Author Topic: Articles By Hoshiyar Singh Bhandari - श्री होशियार सिंह भण्डारी जी के लेख  (Read 13172 times)

Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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OF GALLENTRY AND AWARDS

Without any disrespect to the brave hearts honoured on this Republic Day, I felt awarding 11 Ashoka Chakras was a bit extra ordinary. This reflects either the criterion has been diluted or the enemy within, had become stronger or even it may only be the politics. In one of his TV talks, film actor Akshay Kumar had recently said, "Give me the cheques and awards you give to others". Our lawmakers seem to reward the martyrs for covering their political blunders perpetuated over the years like the vote bank divide. They keep their chairs warm by promising compensations and the sarkari naukari to the grieved family members.

Petroleum Ministry then came forward to voluntarily give the CNG/ Petrol agencies to the Mumbai martyrs. Politely refusing to accept this ‘compensation’, father of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan set the agenda for discussing the whole issue. I had closely monitored the happenings of Mumbai and, as an Army man myself, been witness to so many similar encounters that happen in J&K and the North East, with regularity. The operating conditions are different, the battlefield setting is different and, perhaps, the yardstick for the award is also different this time. In the Mumbai case the Police lost their brave men for not having fired their personal weapons at all in their entire service span. These brave and dedicated men could have served the nation and its people for a long, long time to come. Well, you have rewarded them but what about the ‘system’ firmly in place still? How many senior police officers have been punished for not doing their duty (of training their men)? The death we mourn. Why don’t we punish them who were responsible for these avoidable deaths?

A routine act of ‘duty’ fetches them President’s Police Medal. What do you give them when they fail in their normal duty? We must make these bureaucrats accountable. There is no use instituting inquiry commissions who only suggest measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents. If there is reward, there must be punishment also. You just removed the CM and his Deputy. What about the IAS and IPS in Mumbai who are otherwise interested only in amassing wealth with or without the connivance of the underworld?

Coming back to the Ashoka Chakras and CNG agencies, I still feel only Major Unnikrishnan should have been given the top gallantry award (for it was only he, who actually led from the front). Others did well to get lower rung Chakras and Padmas and the associated compensation packages which generally is the case after every tragedy. And Unni’s dad has shown the difference between the Army and the rest.

Now we are talking of setting up of NSG nodes at the metros. With 50% jobs reserved for the ‘undeserved’ and 50% for the outstandingly meritorious, where do you fit in the likes of MC Sharma, Gajendra Singh Bisht and Bahadur Singh Bohra to ensure that we have a good crop of brave heart daredevils all the time? Thinking of quotas for the SUPREME SACRIFICE also? The Gharib Rath types and Dali ki Beti types may demand this sooner than later.

I am really worried about the Indian state that is Bharat.


Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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एक कविता-

मेरा पहाड़

मेरे गांव के एक चबूतरे में,
मेरे नाम का भी एक पत्थर था,
इन पत्थरों के शहर में,
गुमनाम सा हो गया हूं।

माता-पिता, गुरु-मित्रों का,
होनहार "होशियार" था मैं,
कठोर मुकाबलों के इस दौर में,
शायद नाकाम हो गया हूं।

जुड़ा था, शिखर-शिलाओं से,
बस बह गया, गंगा तेरे प्रवाह में,
बहता-लुढ़कता, टूटता-फूटता,
शिला से पत्थर, फिर कंकड़, आम हो गया हूं।

मैदानों में चलते-चलते,
छोड़ छोर सब पीछे अपने,
कंकड़ से बालू, रेत, मिट्टी, बस
निर्माण का सामान सा हो गया हूं।

ओ भागीरथी! क्या मुझे तुम,
पुनः स्थापित कर सकोगी, गंगोत्री तट पर?
हिम शिलाओं, श्रृंखलाओं मे?
मैं तो यहां बेदम सा खो गया हूं॥

हेम पन्त

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कविता बहुत ही सुन्दर है, ये पंक्तियां दिल को छू गई... पहाङ से पलायन को मजबूर हम जैसे लोगों के दिल की बात उकेरी है आपने अपनी कविता में...

