Taking the Armed Forces for a ride--AGAIN

After reading fine print of govt's announcement on Monday that it has settled the One Rank One pension issue, it is clear that none of the 4 core issues raised by the Service chiefs has been accepted. Resentment among serving personnel highlighted by Defence Minister AK Antony in his letter to PM continues. Status and parity not restored.

Although the govt has announced a 2300-cr package for pensioners, fine print shows that a jawan will get on an average just a Rs 400 increase.

Also out of the 4 issues granted by the Govt, 3 are applicable to ALL Central govt employees--so no special attention given to ex-servicemen, as has been claimed.

In August the three service chiefs had asked for the following issues to be resolved as far as serving personnel are concerned.

• Fixing common pay scales for all JCOs and ORs
• Grant of NFU (non-functional upgardation) status to commissioned officers
• Correcting difference in rank pay of commissioned officers
• Extending the HAG+ (Higher administrative Grade Plus) scale to all 3 star officers
• Granting One Rank One Pension to retired personnel

They had pointed out during the discussion on 7th August that a lot of critical infrastructure development work is being affected in various commands because of functional problems brought about by disparities between officers in uniform and their civilian counterparts.

The Army Chief pointed out that recently, two Army Commanders have written to him specifically on this particular issue, conveying great concern at the adverse affect the unresolved pay issue was having under their charge.

Defence Minister AK Antony, it will be recalled, had told the Prime Minister, about the restlessness among the armed forces and had warned about the possibility of "things turning bad."

Clearly, the government is not interested in resolving these issues since it knows the armed forces leadership will  continue to swallow the insult and the neglect.

For the record, this is what the Government decided on September 24:

Rs.2300 crore approved to meet the demands of Ex-servicemen pensioners

The Union Cabinet has approved the recommendations of the Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary for benefits to ex-servicemen on four issues. The financial implications of the improvements made as per the Cabinet decision on the four items are broadly estimated at Rs.2300 crore per annum. The details are as follows:

I. One Rank One Pension:

On One Rank One Pension, the demand of the Defence Forces and Ex-Servicemen Associations is that uniform pension be paid to the Defence Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. 

The difference in the pension of present and past pensioners in the same rank occurs on account of the number of increments earned by the defence personnel in that rank. There is also a difference between the pension of pre 1.1.06 and post 1.1.06 retirees belonging to a particular rank. The UPA Government on two previous occasions has taken decisions to narrow the gap between the present and past pensioners, particularly those belonging to the ranks of JCOs and Other Ranks.

On the issue of One Rank One Pension, the following have been approved by the Cabinet:

(i) Bridging of the gap in the pension of pre 1.1.06 and post 1.1.06 JCO/OR retirees by determining the pension of pre 1.1.06 retirees on the basis of notional maximum for ranks and groups across the three Services as in the case of post 1.1.06 retirees. In addition, the weightage of qualifying service in the ranks of Sepoys, Naik and Havaldar would be increased by two years for both pre and post 1.1.06 retirees.

(ii) The pension of pre 1.1.06 Commissioned Officer pensioners would be stepped up with reference to the minimum of fitment table for the ranks instead of the minimum of pay band.

These are expected to largely meet the demands of the defence pensioners on one rank one pension. 

II. Enhancement of Family Pension :

(i) The pension of pre - 1.1.2006 family pensioners(Commissioned Officers, Honorary Commissioned Officers, JCOs/ORs ) be stepped up based on the minimum of the fitment table instead of the minimum of the Pay Band;

(i) Establishing linkage of the family pension with the pension of JCOs/ORs, in those cases where the death takes place after the retirement of the JCO/OR since such a JCO/OR drew a pension based on the maximum of the pay scales, 60% of the pension applicable to JCO/OR pensioners would be granted to the family pensioner in case of normal family pension calculated a 30% of last pay drawn. Accordingly, based on the rank, group and length of service of the deceased JCO/OR pensioner, his pension would first be determined on notional basis. In cases where death of JCO/OR took place after retirement, the family pensioners in receipt of normal family pension would become entitled to 60% of the said pension determined on notional basis and those in receipt of enhanced family pension will be entitled to 100% of this pension. Similar entitlements would be determined in the case of Special Family Pension; and

(ii) The family pensioner of the JCO/OR would be granted pension arrived at on the basis of the family pension worked out as per the formulation at (i) above or the pension on the basis of stepping up with reference to the minimum of the fitment table, whichever is beneficial. Further, the linkage of family pension with retiring pension be applied in the case of post 1.1.2006 family pensioners of JCOs/ORs also.

III. Dual Family Pension:

Dual family pension would be allowed in the present and future cases where the pensioner drew, is drawing or may draw pension for military service as well as for civil employment.

IV. Family pension to mentally / physically challenged children of armed forces personnel on marriage:

Grant of family pension to mentally/physically challenged children who drew, are drawing or may draw family pension would continue even after their marriage.

The above recommendations made by the Committee on pension issues of Ex-Servicemen may be implemented from a prospective date and payment made accordingly.

The Cabinet note on pension for ex-faujis

Rs.2300 crore approved to meet the demands of Ex-servicemen pensioners

The Union Cabinet has approved the recommendations of the Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary for benefits to ex-servicemen on four issues. The financial implications of the improvements made as per the Cabinet decision on the four items are broadly estimated at Rs.2300 crore per annum. The details are as follows:

I. One Rank One Pension:

On One Rank One Pension, the demand of the Defence Forces and Ex-Servicemen Associations is that uniform pension be paid to the Defence Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. 

