leh airfield, the chilly morning wind hit us, but its freshness, sans pollution, was distinct. However, I did not realise the low level of oxygen in the atmosphere. On being received, we were cautioned about the precautions to be observed, but the exuberance and fiery blood of youth failed to give these necessities due importance.
Come sundown, oblivious of the warnings, I walked to the officers’ mess and asked for a rum and Coke (a popular drink then). An officer from the medical corps intervened: ‘What did you ask for, young man?’ Smilingly, I replied, ‘Rum and Coke, Sir!’
‘No way. No booze for a minimum three days!’ he said. He then gave me my first lesson of this posting, ‘In the land of Lama, don’t be Gama,’ referring to the champion wrestler. The lesson hit home and there I sat through three evenings, sipping insipid, pure Coke!
Over time, I learnt many lessons which held me in good stead, and I never hesitated to pass these on during my service or even later in life. A few months back, during a morning walk, my ears caught the sound of a trumpet; the same note was being repeated. I spotted a boy, his legs akimbo, on the first floor of an incomplete building. Intrigued, I walked up to him and asked him his name and whether he was practising all by himself? He replied, ‘Uncleji, I am Rahul. I am learning the trumpet from an ustad, who has told me to master one note at a time before he tells me about the next to ensure that I become an efficient trumpeter; then, I can join a band!’ Weeks went by. My ears stood up as I heard him progressing. Soon, it was the complete ‘Sa Re Ga Ma…’ one way and then in the reverse order. I decided to motivate him. I downloaded a short clip of renowned trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong and played it for him. I told him that he should aim to become like the legend. Now, whenever I interact with him, he says, ‘Armstrong ban-na hai!’ Pray he does.
Another morning, I observed a woman shuffling along a field collecting wheat grains that routinely dropped off in the fields during harvesting; a girl was skipping behind her. Suddenly, a red-wattled lapwing flew off, evidently disturbed. The bird’s call was clearly angry; to put it in Dr Salim Ali’s words, ‘Did he do it? Pity to do it.’ The girl must have observed the lapwing take off; she rushed to her mother, picked a handful from the laboriously collected grains and rushed to place them near the bird’s nest. The surprised mother smiled and patted her child. Here was humanity at its best, despite their poverty. Their largesse for the lapwing floored me. It was another lesson to learn. I wonder how many of us would make a similar gesture to a fellow human, leave aside birds?