एक कविता-

मेरा पहाड़


......................
ओ भागीरथी! क्या मुझे तुम,
पुनः स्थापित कर सकोगी, गंगोत्री तट पर?
हिम शिलाओं, श्रृंखलाओं मे?
मैं तो यहां बेदम सा खो गया हूं॥

Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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DADY & DUTY

I entered Govt. Intermediate College (GIC) Pithoragarh in Jul 1962 as a class IX student. Pithoragarh district had been carved out of Almora in 1960 and, due to the problem with China in 1962, it gained strategic importance.

Shri JC Upadhyay was a very revered as well as feared name in the GIC. He taught Mathematics to XI and XII classes. The Math Maat’saab, as he was known, was a real genius who spoke very little. He attired himself with white full-sleeved shirt tucked in the grey coloured worsted trousers. He never changed this combination except adding on a pullover or a coat during winter. Bespectacled, tall, dark and thinly built…every inch he was a professor, held in great awe.

GIC Pithoragarh had 100% infrastructure including labs, classrooms, playgrounds, hostels and staff quarters. All the teaching and non-teaching staff lived within the college premises. As a result, we could watch the acts of our gurus and guides closely. The Math Maat’saab had a three-year old son; a sweet little bright boy. He always followed his father ‘hand-in-hand,’ literally. Even when all the teachers made it to the evening walk combining with shopping from the town (3 km away), Upadhyayji had his son always in tow. Unmindful of what others thought and talked, he only concentrated on his son’s ‘higher’ education. Whenever a motor vehicle crossed, he used to tell him about vehicle technology and at the bird flying over, it was the aviation engineering, We thought it was a bit ‘over’ for the small kid and never grasped the father-son bonding taking effect in the process.

Upadhyayji, outwardly was a very dry person. He was our class teacher (XI B). Those who are familiar with UP Board system in those days will appreciate the difference between XI B (Science) and XI A (Arts) & XI C (Commerce). There was a provision that ‘free ship’ should not go with ‘scholarship’. But, for me, he did everything that he could do. I had free-ship, Border Scholarship, National Merit Scholarship and Post War Scholarship (My dad was a WW II Veteran). I was indebted to him and he was my role model, an icon and remains so till date.

Somewhere in the early eighties I learned that the Junior Upadhyay had topped the Roorkee Engineering Entrance Examination. And, after 4/5 years I saw his name standing ‘third’ in the All India Civil Services list.

The second example of a slightly different kind of parenting I witnessed was in the nineties. One of my close friend’s son was in XII Class. Also in the same batch was a daughter of his immediate boss. Even at the cost of neglecting his own son, the man took upon himself making sure that the girl does pass. When the CBSE results came, he only carried the roll number of the ‘girl’. She had passed and he was happy. When we asked him about his son’s result, he replied, “I was never in doubt about my son’s passing.” The boy had ‘also’ passed, we came to know later.

Third case is rather recent. For a brief period we lived in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Mhow Campus. (My wife teaches there.) One day, during Assembly, a VI Class boy had collapsed. My wife rushed him to our ‘house’ and told me to give him a glass of hot milk. The boy recovered. On my asking, he revealed that his father was a Subedar and had arranged for his tuition. The boy got up at 4 AM, attended to the tuitions from 5 to 6 AM because there was no vacancy in the afternoon or evening batches of Maths tuition. The teacher was serving in a Govt. School, who left for duty after the first batch (5 to 6 AM). The boy had come to school straight from the tuition class. So it was a case of sheer exhaustion. My wife was his class teacher and this point came for the parent-teacher meeting. The father was sure of his responsibilities and stated that he was ‘paying through his nose’ for his studies. Obviously, the results were not commensurate with the father’s paying capacity nor did they meet the school’s expectations.

