AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 64 of 123 Dharma then opined: “Smudge is an experienced player. He is no novice. He was well aware of the consequences of cheating in a gentlemen’s game. “Smudge should be banned from the game for his entire life. He is a blot on the game. You do not cheat and get away cheaply. It needs to be exemplary – so that it will deter others from even thinking of playing dirty in the game.” Dronacharya totally agreed with the views of his shisya and told the blind King Dritarashtra that justice should not only be done, but also appear to be done to everyone. The crime may be the same – but then those who were knowledgeable, were far more accountable then those who were new to the business. About the Author Brig V A Subramanyam was born in Bangalore and on completion of schooling, moved to Tambaram for his graduation. Whilst in his final year of College, he was selected to join the Army. He joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun and was commissioned into the Corps of Signals. Signals provide Communications and Information Technology support to the Armed Forces. He did his engineering in electronics and telecommunication engineering from the CME and MCTE – both technical institutions of the Army. Later, he obtained two postgraduate degrees - one in Communications and IT and the second in Armaments, Electronics and Special Vehicles. Just before he retired from the Army, he also successfully completed MA (in English Literature) from the Devi Ahalya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Indore and MBA from Punjabi University, Patiala. During the tenure in the Army, he saw active service in Jammu and Kashmir – and did two tenures in the North East as well. He took part in covert operations, in building communications and linking the border out posts to the main body in the rear, prior to the 1965 operations in the Kutch sector. He had a stint with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in their Directorate of Electronics (D of L). He served as an instructor to train men in various skills at the Signal Training Centre in Goa. Later he served as professor of electronics whilst at MCTE and taught both graduate and postgraduate students. He was one of the first few officers to be involved in the setting up of advanced facilities in the field of Electro Magnetic Interference and Electro Magnetic Compatibility (EMI/EMC) studies. Based on those studies a national facility named SAMEER was later set up at Chennai. He also authored a comprehensive history of the Corps of Signals, which was titled ‘The Signals’ and was published in 1986. He was awarded the prestigious Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card.