AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 62 of 167 1 Travels Without Ticket - Unintended Episode Brig T M Sridharan VSM Genre: Life in the Forces o follow this episode I must take you back to early 70s air travel mode as existed then from PUNE to GOA and back. There were no direct flights from Pune to Goa. So one has to catch Deccan Queen from Pune to Mumbai (erstwhile Bombay in 70s) and take a flight to Goa from Bombay. The return travel from Goa to Pune was also same way. With this background let me take you to my unintended but unforgettable episode. I was a young dashing captain in 70s and was posted to HQ M&G Area Bombay, Colaba as SO3 (Staff Officer-3) in Signals branch. My immediate superior was Lt Col B D Bhardwaj, very senior and a father figure for youngsters like me. For Signals matters HQ M&G Area Signals Branch was under CSO (Chief Signal Officer) Sothern Command (located in Pune). At that time CSO Southern Command was Brig Tej Sarin. Just before this posting to M&G Area, I was fortunate to serve under Brig Tej Sarin when he was CSO 4 Corps and I was in an independent Brigade Signal Company. The Brigade Signal Company was directly under CSO 4 Corps. He was quite impressed by my work in the Brigade Signal Company and had a good opinion. 2 Signals Training Center (2STC) located in Goa was under CSO Southern Command, and he had to carry out the technical inspection of the establishment. In the month of May, in hot summer month CSO, Brig Tej Sarin decided to go to Goa for inspection. He arrived by Deccan Queen at 11 AM and I received him. We directly went to our Signal’s Branch, M&G Area. Apart from the normal official discussions with the DCSO - Lt Col Bhardwaj he was all praise for my efficiency and me. It made me feel a bit embarrassed and I got up to move out. CSO called me gave me the Railway Warrant asked me to exchange and keep the ticket ready for his return travel, after two days by Deccan Queen to Pune which leaves at 5.05 PM. Invariably it was always on time. He mentioned that on his return from Goa, he would arrive by the morning flight and go directly to his sister’s house in Malabar Section 5 – Memoirs T