I, myself attempted to take a leaf out of the Upadhyay book and tried to spend maximum time with my son. My colleagues, at times, used to tease me that he was a boy and not a girl and questioned my over zealous protection. Our son was our companion for evening walks, sports and outdoors. When he was 12 years old, we all three had the same levels of skills in Tennis, Badminton and Squash. At Kalimpong, once when CO EME was looking for a partner to play squash, his choice was, “any of the three Bhandaris would do.”(The third was my wife.) We remained ‘threesome’ till my son went out to do his engineering followed by IIM (A) and, finally, for the employ abroad. Now I miss his company. As I look back, I can say that spending as much time together as possible was the best part of parenthood – longer, the better. Any sort of getting together is a bonus but the opportunities are getting rarer.

The value addition that the parents can give in their child’s development by sharing quality time has no alternative. Paid teachers and counsellors can never substitute. The equation and affinity which a father can have with his son is not only difficult to outsource but is impossible to construct.


Times will not return. Not will the age. We need to act. And act fast.


Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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Guilt, Shame and Japan’s Past


My father, as part of 4/19 Hyderabad (now 4 Kumaon), took part in the Second World War in Malaya/Singapore Command. After the surrender of the Allied Forces, they were taken prisoners-of-war and made to suffer ignominy and torture at the hands of their captors. The ordeal ended only after the Japanese were vanquished in Aug 1945. He used to describe various incidences involving the prisoners incarcerated in Singapore. Now my son is there in Singapore as its Permanent Resident and I often go there to visit him. I invariably make it a point to go to the monuments and memorials that connect the events related to the War, the Japanese and my father.

Many decades after the end of World War Two, the Japanese are still regarded with a tinge of suspicion – if not resentment – by people of Korea, China and other parts of Asia. This should not have been the case. Japan has played a stabilizing role in Asia, dishing out aid and assistance to many Asian countries. Its political leaders are largely internationalists. The country has a strong pacifist bent. Since the 1960’s, Japan has also issued more the 40 apologies, in various forms, for its wartime atrocities.

Such actions, however, belie a nagging fear about Japan; whether the country has reconciled with its problematic past. This was underscored again recently(Oct 2008) when their Air Force Chief, General Toshio Tamogani was sacked for denying that Japan was the aggressor during the War. In an essay written by him (which won him a prize in a competition !) he reiterated the stand taken by conservative revisionists that Washington was wrong in attacking Japan in the pacific, its actions in Korea and Manchuria were legal and Japan was kind to the people of in Korea and Taiwan.

More than 70 Japanese air force officers had written essays in the same competition, arguing that Japan should not have apologized for its wartime actions. Prime Minister Taro Aso also refused to acknowledge that his family business used prisoners-of-war as forced labour.

More interestingly, days after General Tamogami’s sacking, Mr Aso purchased and praised books espousing similar thoughts. People wonder as to how then the PM fired his air force chief for espousing these thoughts! Of the wartime actions by Germany and Japan, the opinion world over, is that the former follows a Christian culture of ‘guilt’ while the latter adheres to a Confucian culture of shame. While Germany has taken massive strides to admit its wartime guilt and make restitution, Japan has gone to extraordinary lengths to silence people who remind the country of its misdeeds.

For many Japanese, their dominant image has been that they were hapless victims of the nuclear attacks on Nakasaki and Hiroshima. The fact that they were aggressors has been largely ignored. Using the logic of images to support Japan’s refusal to come clean with its past, however, is largely academic. Practically speaking, if Germany has come clean, so can Japan. At this point a Japanese leader might not be able to do what West German Chancellor Willy Brandt did in 1970 (fell to his knees at a former Warsaw ghetto and apologized for what the Nazis had done). But Japan can surely open an honest debate on the facts about the war and attack the roots of historical amnesia among its political elite. This would help Japan’s growing leadership role in Asia and improve its relations with rest of the region.

