Photo : Antim Pag literally meaning final step taken by the cadets at the end of the Passing Out Parade, as they cross into the historic Chetwode Building as a trainee for one last time..
Life at IMA Dehradun
After reporting at IMA (Indian Military Academy) Dehradun ,I was allotted “Sinhgarh’’ Company which was part of the Delta Battalion, Chittor and Kiran were the other two companies of the same battalion. Sinhgarh was also known as PVC (Param Veer Chakra) company as Major (Later Colonel) Hoshiar Singh ,PVC ,a Hero of the Battle of Basantar of 1971 of the war was our company commander. The other officer Instructors being Captains VK Buchhar ,Kasturi Lal ,Lt Col VP Singh being the Battalion Commander.
Photo : Signage of Sinhgarh Company as it is now in the renovated Accommodation complex.
The life at IMA was much different than the ACC (Army Cadet College) as there was no unofficial ragging on joining as it was in the ACC. Training comprised of Drill, Weapons Training ,Field Craft ,Physical Training, Equestrian & personality development etc. There were lot of extra curricular activities/outdoor exercises and Live Demonstrations /Central Lectures by visiting officers and IMA Faculties. Sports and Games were a regular part of the training and I participated in Hockey, Basketball in one of the company teams in Inter company competitions.
IMA had an Olympic sized swimming pool and Swimming period were a scare as the then PT (Physical Training) Officer Major Darshan Singh known as Dhaka Singh used to land up and straight away asked Ustad (Instructor) to make all GCs (Gentlemen Cadets) climb & jump from 10 Metre diving Board. I also followed up to the 10 M board and jumped like others ,though initially scared but later overcame it after gaining confidence as there was no way one could escape the jump in Dhaka’s & at times also Company Commander’s (Maj Hoshiar Singh) presence.
Company Barracks were in a Square with common baths and Lavatories but independent rooms called Cabins. After a day’s hard activities one could relax for 1-2 hours before Games period listening to music on mini transistor gifted by my brother in law JS Datta(Jagir Datta ji) . In the morning Amarjit & SP Singh would seek my assistance being a Punjabi to help “’Pouni” of their turbans. Kuldeep Pathania & Arvind Bhatia as I recollect were my next door neighbors in the third term.The early mornings started with a Tea Trolley visiting around 5/5.30 AM with Tea & Biscuits. We used to walk to the cart & take tea and meet some of early risers and comeback to start preparing for the Day’s schedule. Similarly evening tea was served around 3 PM.
Liberty was given to GCs every Sundays to visit town & most of them used to bicycle or take the city bus which was more convenient. I used to visit Paltan Bazar for shopping and Kwality Restaurant for snacks or Mohyal Brahmin friends of our father .I was frequently visiting IIP (Indian Institute of Petroleum ,Doiwala) to meet Shri Jagir Singh Dutta (husband of my cousin sister Indra from Khanna ), Mr Dogra whose wife was our family friend’s from Jodhpur .She was the elder daughter of Capt HL Sharma from EME who was the Manager of a Cooperative Workshop where our father who was close to Capt Sharma him also worked for few years. I remained in touch with Mr Dogra’s family till about 1990 when they settled in Jammu .Capt Sharma’s two sons got commissioned in the Army. While Anil younger one was in Jat Regiment,Sunil, the elder one was in Dogra Regiment. Once I was co located with Anil Sharma, younger son on LAC in Rajouri sector and met a few times on the border posts. Sundays/Holidays at IMA also meant recreational activities in the form of Cycle-Hockey with fellow CMs (course mates) of the Company which was very enjoyable.
Family Bonds
My elder sister stayed in Prem Nagar Camp which was out of bounds for GCs (Gentlemen Cadets). My eldest sister Sudesh & Padam Dev Bali ,Brother in law lived in a joint family. Bali ji’s younger brother Jagdev Bali was a noble personality and was a Draftsman in IMA while the third brother Chatur Bali stayed in another family property on the same street. The fourth brother was a serving officer with the Artillery regiment. Usha Bali was their only sister who later got married to an Airforce NCO who was the brother of our senior in ACC/IMA Lt Col Ramesh Mohan of ASC. Irrespective of restrictions on visiting Prem Nagar I managed to get special permission to visit them. At times I took a regular bus from a stop and got down near DAV School and walked to their house just 200 M away. Another time I raced on a bi cycle to Prem Nagar, a Drill Instructor who noticed me and quickly followed me but I quickly disappeared in a lane short of DAV School street and got to rear entry of my sister’s house and he could not locate me. I also found a short cut to return to Sinhgarh company which was not far off from sister’s house through a field and which landed just near Horses stable which was near my destination and landed safely after meeting them at least once a fortnight.
Leadership & Inspiration
Photo : A Group Photo of Sinhgarh Company after winning the Championship Banner in June 1973.Major(later Colonel) Hoshiar Singh,PVC ,can be seen sitting fifth from the left.
