AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 64 of 167 But matter did not end here. Hoping to make amends I went to Railway official who directed me to contact the station commercial head which I did. I explained and showed the ticket. I requested him to send a message to the train through the Station Master at Dadar. He smiled and said Captain Sahib by the time train reaches Dadar they would have checked and collected the basic ticket fare and fine a total of Rs 36.50/- (Rs 26.50P basic fare plus Rs 10 fine). It was a big amount in those days. Left with no option I quickly returned to my room to inform my boss Lt Col Bhardwaj, the DCSO about the happenings. He just laughed and said as CSO mentioned, “that is some efficient Captain alright”. He instructed me to immediately inform Capt Tandon, my counterpart in Pune about this episode. Capt Tandon was the SO3 Signals, Southern Command, and we were close friends too. As instructed I informed him before he went to receive CSO at Pune railway station. On hearing from me, his reaction was one of anguish. He was sure that CSO would take it out on him for my stupid act. On my request he called me after receiving Brig Tej Sarin. He laughed and told me that just opposite of what I expected happened. He said that the CSO was in a good mood and blamed himself for his over sleeping and congratulated Capt Sridharan who ensured that he was able to catch the train which was important. This statement by him touched me. He also mentioned that I should surrender the ticket and get the refund from railways. Next day first call from DCSO was to CSO. Even before Col Bhardwaj could explain, CSO said he was totally responsible for this unintended but avoidable incident. He concluded the conversation by asking me to get the refund from railways. Four days later I put Rs 36.50/- in a cover addressed to CSO and sent it through the monthly cipher courier bringing this unintended but awkward incident to a decent conclusion. But many times in the last 50 years when it flashes through my thought and every time I laugh at myself.