General Tamogami couldn’t be entirely faulted. He was born in the year 1948, much after the World War ended, and as such had nothing to apologize for. But he had to go for speaking a language which his country’s political leadership could not read loudly and accept openly.

Such are the rules of the game and every one must play by the rules to survive.


एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Bhandri JI.

We are really grateful to you for letting us know about this exclusive details. I am also army background. My grandfather was the first solider from our area who also fought II World War and was in kumoan regiment. I believe then it was kumoan rifle.

Guilt, Shame and Japan’s Past


My father, as part of 4/19 Hyderabad (now 4 Kumaon), took part in the Second World War in Malaya/Singapore Command. After the surrender of the Allied Forces, they were taken prisoners-of-war and made to suffer ignominy and torture at the hands of their captors. The ordeal ended only after the Japanese were vanquished in Aug 1945. He used to describe various incidences involving the prisoners incarcerated in Singapore. Now my son is there in Singapore as its Permanent Resident and I often go there to visit him. I invariably make it a point to go to the monuments and memorials that connect the events related to the War, the Japanese and my father.

Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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SINGAPORE’S INDIA CONNECTION

The Annual Global Indian Diaspora Conference held at the Suntec City, Singapore on 10 Oct 08 drew some 700 delegates from 20 countries. The ‘conference’ first launched in 2003, has been held outside India only the second time, New York being the venue last year.

There are about 30 million overseas Indians and these Diaspora conferences offer great opportunity for them to network and cooperate. The Singapore event was jointly organized by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the Confederation of Indian Industry. Shri Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, inaugurated the conference by lighting the traditional lamp. The President of Singapore Mr SR Nathan was the Guest of Honour for the gala dinner while senior Minister Goh Chok Tong presided over the lunch forum.

Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lee Hsien Loong, in his keynote address said that Singapore was a natural gathering point for the India Diaspora in Asia Pacific. Acknowledging the significant contributions made by people of Indian descent he added that even though the early settlers started out as humble labourers and plantation workers, the successive generations had made their mark in government, business and professions.

Presently there are about two lakh Indian expatriates in Singapore, making them one of the largest communities. Recent wave of migrants from India has brought with them strong entrepreneurial spirit and energy to Singapore. They have added different experiences and perspectives to that country and strengthened its R&D and financial sectors. (Incidentally, the Singapore’s Finance Minister is of Indian origin.) The strong presence of the Diaspora has also helped build the bilateral ties between the two countries. Singapore is now India’s second largest investor.

The conference was also graced by the Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. (He was the first Prime Minister of Singapore for about three decades and is the father of the present Prime Minister.) Towards the end of the conference, in an open question-answer session, MM Lee gave his frank and friendly advice to India, unwittingly drawing parallels with China. He said that India had gone wrong is not tapping its potential to full and also keeping the bulk of its people rural. On the other hand, in China, two in every five people were urban thereby availing better education, medical help and other means to grow and develop. Infrastructure was other area where Chine had developed 2.5 times faster than India. However, according to him, India had outdone China is one area; producing outstanding individuals who run some of the world’s major corporations. Unfortunately, such talents “are all not in India. Something in India is constraining them” said Mr Lee.

In his concluding remarks the Prime Minister told his audience, “We hope that many of you will find that Singapore fits well into your plans, as a place to network and help create the new Asia that is emerging”. Those words of welcome were music to the ears of the Global Indian investors who responded with, “You lack human resource; we have that. Together, we complement each other.”

Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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THE GREAT INDIAN SLUMBER




I passed my UP Board High School examination in 1964 in first division from GIC Pithoragarh. My cousin, who had studied outside UP as his dad was in the Navy, could manage only high second division. He once asked me the name of the Vice President of India. I didn’t know. (I think it was Shri GS Pathak!) He advised me to read General Knowledge books if I wanted to pass competitive examinations and presented to me many volumes of the Competition Master.

