AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 73 of 123 considerations, our prima donna, Ms P was conspicuous by her absence this year. In her inimitable style laced with good humour, she sent personal cards through her husband to all bachelors in the Officers Mess (OM) advising us not to miss her too much. It was a crude reminder of the ignominy that the bachelors suffered at her hands during the previous summer. But Ms P’s absence took away the sheen out of the angst of some of the bachelors, still smarting and licking their wounds, who wanted desperately to stage a fitting reprisal. But on her part, Ms P had warned the other ladies to be wary of the bachelors who may come out with devious plans to pay back in kind. As we neared the dreaded date (Apr 1st), the ladies checked, re-checked and cross checked any action by the bachelors. Word went around that all ladies wanted to keep a dog and a cat with them always, the dog for their physical safety and the cat for tasting any food served to them from the Mess. In a way, that itself was a fitting reprisal but the stubborn few among us wouldn’t give up without a fight. A quick meeting of the bachelors was convened in the Conference Room in our HQ on the afternoon of Mar 31, far away from the prying eyes and ears of the ladies . This was presided over by a senior Squadron Leader, a man for all reasons and all seasons. Let’s call him the Sqn Ldr. The Sqn Ldr was known for his quick wit, ingenuity, a keen sense of observation and a gift of the gab. He was our natural choice of a Master of Ceremonies (MC) in all our parties. His humorous calling out of numbers in a Tambola game used to be hilarious and a big crowd puller. He conducted parties with the same felicity with which he flew his Choppers through those treacherous hills and ravines in J&K. Much to the discomfort of the meteorologists, he simply used to look at the morning sky and declare if it would rain that day or not. His forecasts had a 99% accuracy, which is saying a lot for the unpredictable weather in the valley. Another live application of his weather forecast was – to declare among an interested group (comprising not just of bachelors) if the Gujjar tribal women shepherding their flock of sheep in the valley would decide to take a bath in the fresh water springs called Chashma on that day or not, but that is a different story for a different time! In short, he was our very own Jeeves of PG Wodehouse fame, who had a solution for every problem under the sun. Incidentally, he is also the husband of Ms P. Back to the business of the day, the guys who hatched some grand plans for the reprisal presented theirs. These were instantly dismissed by the Sqn Ldr as amateurish, juvenile, childish, imbecile and such other synonyms that a good Thesaurus would present. Some gyan that he shared then remains with us even till date. In the Services, ladies are placed