Story of two Village Boys-K Swamy & Dr, Basavaraj

K Swamy, 966 CHL

ON Basavaraj Gundappa Katageri, Roll No 971, Chalukya House, SSBJ (1975-82)

Story of two Village Boys-K Swamy & Basavaraj

This is a story of a village boy. "Raw and unrestrained, thronging with free flowing energy and expression full of expletives and overtures, a live wire, deadly and current", is only a limited description of the young brat, our little hero.

It was a village in rural India, remote and desolate from any modern/civic amenities though not far from the nearby town. A single teacher primary school was the biggest infrastructure available where majority of the able bodied males scratched the earth in burning heat and looked to the skies for that precious drop of rain. The women indulged in back breaking household chores and the drudgery in the fields while the young children tended to the youngest and the older were out in the fields or herding cattle. Any small contemporary village in India could easily pass this description with some minor alterations not needing any major altercations and that was whence he came.

The year was 1975 and the setting a semi military expanse in the arid plains of Deccan. The name of the establishment, you all know all too well. Something that may have started as a simple barb fortified encampment outside of the walled city in the middle of nowhere but grew up to be an epicentre of the throbbing activity filled with shrill shrieks of the young and hoarse cries of the adults. The daily grind was well rehearsed, time tested and did not fail to make its mark on the young minds and their growing bodies. The systemic treatment and systematic pre-justified action was meted out with pride and no prejudice or discrimination and with great variety that comes with unhindered discretion. The transformation was gradual and definitive, almost evolutionary in permanence, setting each apart from the rest, at the same time casting them completely unique as a group when compared to the world outside in an unspoken and characteristic manner. The days rolled and years passed by and there we had a young adult catapulted and flung into the middle of a mad, maddening wide open world and out of the so felt, eternal womb of the campus, equipped with the diehard principles and judgemental views towards everything in the world.

The year was 1982 which was one of those pre globalization, pre-open market, pre everything years. Fighting that almost nearly biological urge to retract back into the military mine swamp, landing in the deep end of the pool by accident or by design, knowing not the art of living or wading in the turbulent waters was all coincidental if not due to any complex theories of quantum entanglement or wilful deceit. Swollen with naivety rather than the much needed well honed skills for the contemporary open market but well the uncompromising self discipline and unlimited confidence in own abilities did our boy from the dungeons, burgeon into that flower of innocence wild and heady in fragrance and yet beautiful, amidst a concrete jungle adorned with plastic flowers and the gentle and sophisticated home grown delicate beauties.

It was the case of round peg in a square hole. Not the case of square peg in a round hole. Yes, he was all the time told and made believe that the holes were round and he rather chamfered out his otherwise rough edges and got about round to fit, if not comfortably at least a force fit into the universally round hole. But here, to his utter dismay as you would normally expect but to the bemusement of our village boy the holes in the real world were square, rectangular, pentagonal and obtuse, everything else but round and unpredictable yet unnerving.

“Who cares? I know I am right!” was his approach.

Not deliberately but spontaneously and naturally so. The naturally right do not have to fear conformity from the conventional and guarding.

Do they?

So was our sweet but not very little anymore hero from down under the bottom of the pit and from that remote village which could be any among the thousands of the day, opens his eyes to the reality of the real world, far from the organised and the orderly, deep inside the safety warmth of the eternal incubator.

Walk does him the plank, so he does, not to an end to everything known but to the beginning of yet another. Where one ends starts the other and yet another and so on forever and endlessly so, embarking into what feels like an everlasting journey into the oblivion so complex and ever so demanding and forever endearing. As days, moons and years pass by, the otherwise oblivious world begins to notice and respect the endless, thankless servitude of the little village boy that he once was, to a glorious new beginning into an era of universal effect and into the world of modern university of learning, where upon his students would tread the world thereby transforming him into a player in the global arena and thus the global village. That was the walk of a village boy onto the centre stage of the global village and there he stands and shines like a star. He is a real hero in flesh and blood.

Basavaraj Gundappa Katageri, Roll No 971, Chalukya House, SSBJ (1975-82)

Today he stands tall among the tallest of achievers and teaches the teachers, the tricks of the trade.

Dear friends join me in extending our heartfelt thanks and to wish him all well. And far shall it go unto every single pupil, teacher, friend he has touched and shall do in future in all his endeavours.

Best Regards,

K Swamy,

966 CHL,

24-Nov-2011

AAA Annual Meet, Belgaum- 10 and 11 Dec 2011-A Report

AAA’s Belgaum Chapter

The Ajeet Alumni Association’s Annual Meet, Belgaum- 10 &11 Dec 2011-A Report

The Ajeet Alumni Association ,Belgaum Chapter,under the able guidance of Patron Maj Gen (Retd) KN Mirji VSM, President Shri Sunil M Potdar, Secretary Dr.Shashidhar Nadagouda, Col (Retd) Uday Kumar Rao, Col (Retd) Dr S R B Naikar, Dr Prakash Patil, Shri. Murgendra Hattiholi, Sri Nagesh Mundas and other able Ajeets, was held at Belgaum on 10 and 11 of Dec 2011 with great love and care. The previous day dinner was served at Argan Talao, breakfast at Infantry Institute, display of Special Forces skills like Commando jump and snake handling at Commando Wing of the Infantry School. After high tea, the AAA’s Annual meet was held at the Infantry Institute’s spacious auditorium from 1100 to 1400 hrs.

