A soldier's diary

HERE is a collection of 35 vignettes written by the author about his life and his times. They were first published in The Hindu between October 1996 and March 1998. Apparently, he had planned to publish a series of 105 such vignettes, but it was not to be, cut short by his passing away after a long illness.

Although these are personal accounts, they have been set against the backdrop of great events in India's recent history. They cover the Partition riots, Gandhiji's assassination, the Indo- Pakistan war - the vestiges of which still continue to haunt both countries, and United Nations' peacekeeping operations in the Congo - this is basically a military account of these operations and occupies almost one-third of the book. These historic events provide the grist for the author's tales. Their subject matter ranges from the regimental mascot, a goat called Bandiya that butted an officious brigadier in the posterior, to the author's pet bull terrier, Pluto, mess food in the days of the Raj and similar memorabilia. The text is richly coated with the author's quirky sense of humour that makes the reading an unalloyed pleasure. These accounts are neither judgmental nor self- exculpatory, which, unfortunately, afflicts so many of the reminiscences published by former military and civilian officials who have held important positions; Sundarji can tell a story about himself with as much facetiousness and gusto as about others.

His involvement in raging controversies is, of course, well known. He led "Operations Bluestar" in 1984, was involved in "Operation Brasstacks" (1986-87), that almost led to an Indo- Pakistan war and also the Chequer Board exercise (1985-86) that created tension in Sino-Indian relations. He also planned the ill-fated Indian Peace Keeping Force's induction into Sri Lanka (1987). Most unfortunately, these sketches stop with the U.N. intervention in the Congo, and we have no account of Sundarji's impressions about these events.

One is naturally curious to know more about the man. We have his wife's account of his personality, which precedes these vignettes. She knew him as a "Renaissance Man" with interests that were as varied as they were eclectic. They included music, cooking, astronomy, bird watching, driving, fishing, and hunting - this last one was at the time when it was permitted. He greatly admired Leonardo da Vinci.

Sundarji comes through as an individual with an intense love of life; that makes the manner of his passing away so very tragic. He was afflicted with a rare condition called the motor neuron disease for which there is no known cause or cure, and was on a life support system for almost a year before he passed away.

There is a question that never ceases to interest civilians: what makes a man want to be a soldier and sacrifice himself in war for abstractions like king and country? Sundarji believes that while "idealism does have a part to play, the real motivation in my view, is the urge not to let one's buddy down, and not to let the team - the battalion or regiment down". In a way, he confirms what Philip Mason had to say about this riddle in his monumental work A Matter Of Honour. Mason held that "the spirit which makes an army effective, was the confidence in each other of officers and men". This in turn depends on those three virtues - loyalty, fidelity and courage.

I had the pleasure of knowing General Sundarji, although I never worked with him. On putting the book down I was struck by the fact that there are now as many people that one has walked together in one's life and times on the other side of the Great Divide as still do remain on this side. Life goes on until it does not, and one could agree with the poet's hope that, "Is not life hereafter, But pleasant mirth and pleasant laughter". One person that I would like to have a laugh with at that time is General Sundarji.

P. R. CHARI

Of Some Consequence: A Soldier Remembers: General K. Sundarji, HarperCollins Publishers India, 2000, pp.xvii+175, price not stated.

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