As mentioned above Maj(later Col) Hoshiar Singh,PVC was our Company Commander. He was down to earth person and a very practical man. He would do motivation talks to GCs at all the group activities. He would come at odd hours around 11 PM at night and asked (Battalion SUO /Senior Under Officer) to get the company fall -in and then gave motivational talks /& thereby test the mental and physical capabilities of GCs. He would continue for hours together and would only leave by 2-4 AM & at times when the Tea cart was just pulling in. Many of us criticize him for this but it made the company mentally/emotionally and physically stronger. Besides motivating by late night talks he was also present at the training ground and outdoor activities with his Cadets. The results were seen to be believed as Sinhgarh Company bagged the Inter Company Championship Banner in June 1973 !
Most of the GCs had a table calendar at the study table which had weekly schedule written and it was changed every Saturday/Sunday and it was a sigh of relief as another week had gone by successfully and we were inching closer to another term break and ultimately passing out.
Marching towards Commission
The POP date was approaching in June 1974 which was scheduled for 15th June 74.As you come closer to Commissioning you get to hear motivational lectures from senior visiting officers from the Military Secretary Branch of the Army Headquarters which deals with commissioning & allotment of Regiments/Corps.I knew I had to fulfill my father’s dream so put in my best. I was not among the best of the batch but was not among the last either as I aimed to do Average and High Average performance but never failed in IMA or lost heart. A month before Commission GCs are required to fill in their choice of Regiments/Corps. I always wanted to get my father’s battalion i.e. 7 Grenadiers so gave Infantry as my First Choice /Grenadiers and ASC and AOC were the other Choices I opted for. However my first choice Regiment was allotted but to 11 Grenadiers. Later on I learnt that 7th Battalion had been allotted to another SSC officer on a parental claim.
Passing Out Parade & The Final Step
After successful completion of training at the IMA ,the day of reckoning ,POP came which was 15th June 74.Lot of preparations are done for the POP as we have to put best of Ceremonial Drill before we put our Final Step (Antim Pag) out in Chetwode Hall after the Parade .All GCs are allowed to invite Four Guests for their POP.I had invited Mr JS Datta ,JG Mehta from IIP. On the eve of POP, Maj Hoshiar Singh ,who was from 3rd Grenadiers called GCs getting commission in The Grenadiers Regiment for a Dinner and presentation of Regimental accruements as a tradition of the Regiment. It was a memorable night with self (11th),Suresh Rathi(3rd),Dilip K Bora(8th),Bhupinder Singh (12th) and M Gopakumar (9th) were present for the function .Col & Mrs Kishan from my Battalion were at hand to welcome me to the fold of The Duble First and did the honours for handing me regimental accruements to me. The function carried on well past mid night and we were getting worried as early morning we had to get back and get some sleep as well. I think we were back in our cabins by 1 AM. After a quick nap got up with a little head ache due to lack of sleep which I was not used to. I was apprehensive of severe head ache but thankfully it was manageable & I was able to join my Sinhgarh Company Contingent for the POP which was reviewed by Lt General Sartaj Singh and took the Final step along with my Sinhgarh Company CMs. We took the Antim Pag as a trainee for the last time; after crossing that threshold, completed the IMA training and entered as an Army. The tradition is described as the finale of the IMA POP & in a broader sense, Antim Pag represented the culmination of 18 months of training, discipline and camaraderie, and the beginning of a lifetime of commissioned service.
My father and Maternal Uncle Ramesh Chander Mehta came from Chandigarh. Mr Jagdev Bali ji who was a Staff of IMA invited other family members for the Pipping Ceremony held later in the evening. It was good family reunion but missed my mother who could not come as She had to take care of other family members at Jodhpur. Nowadays the process of pipping ceremony has changed considerably as GCs now assemble in IMA’s Khetrapal Memorial where the pipping ceremony takes place. Shri JS Dutta was carrying his camera and he and JG Mehta’s family went around with me after the POP and did some photography in and around our Cabins including Swimming Pool. For us after the POP was a free time and Pipping was done in the Cricket Ground. All the GCs assembled there along with their Parents/Guests and my father and Eldest Sister Sudesh did the honours of pipping me in the august company of my Mama ji and Jijaji and Jagdev ji & his family members.
The ceremonies ended with a dinner in the Mess as a Subaltern. With the Chetwode Motto which is engraved at the entrance of Chetwode Hall named after Field Marshal Sir Philips Chetwode who inaugurated the IMA Dehradun ion 10th December 1932. “The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time; the honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next; your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time”, embarked on the new journey of my Army Career next day by train to my home station Jodhpur via Delhi on my way to report at The Grenadiers Regimental Centre ,Nasirabad ,near Ajmer in Rajasthan for Pre Young Officers Course Training.
Image Below : Gazette of India Notification on Commissioning.
Photo : Pipping ceremony by my Father Amrit Rai Mehta & Sister Sudesh Bali in the presence of Ramesh Mehta ,mama ji.
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