Col (Retd) Uday Kumar Rao welcomed the gathering. Maj Gen (Retd) KN Mirji VSM , Shri Sunil M Potdar,President,Belgaum Chapter, Dr.Shashidhar Nadagouda, Secretary,Colonel R Balaji, Principal Sainik School ,Bijapur, Shri Ramesh Bhat, Lt (Retd) Col BG Vishwanath Kumar, and Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali,SM were invited on the stage.

Shri Sunil M Potdar,President,Belgaum Chapter spoke on the occasion. Shree GD Kale, Lt Col (Retd) BG Vishwanath Kumar, Maj Gen (Retd) KN Mirji VSM, Lt Gen Ramsh Halgali ,SM, Colonel R Balaji, Principal Sainik School ,Bijapur lighted the traditional lamp.

Later, Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali,SM delivered an exciting and moving Air commodore KD Singh memorial lecture.Lt Gen Ramsh Halgali ,SM ,kept the audience spell bound for about forty minutes by his eloquence and warmth of fellow feeling among the Ajeet. He generated a feeling of patriotism, honesty, uprightness and integrity. Ajeet fraternity gave a standing ovation on conclusion of his persuasive speech.

Later on, Shree Ramesh Bhat, Lt Col (Retd) BG Vishwanth Kumar and Shree GD Kale spoke on the occasion.Colonel R Balaji, Principal, Sainik School, Bijapur, gave an idea of the task ahead before the start of the year long Golden Jubilee Celebrations to be undertaken on a war footing.

Col (Retd) Uday Kumar Rao announced the venue of the next AAA’s Annual meet. He welcomed the gathering to the garden city of Bangalore in Dec 2012. Dr.Shashidhar Nadagouda,Secretary ,Belgaum Chapter, proposed vote of thanks.

The presence of Air Marshal S Sriram, Rear Admiral RM Purandare VSM , Bri K Arjun Muthanna, Shree Mohandas Shetty K , Shree Mahantesh Jeevannavar, Dr.Basavaraj Katageri, Shree Mahaling S Kotrashetty, Shree Sanjeev Baitmanagalkar, Shree Sadanand C Shivagunde, Col (Retd) RP Hiremath and a large number of Ajeets made the event momentous one.

We place on record our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dr Vijay Naik, Dr. Prakash Patil , Shree SK Patil ,Shree Satish Gharge, Col (Retd) Ishwar Hurkadli , Shri Sunil M Potdar , Maj Gen (Retd) KN Mirji VSM , Col. Ashok R Patil Dr. Shashidhar Nadagouda , Shree Anna Saheb Jolle, Col (Retd) Uday Kumar Rao , Bri Mohana Pattar, Maj Gen V S Soman Goudar, UYSM, VSM, SM, Col (Retd) Dr S R B Naikar, Shri Murgendra Hattiholi, Shree Nagesh Mundas, Dr.Shashikanth Kulgod, Shree Rajeev D Patil, Dr.Sainath Patil, Dr.Prakash S Patil, Shree Vinayak S Jadhav, Dr. SC Pilli, Shree Santosh L Patil , Mrs Meena Potdar, Col (Retd) Jayant Todkar, Lt Col (Retd) Prem Kishore and other accomplished Ajeets of Belgaum who made the event memorable and unforgettable one.

We also take this opportunity to express our gratitude to two of our beloved students Major Siddalingayya Hiremath, KAS, Assistant Commissioner, Bailhongal Sub Division and Dr.Vijayamahantesh Dhanammanavar, KAS, Assistant Commissioner, Belgaum Sub Division. These two Ajeets took personal care of the teachers who came from various locations and far of places. They were present to welcome us on our arrival at Belgaum. Shree GD Kale, Shree U Velu, Shree BK Kesanur, Shree C Krishnaji Rao, Shree Mathew Kannath,Shree RV Kalasannavar, Shree IR Samuel, Shree GC Bhuyar, Shree CY Badiger, Shree S Masilamani and Shree MB Jamadar join me in acknowledging the great concern they have shown to look after us all.

D.Vijaya Kumar

Lt Col BGVishwanath Kumar(Retd)

With Army Chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

We felt honoured while saluting him

Most unforgettable days of my life

I was a Second Lieutenant commissioned in to The Seventh Battalion The Parachute Regiment just before the 1971 War. The capture of Dhaka was hastened by the constant voice of Sam Bahadur on the All India Radio. I had only heard his voice then.

Later When I was serving as GSO-2(Operations) at 17 Mountain Division in 1988, Field Marshal Manekshaw came on a three day personal visit to 17 Mountain Division (The same Division which he had served and fought the Second World War and later evacuated to Chennai with a splinter wound in his abdomen). I was appointed as the official photographer and handed over a video camera to cover his 3 day visit. I was his shadow from the time he set foot from the helicopter till he boarded the helicopter three days later.

Those are the most unforgettable days of my life. His personal charisma, mercurial bright eyes with a glint of mischievous wit, springy attitude at that age and impeccable manners and courtesy made me realise that I am privileged to be in such a close proximity of a human who is rare to find. His untiring visits to the forward posts in high altitude, hospitals to meet soldiers and their families combined with jam packed social activities for the three days, left me exhausted! I do have copy of the vedeo recording of his visit with me.

I salute this great soldier on his final journey.

Lt Col BGVishwanath Kumar(Retd)

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