Let me use a fictitious name for this officer for the sake of anonymity. I will call him Capt Yaad. He was an officer of medium height and build, very average. He had two weaknesses namely wine and women. I suppose all men have them to varying degrees. But he was pretty ahead and would beat the rest by a mile. This landed him in all sorts of trouble. According to his service records, he was married. But we had never met his wife. She was supposed to be living in his village he came from.
Capt Yaad was also remarkable for his voice and his fluency in Hindi language. He came from the gangetic belt in the north and had the ability to hold your attention when he spoke. When sober, he was simply fascinating, just like Amitabh Bacchan! But when he was under the effect of alcohol, he became a sheer nuisance. Inevitably, he got into many physical fracas and got beaten up on some occasions. Alcohol and such scuffles took their toll. Therefore, he was never in good shape or medical category A, a prerequisite for getting posted in forward areas. He mostly remained in peace stations which suited him in any case. You can easily guess that he was least bothered about his career prospects. Further, he also had to be admitted in military hospitals for periodic review or medical treatment from time to time. Somehow, his condition did not result in his permanent discharge from the army which was a pity. He carried on gamely!
This brings me back to his ability to charm people when sober. It is said that women in particular are vulnerable to men with an evil streak. There is some truth in that belief I feel. Good men are so boring! It was common knowledge that in his every stay at the military hospitals which were frequent, he would strike friendship with pretty nurses. He would pose as a bachelor. Many of those unsuspecting women just could not resist him and fell victim to his guiles. He used to have his good time, depart with false promises of marriage and then rejoin his unit unscathed. Once again, one fine day, he was required to get admitted in a army hospital for medical reasons. As a standard practice, our office issued him with a movement order and a railway warrant to proceed. He went to the army hospital, got admitted and after a week or so, he was discharged to return to our base. We came to know of this only because a copy of his return movement order issued by the hospital reached us by post.
But there was no sign of Capt Yaad! It was just half a day's travel by train. Where was he, we wondered! We waited for another day and then got very concerned. Did he meet with an accident? Our commanding officer, a Lt Col, rang up the hospital and got a confirmation that Capt Yaad was indeed discharged two days back. It became a mystery as there were no reports of any mishap from police or other authorities. We waited another week or so and then as per the army law, our commanding officer considered him as AWOL, meaning absent without leave and decided to declare him a deserter. An apprehensive roll was issued for apprehending him wherever he was. In all such cases, copies of apprehensive roll are sent to police authorities of the town to which such person belongs, and to the district authorities. As and when they find him, they are supposed to arrest him and bring him to his army unit. In the army, there can not be a worse fate than being declared a deserter! We waited for the process to take it's due course and soon forgot about this guy as a lost case and a bad egg!
After about two months, as we were getting ready to go for lunch in our officers mess, we suddenly noticed an army truck stopping in the front. And who else but our missing Capt Yaad getting down from the front seat! To say that we were shocked would be an understatement. More so when we saw him helping a young woman to come out of the vehicle. After unloading their baggage from the rear of the truck, they approached us and he introduced the woman as his wife. We continued to be speechless as the plot thickened;she did not appear to be a person from his village, we thought. But well, we had to accept her as his wife, a lady wife deserving a civilised greeting. Our commanding officer welcomed her in to the mess along with her husband who had been declared a deserter!
There was not much talk about anything during the lunch with due consideration for the lady. But soon after, our commanding officer took Capt Yaad on one side and told him that families were not permitted in that area in any army unit. So he had to arrange some accommodation in the town nearby for his wife. More importantly, he himself was a declared deserter and would be confined to a room with soldiers as guards. Rest of the day was used to meet these requirements with the help of a couple of young officers. Next day, the stage was set for disciplinary proceedings against Capt Yaad for his offence of desertion!
A court of inquiry followed by summary of evidence according to army rules was arranged. This was followed in due course with a court martial. Finally, Capt Yaad was awarded civil imprisonment of some years and automatic dismissal from the army. It was a sad day for the officers cadre of the army! But he fully deserved it!
But this is not the end of this story. After about three years or so, I visited an army installation with many officers as part of a training course. It was commanded by a smart officer of the rank of a major. In the evening, we were invited to his residence for a dinner party. And who do you think was his lady wife who welcomed us with a smile and without batting an eyelid?
The same Mrs Yaad whom I had met three years back!
No comments:
Post a Comment