AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 110 of 167 beautiful Chateau like building located on a hillock, overlooking the airfield. But when I was waiting in the lawn of the Officer’s Mess to be allotted a Room, the panoramic beauty of the place unfolded slowly, and instantly prepared me for a life in this paradise on earth, with new friends, new environment and new challenges. The Base used to be “activated” frequently at short notice and during such times, our day began very early and lasted till the last aircraft landed back, say latest by 4 pm. We literally lived with the sound of the aircraft. While life in a forward air base was fraught with hectic schedules professionally, there was never a dull moment personally. Being a “modified field area”, there was no married accommodation. Very few married officers were permitted to bring their families and live in the town nearby (Udhampur). Many married officers chose to stay single and their families were permitted to join them for short durations, mainly coinciding with summer vacations of their children. This was fun time generally with much socialization, home food and partying. With the Ladies’ giving directions to our Mess Cooks, the otherwise drab food used to taste divine! Of the many families that had come that summer, there was this Lady (let us call her Ms P), an Anglo Indian, who was an Instructor in a Dancing School in Bengaluru. She was very resourceful, very friendly, extremely sociable and was blessed with a quick wit. Taking pity on the bachelor officers’ plight in a godforsaken place, she offered to teach us all dancing. In retrospect, we feel that her offer was prompted not by philanthropy but more by what she witnessed in our parties in the name of disco dancing – the professional in her may have been outraged at the unsightly medley presented by us, sometimes bordering on irreversible Parkinson’s! Never having learnt this art formally and always willing to shake a leg or two, her offer was a windfall for us. Soon, Dance forms such as Ballroom, Cha Cha Cha, Disco which were only hearsay till then, became our daily mantra and brought in a spring in our walks! On Day 1, after individual evaluation of the prospects, she announced that learning these dance forms is no big deal but unlearning what we have already imbibed and relearning afresh was. It jolted the confidence of budding John Travoltas among us (Saturday Night Fever was a rage then) but we stood our ground firmly like good military men. The old timers among us (the married men, I mean) had already started imagining themselves enacting a Fred Astaire – Rita Hayworth show and decided to grin and bear it! On Ground Zero, our progress was very slow, as Ms P had to shoulder the full burden of partnering with a dozen wannabes! Even this took a beating when Ms P took ill and had to be hospitalized for a few days. What we didn’t know at that time was her hospitalization was a blessing in disguise. When we visited Ms P at the Hospital, we found a group of Military Nursing Service (MNS) Officers around her, listening to her in rapt attention, and wanting her to teach them dancing when she got well. The Pied Piper was in action yet again!