5.Dehradun Delhi and Secunderabad

Ranjana has to be left behind at Secunderabad as Vivek was on 10^th and his board was due in April. I took over the EME battalion. It was without a Commanding Officer for more than six months and the effect was palpable. The formation was under conversion to RAPID (S) and the EME Bn was to raise an Armoured Workshop Company to give cover to the Armoured Brigade. The GOC was well known for his anti -services outlook in general and anti-EME in particular.

I got a temporary barrack type accommodation and Ranjana joined after Vicky’s exams. Her mother who was also in Secunderabad also joined. From Secunderabad to Delhi we had a coupe , so there was no problem to take Elsa along with a valid ticket. But we had to smuggle Elsa from Delhi to Saharanpur in the “Chair car” compartment!

Anju’s husband Raja met with an unnatural death at Aalandi. Anju and Gowri came along to Dehradun. Gowri was to stay with us from then onwards. Ranjana got her admitted in a school in Dehradun and managed a tutor to teach her English and Hindi.

The Rajaji National park was just behind our Officers’ Mess. Ranjana pursued her hobby of Bird watching by walking across to the Park. To her great delight she could spot a variety of “Paradise fly catchers” and other exotic birds. She kept herself busy with welfare activities of families.

That was the Golden Jubilee Year of the Corps of EME. The Corps had planned an adventure outing of REME and our EME in the Himalayas followed by a River rafting from Shivpuri to Haridwar. In addition a tree plantation drive in the Gangotri, Yamunotri region for fifty thousand Himalayan varieties was also planned. All these activities became the responsibility of my battalion. With the help of Forest research Institute at Dehradun, the species for various regions were selected and the Forest Department directed to hand over the saplings to our teams . I had to send about twenty teams for physical planting of the trees.

The adventure activity also included a mountaineering expedition by the REME and our EME teams to clean up the mountaineering route. They collected tons and tons of garbage littered along the route followed by expeditions. These were carted to Delhi and displayed at India gate for the public to understand the environmental degradation due to callous attitude of expedition members. The adventure activities concluded with the river rafting from Shivpuri to Haridwar. The then Director General of EME , Lt.Gen. JS Ahluvalia AVSM,PVSM was to flag off the expedition from Shivpuri.

He came on a visit to my battalion for three days. It is very rare for the DGEME to visit an EME battalion for a few days. I requested the GOC for allotment of the Div Guest room for his stay during the visit. But the GOC had other ideas. He insisted that he would be his personal guest and stay in Tamu House, the appointment house of the GOC. He rang up the DGEME and conveyed the same and made him agree! In addition to visiting my Bn, HQ for a briefing and the newly raised Armoured Workshop, I arranged a visit to Gurudwara Poanta sahib where he was honoured with a Saropa and Sword.

Ranjana organised a ladies evening including a variety entertainment with own talented ladies and officers.

The action shifted to Shivpuri the next day. The adventure teams from REME and EME were received by the DGEME. The MGEME from HQ Northern Command had also reached there. Both I and Ranjana also jumped on to a raft and it was a thrilling experience!

After reaching Haridwar, I had to hurry up to see off the DGEME from Jolly Grant Airport.

My tenure in Dehradun is also coming to an end and I applied for study leave for one year so that I remain in Dehradun till Vicky completes his 12^th. Probably the DGEME got a very favourable feed- back from the GOC about the battalion. Within a week , I got ac call from Dy MS Brig BK Bhatia that the DGEME wanted me to take over as Director Equipment in EME Directorate and I should withdraw my application for study leave.

Leaving Ranjana , her mother , Vivek and Gowri I left for Delhi. I stayed in SP Marg Army battle honours Mess. Unknown to me Vicky appeared for UPSC for NDA entrance and cleared it. Just about three weeks before his board exam, he was called for SSB interview at Bhopal and cleared that too. Though he got the hall ticket for IIT JEE, he lost interest in IIT after getting cleared for NDA.

I got an allotment of a house at Noida. Vivek by now has already gone to NDA. Ranjana left her mother and Gowri with Anju at Alandi. She got Gowri admitted in Army Public School at Visranthwadi. It was only for a brief period. Gowri returned to Noida and with Ranjana’s effort she got her admitted in a school at Noida!

With lot of time at her hand, Ranjana joined Yoga, Glass painting classes. She became quite versatile in both. She made quite a few frames on glass and two were kept in our house. But the chemical vapors of paints were not suiting her eyes and decided to stop that hobby. She wrote some recipes and useful hits for home for Famina. Her posts were published and she got some prizes for the same. These jars are in display on the sideboard !

Ranjana joined a yoga Class in Noida and soon became an expert in doing various Aasaanas. Her body was vry flexible and she could do even intricate ones with ease. Her interest in art continued. He made a very fine embroidery works and I got them framed in Noida. She also joined a class for Glass painting. However the chemicals of the paints had adverse effect on her eyes. After mastering and painting her favourite “Macaw” parrot painting for our home, she left that hobby.

I asked for a last posting to Pune as my tenure was coming to an End. EME Records was issued with a Computer from ADG Systems and there was no one to take over. Also the then existing system which I developed in 86-89 needed to be converted and ported to this system with the added requirement of overcoming the famous” Y2K” problem afflicting most of the systems globally. I was posted to EME Centre again to take over the new system. The Commandant of the Centre Brig. RP Batra wanted somebody of his choice as a battalion Commander / Deputy Commandant. Though my posting to the Centre was to help the Corps and EME Records for switching over to the new system, he made my life and of my family miserable to start with. Both Ranjana and I would rather forget this bad patch of our last posting prior to my retirement.

However I got a good job with Visual Quest India, a private Company in Hyderabad as director Technical.

Vicky passed out from NDA and then from IMA. We both attended his passing out parades in NDA Pune and IMA Dehradun. These happy occasions obliterated the bad memories under Brig. RP Batra. What was worse was the ladies shying away and avoiding Ranjana in get-togethers and parties. Ranjana took all these in her stride but never bad-mouthed anyone. She was a pillar of strength for me and I could hardly devote anytime for household chores. she managed the finances and kept meticulous details of every penny spent.

Viki passed out from NDA and went to IMA. In his fourth term he fell sick during a hike to the valley of flowers and admitted in MH as "Seriously ill:" due to jaundice. Ranjana rushed to Dehradun by flight and I followed two days later. Fortunately for us , there was Cpat Misra of AMC at MH who was a good friend of Ranjana . He was earlier RMO at ! EME Centre. Our only worry was that Vivek should not miss a term on medical grounds. He was given sick leave and came home to recuperate. He rejoined in the nick of time and saved from getting relegated. Ranjana did a lot of spade work to ensure he was treated adequately at MH, feeding him appropriate food as required for a patient of jaundice , ensured his discharged and sick leave , rejoining his training without any hitch.