AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 104 of 123 It was in early August that Sergeant Kulwant informed me of hisplans to take leave to go home in September. The advance intimation was necessary so that standby arrangements for another driver could be made. We are very selective since we can give this responsibility only to a mature, balanced and careful driver. Word of Kulwant’s going on leave quickly spread. Everyone felta sense of loss. With Kulwant at the helm, parents felt secure when their children went to school on the bus, college girls were confident that an elder brother watched over them and that no misbehaviour would take place in the bus. People missed him if he was away for even a fortnight. Once again I could sense the excitement in Kulwant. Long distances and long absence from the family are cruel on defence personnel. Things that are taken for granted in civil life – like seeing our sons and daughters grow up – are a matter of pain. Kulwant was deprived of seeing his young son grow up as normally fathers would. Despite his excitement, Kulwant was still concerned about his first responsibility to his extended family – all those at the Academy. “So much to do before I can go on leave, sir,” he had said, eyes lighting up in excitement. The very next day he took off to the city market to buy a lot of rakhis for all the ladies on the campus. He went door to door distributing them. That wasn’t all. He then collected all the envelopes to mail them from the city. God alone knows how much money he had spent from his pocket. Kulwant bought clothes for his son who would complete two years in a month. With pride, he showed me the pearl set he had bought for his doting wife and a list of other knick knacks. Knowing him well I was sure he had bought gifts for the neighbourhood as well. Just a week before he was to proceed on leave, Kulwant walkedintomyoffice toask ifwe hadmade arrangements for the alternate driver. He preferred Sergeant Avtar. Although I agreed with him,we couldn’t take him since he was driving the Commandant. When I told him that we had taken Sergeant Ibrahim who was dependable, Sergeant Kulwant looked forlorn and lost. Althoughit looked like a bit of unnecessary concern for what was just a 10-day leave, I didn’t pay much attention at the time. Next day, at 10:00 a.m., I received a call from the office of the MCO (Movement Control Centre) at the railway station. It was a frantic Subedar who passed on information from the Railway Police that an airman had committed suicide on the railway tracks; and that the PSI bus was parked at the railway station. Since I hadn’t heard from Kulwant, I presumed he was on his errands. It took me an hour to reach the railway station.