AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 181 of 332 13 The Military Special Brig V A Subramanyam Genre: Reminiscence I made up my mind not to care so much about the destination, and simply enjoy the journey - David Archuleta (Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song and the Power of Perseverance) t was nearing the end of the training of our first term at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehra Dun. The training was so rigorous that it was but natural for all of us to eagerly look forward to the end of the term, so that we could take a well-deserved break. The break was very essential to help us refresh and recoup ourselves so that we could complete the next leg of our training, which would only be tougher. Background The incident related below occurred during December 1959. Hence it is necessary that the readers appreciate the scenario prevailing at that time. Rail travel those days was very much different from what it is today. The number of trains were few and far between. Further, the colonial legacy of three gauges – the broad, metre and narrow were very much in existence. Thus, very often one had to change the train so as to go from one gauge to another – meaning one had to physically move out from one train to another along with bed and baggage. That also implied one had to change platforms which often meant going up and coming down stairs, with one’s belongings that one carried on the journey! Reservation for berths was normally possible only at the starting station. However, when reservations were required at intermediate stations, it generally never materialized. In such cases (intermediate stations) one had to send a telegram to the concerned intermediate station requesting for the seat/berth. More often than not, action was seldom taken on such requests. Thus, journeys where one had to change trains were always a nightmare. Thus, travel by the Military special was welcomed as it assured that we had a berth to ourselves from start to finish (providing that it was the same gauge throughout the journey) - at least upto the destination of the special. Another point to note is that the present day - light-weight fibre glass suit cases were non-existent. It was normal for each one of us to carry one – and in some cases – two ‘coffin sized’ steel trunks. The dimension of these trunks varied between 60 to 90 cm in width, 30 cm tall and 100 to 150 cm long. Generally, that just about fitted into the bottom of the seats in the compartments. Occasionally they were a trifle too tall, when I