AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 166 of 237 few more adventurous souls among us also had a darshan of the aghori sadhu folk and we were astonished at how these ascetics could continue to follow strict rituals and extreme practices with only white ash smeared all over their bodies even in that icy region. Having made our prayers, we decided to lay down for a bit and rest enough for the journey back to the temporary base. It was then that we noticed that the Major – Officer Commanding (OC), and his buddy had finally reached the shrine. They too made a visit to the shrine and joined the rest of us to relax. That is when it became a true test of nerves. OC: “Bala, you have tea ration, let us all have a cup of tea”. Immediate response from self: “Oh yes sir, we have all the ration required! It should not take too long to make us a cup of piping hot tea”. But as I looked around, I discovered with icy horror that the team that carried the tea ration had disappeared, especially the boys carrying the stove, tea leaves and vessel. What was really left with us now was a matchbox, a broken tumbler and a spoon. In short, extremely useful items but quite useless in tea making! I had to think on my feet and so, I immediately set about looking for or at least trying to sight the boys. To my luck, I found a sardarji brewing fresh chai near the shrine. I walked up to him to buy us all some hot tea. Self: “ Sat sri akal ji , could you please make me 23 cups of tea”? Sardarji : “ Sat sri akal, saheb . Yes, I can make 23 cups of tea. Each tea costs Rs. 1.25”. I was completely taken aback at this outrageous price (asking for more than 20 ps for a cup of tea in 1970 was easily extortion). Practically penniless, I quickly called out to a few boys in the group, collected some cash and managed to get exactly Rs. 1.25. After a brief discussion with the sardarji , the Major’s tea was duly purchased. As we headed back to the expectant group, I quickly issued a few instructions. OC : “Ah thank you so much for the tea, Bala. How about the rest of you”? Self : “Sir, the sardarji is short of crockery and so the rest of us will drink tea directly from our water bottles”. The Major nodded and contentedly started to drink his tea along with the rest of us sipping from our water bottles.