Now in 2008 also, I don’t know who our VP is. I knew all the three candidates were ‘minority’ – one ‘woman’ and two ‘men’. One of the male candidates had special qualification in that he would not sing in praise of Mother India. (I think he was from Mulayam’s camp.) He said he was a Muslim first and anything else afterwards. And no one questioned his allegiance to India or its Constitution.

I am using the language of our lawmakers and the media. Although both pretend to be secular but every time they talk of leadership they only say he/she is a minority candidate, a woman, a Dalit or a backward. We never mention what caliber or qualifications the candidate possesses. How else do you justify media qualify a Dalit Chief Justice of India or a woman President of India, etc. etc.

The politicians in West Bengal are helping Bangladeshis to cross over. Assam is already a lost cause. Another attempt is being made to open Pakistan through Rajasthan. Bus to POK was a “triumph”, they maintain. Have anyone questioned as to why we need this? We already have so many ‘open’ mouths to feed and we want more with BPL (Below Poverty Line) people to come to the (beggar’s) party. Ration cards… Voter’s cards… people’s mandate…?

During my Master’s programme at IIT Delhi, I had Policy Planning as one of the optional subjects. The professor, who was on an annual assignment from a US university, once asked us why India with so much of ‘skilled’ and talented human resource, was lacking in development. I said it was because we also have the biggest quantum of unskilled and untalented population. (Thanks to our democratic system, only the numbers count.) The ‘Thrust’ may be there but the ‘drag’ here was much more than this thrust could overcome. Therefore, our developmental vehicle can not move forward and gain necessary speed and momentum.

When I met one of the Youth Congress presidents and asked him why they didn’t pursue the ‘family welfare’ doctrine enunciated by their role model and a former YC President. He said that everyone in the polity knew that the root cause of poverty was population. But, the moment he or she opens the mouth his/her political fate is sealed. As long as it is ‘self- before-society’, no one will talk of population control. If all the Bangladeshis and Pakistanis can come over to India and vote for these so called secularists, they would only be too happy.

I can only say Jago India, Jago.


Lt Col(Retd) H S Bhandari
72/10 Malwa Green
Signals Vihar
Mhow(MP)-453442



Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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FIGURING THE YEARS


To my ‘are you an Indian?’ his reply was, ‘No, I am a Malaysian Indian’. And I left it at that. I am referring to my encounter with an 80 year old security guard with the ‘School At Bay’, East Coast, Singapore--a play school for Nikita, my granddaughter. When I met this gentleman first time he looked quite an Indian to me. I met him again after 10 days or so and that day I decided to decipher his descent. During the course of our conversation he narrated his journey to date.

They were Indian Christians and his father had migrated to Malaya before the First World War. He was born in 1929. Since Malaya and Singapore both were the British colonies, this young boy moved to Singapore to earn a living. As a 14 year old, he had worked there when Singapore was under Japanese occupation. After the Japanese left, he joined the Singapore Air Force and served till retirement.

When I asked him about the secret of his ‘good’ health, he said that he never smoked or took to drinking even though the Officers Mess (he may be meaning Warrant Officers’ & Sergeants’ Mess!) culture was quite otherwise. After retirement he worked with a firm till 60 years of age. Till well into his 70’s he worked for a security company. After 75, he reduced his engagements and worked for 3 to 4 days only in a week.

Now he is on the ‘reserve’ list. Whenever there is a requirement, his employers send him the transport and detail him on duty. Since he was 80 now, he is given only light duties like the one at this school.

He had visited his ancestral village in Tamil Nadu with his father some 30 years back. He did not remember much of it but wanted to go there again before his final ‘retirement’. His voice now wavered slightly. But he was as loyal to his father’s motherland as to his own country of birth and karma. All his children are settled. I could see the glimmer on his face when he said that his grandson had become a Graduate.

