Travails of a soldier

Vijay Mohan

Drummers Call by Lt-Gen NS Brar is a collection of stories detailing the author’s personal experiences, slices of history and anecdotes from his over four decades of military service spread across the country. The drum is an integral part of military ethos. Like its tenor that can strike terror in case of an adversary or belt out celebratory notes, a soldier’s life is equally diverse and often enthralling. 

A soldier is held in high esteem by society, yet there is little understanding about what his trade is all about. The author points out that this anthology would help the uninitiated know the profession and what it demands. 

An alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla, Lt-Gen Brar was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in 1969. After superannuating as the Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, he served as a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal for five years.

In a story, the author recalls one of the first high-altitude rescue operations he was part of. When serving with the Air Observation Post, he flew as a copilot of Cheetah helicopters to evacuate two critically ill climbers from a French expedition to Kanchenchunga at 18,000 feet in August 1976. These ubiquitous flying machines have enabled and sustained high-altitude operations in the Himalayas for close to 40 years. He also talks about air maintenance and recce operations with which he was associated, while he was posted in the northern and the north-eastern theatres.

There is an interesting piece on the 150-year old Sam Browne belt, which the Indian Army did away with in the 1980s, but is still in vogue with many militaries and police forces around the world, including some in India. Not many would know that the belt traces its origin to a British officer in India, Maj Samuel James Browne (later Lt Gen), who was decorated with the Victoria Cross in 1858. The original belt is on display in the India Room at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. 

The author also talks about the evolution and standardisation of the military uniform that happened in Europe towards the end of the 17th century. As European empires expanded eastwards, the incorporation of local dress items and accoutrements in uniforms — to meet functional requirements — started taking place. Next was introduction of regimental distinctions and segregation of ceremonial, routine and combat dress. At present, no army in the world has such a large variation of regimental accoutrements like headgear, cravats, lanyards and shoulder patches as the Indian Army. 

The author also draws extensively from military history, covering campaigns and expeditions from the medieval times to the present. A handful of operations in the North-West frontier, exploratory forays into the mountains of Ladakh, the Great War and the frontlines of Europe and battles that have charted the course of the Indian sub-continent have been reproduced.