I switched on the news channel, just to see police restoring peace and calming the notorious youth. Later, I learnt, that these students were protesting for change in the pattern of UPSC examination, so that the non english speaking students could match up with the english speaking students. They were eyeing for the top posts in the indian bureaucracy and would be the SPs, DMs very soon. The so called pillars of the nation were destroying and damaging the government property even prior to their appointments, or even prior to their selection. It needs a deeper thought over the selection process of the sensitive appointments. The actions of burning a police van or vandalising a police station are not in any way, civic. So how can they be a cadre of Indian Civil Services. I only hope the instigators are arrested and the students allowed to know of their wrong doings.
Examinations and subsequent interviews or discussions were always in English for most of the important cadre. When we appeared in 1990, it was all in English and we came out successful. Thanx to our beloved guru Late Col JD Katkar.
Col JD Katkar was the director of Services Preparatory Institute, Aurangabad. The Institute provided training to the selected students from Maharashtra, so that they could pursue the noble profession of arms and provide leadership as officers of the defence forces. Col JD had a small team of instructors who taught academic subjects, a tall wiry warden who would enforce discipline from the morning tea till the lights out time. How can I forget “shukka”, the physical teacher. We all came from all corners of Maharashtra, some from big towns like Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Nagpur and others from villages not traced on the Google. Pale Budruk was the first revelation and many more. Nearly every one came from a humble background and most of us were non english speakers. Some had studied in Marathi medium till tenth and the others though studied in english medium, were no great shakes either. We all carried our accents with us and when our search engine failed to find any appropriate english word, then obviously the mother tongue would take over. It was a great place to learn, be it the values of life, be it discipline including bathroom etiquette, table manners, sports or academics or be it the leadership traits. We learned from our instructors, our seniors and from each other. All this, under the watchful eye of the “Diro”.
Apart from regular interviews, the Diro would find time to be with us in the dining room, sports field or in the ante rooms. Till then we pronounced water as water and ate mangoes by cutting it into 4 pieces. Its him, who taught us the right pronunciation of water and it took us some time to speak water by making an O of the lips. Some of us had come from remote villages where drinking water was not readily available in summers. Similarly, new words started getting the right blend of spellings and pronunciation. One day during our lunch break, he showed us how to eat a mango. There were couple of us who were brought up in the mango orchards, but we wanted to learn.
A true soldier and a thorough gentleman. I am yet to meet a colonel who could match his stature. He used to say “There are no reservations or concessions in the battle field”, and we knew it. However huge the monster appeared, we had to tame it and hard work is the only solution. Now I know what the protesting students missed. Young men, you may cross one hurdle by lowering it, but its your skill which will take you over the remaining ones.
He still lives in us. Each time I say water, I hear him. We miss u sir.
Respects
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