He wants to work still and contribute in whatever measure he can without bothering his extended family. Old age is no deterrence for him. When I wished him ‘good by’ and ‘take care’, he reiterated that the age was only a figure. But then, one needed to take due care and only then count the year.



Lt.col.(retd)H.S. Bhandari

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An article from my wife-

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Need for Human Resource Development

A nation is as good as its citizens. The economic and military might of a country depends upon its available resources and their optimal utilization. Be they natural, human or man-made, their quality and core competence come into play in achieving the desired goals. There is, therefore, a need to harness these assets, add value to them and put to perfect use for the nation’s good.

         In a systemic analysis, in the nation’s context, the available resources are the inputs, the governance or management becomes the processor or the control system and a happy, healthy and happening society is the output. As said in the computer parlance “Garbage In, Garbage Out” meaning thereby, if the inputs are bad, the out puts would also be bad. Hence the need, for the quality inputs.

          For a country to be prosperous and strong, all its resources must be developed, strengthened, refined and value-added. An evolved society makes the nation great.


How To Develop The Human Resource?

Nothing much can be done about the natural resources. These can only be protected, preserved and prioritized for essential use. Human resource, on the other hand, can be developed and harnessed for the overall development and growth of the nation through the following processes:-

Education. Education is a means to acquiring knowledge, communications, camaraderie, spiritual enlightenment, peace and prosperity throughout this global word order. The following needs to be done for the spread of purposeful education

1. Detailed schemes should be chalked out incorporating the role of industry in deciding curriculum and in management of ITI’s, polytechnics and engineering colleges.

2. Special curriculum should be evolved to produce job oriented work force for availing opportunities in the service sector.

3. Entrepreneur development programmes should be organized to help youth set up their own business units.

4. The role of employment exchanges should be recast to meet the requirement of the industry and the service sector.

Skill Development. To optimally utilize the available human resource we have to train them in doing various jobs that are useful to others. All the business activities require some kind of skill. Agriculture, industry, housing, banking, finance, hospitality and healthcare need skilled workers. To have this, we need to create necessary infrastructure and tools for training.

Health Care. Only a healthy body can have a healthy mind. A human can contribute to the society and the country if he himself is healthy. On the other hand, a sick person is a liability. Good health will keep a person cheerful, optimistic and motivated and his contribution to the nation shall always be positive. So to develop a healthy human resource we need to provide them with nutrition, fresh air, safe drinking water and other basic human needs. Prevention of disease and treatment of the sick needs to be given high priority. A society that invests in the health of its citizens, gets the healthy and handsome returns.

Recreation and Amusement. Music and dance, sports and games, fairs and festivals and the community/social functions are great motivators for the development and growth of the people. Once the spirit behind these activities percolates down the social columns the human get organized and develops its values, traditions and ethos.

Good Governance. When people feel that they are fairly and justly treated by the authorities they develop faith in the system and play a positive role. On the other hand, if they feel cheated, exploited or discriminated against, they will resent it and resist the social processes. Thus, this human resource becomes a negative contributor. Extremism and separatism breed under these conditions.

Special Education/Skills. Those members of society who suffer from any natural or man-made handicaps, need special facilities, consideration and care to overcome this handicap and join the main stream as ccountable human resource. The hearing or visually impaired or other physically handicapped need this kind of developmental and skill processes.


Conclusion (A Point to Ponder)

Unfortunately (due to over exploitation) the natural resources are shrinking but the human resources are swelling by the day. It is a vicious circle. Thus there is a need to reduce the ‘quantity’ of this human resource and increase its “quality” instead. A smaller human resource will consume lesser volume of the natural resource. But a good quality human resource can make up for the depleting levels of natural reserve.

We may become highly industrialized but the ‘man’ behind the “machine” will always remain the force multiplier. A quality human resource is therefore the need of the hour. “Less people, good people”- should be the mantra of managing our affairs and governing the nations.


Mrs. Sharan Bhandari
Mhow.





 

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