The difference in the pension of present and past pensioners in the same rank occurs on account of the number of increments earned by the defence personnel in that rank. There is also a difference between the pension of pre 1.1.06 and post 1.1.06 retirees belonging to a particular rank. The UPA Government on two previous occasions has taken decisions to narrow the gap between the present and past pensioners, particularly those belonging to the ranks of JCOs and Other Ranks.

On the issue of One Rank One Pension, the following have been approved by the Cabinet:

(i) Bridging of the gap in the pension of pre 1.1.06 and post 1.1.06 JCO/OR retirees by determining the pension of pre 1.1.06 retirees on the basis of notional maximum for ranks and groups across the three Services as in the case of post 1.1.06 retirees. In addition, the weightage of qualifying service in the ranks of Sepoys, Naik and Havaldar would be increased by two years for both pre and post 1.1.06 retirees.

(ii) The pension of pre 1.1.06 Commissioned Officer pensioners would be stepped up with reference to the minimum of fitment table for the ranks instead of the minimum of pay band.

These are expected to largely meet the demands of the defence pensioners on one rank one pension. 

II. Enhancement of Family Pension :

(i) The pension of pre - 1.1.2006 family pensioners(Commissioned Officers, Honorary Commissioned Officers, JCOs/ORs ) be stepped up based on the minimum of the fitment table instead of the minimum of the Pay Band;

(i) Establishing linkage of the family pension with the pension of JCOs/ORs, in those cases where the death takes place after the retirement of the JCO/OR since such a JCO/OR drew a pension based on the maximum of the pay scales, 60% of the pension applicable to JCO/OR pensioners would be granted to the family pensioner in case of normal family pension calculated a 30% of last pay drawn. Accordingly, based on the rank, group and length of service of the deceased JCO/OR pensioner, his pension would first be determined on notional basis. In cases where death of JCO/OR took place after retirement, the family pensioners in receipt of normal family pension would become entitled to 60% of the said pension determined on notional basis and those in receipt of enhanced family pension will be entitled to 100% of this pension. Similar entitlements would be determined in the case of Special Family Pension; and

(ii) The family pensioner of the JCO/OR would be granted pension arrived at on the basis of the family pension worked out as per the formulation at (i) above or the pension on the basis of stepping up with reference to the minimum of the fitment table, whichever is beneficial. Further, the linkage of family pension with retiring pension be applied in the case of post 1.1.2006 family pensioners of JCOs/ORs also.

III. Dual Family Pension:

Dual family pension would be allowed in the present and future cases where the pensioner drew, is drawing or may draw pension for military service as well as for civil employment.

IV. Family pension to mentally / physically challenged children of armed forces personnel on marriage:

Grant of family pension to mentally/physically challenged children who drew, are drawing or may draw family pension would continue even after their marriage.

The above recommendations made by the Committee on pension issues of Ex-Servicemen may be implemented from a prospective date and payment made accordingly.

Army & Air Force to the rescue again

The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are once again in the thick of rescue missions in the North-east. While 90 Army personnel are on a rescue mission in Sikkim, 4000  persons have been   evacuated   by   army in    Sonitpur,   Assam. 32 army  teams  are involved   in  flood relief operations

The Air Force has in fact done some tremendous work in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh 

The Press release and photographs issued by IAF.

  A Mi-17 helicopter from the ‘Siachen Tigers’ unit got airborne from Mohanbari and landed on a makeshift helipad which was made by marking ‘H’ on the national highway by-pass of Tinsukia town road after blocking the road from both sides as excessive rain throughout the past week had caused flooding of the regularly used helipad. 

After switch off, a total of 2.4 Tonnes of relief material was loaded in the aircraft. The crew located the flooded villages in Chapakhowa area and carried out drops of relief material at soft grounds easily accessible by the villagers. In the process of drop, while flying over ‘Panch mile’ village, many people were found stranded on a road and were indicating for help. The crew carried out an orbit of the area to check the feasibility of landing since winching would have wasted a lot of time and the number of people was in excess of 50 and also the area around the road was heavily flooded.

 After taking all the safety aspects into considerations, picked up the stranded people. A second shuttle was also carried out to rescue the leftover people. There after they were taken to the helipad at Chapakhowa

A total of 2.4 Tonnes load comprising of relief material was dropped and  60 people including 10 children were rescued.

The Indian Air Force received a request from District Collector Tezu of Arunachal Pradesh for air evacuation of people marooned and stranded close to  Tezu due floods. A Mi-17 helicopter which was on standby for flood relief mission was launched from Air Force Station Mohanbari, Dibrugarh for the rescue mission.

Expectedly, route was embedded with low clouds and heavy spells of rain. Considering the gravity of the mission, the crew negotiated the weather in a professional manner and reached Tezu helipad, where the DC was called inside the aircraft and thereafter a thorough briefing was carried out. After flying to the general area, the aircraft was established into a search pattern. Seven survivors were spotted who had taken refuge on a dry patch of land which was surrounded by high trees. A steep approach was made and thereafter the helicopter descended into a low hover in a controlled manner and a ladder was lowered and the seven people were rescued.

          The crew overcame the problem faced by the Crew at the place was reduced visibility due to rain and difficulty in position keeping because of the moving mass of water underneath and skillfully maneuvered the aircraft to rescue the stranded people. Thereafter the aircraft took off in search of the second place where people were stranded. A small island was located about 8 miles west of Tezu town in between two raging rivers where around 20-30 people including old people, ladies and children were sighted. The helicopter descended into low hover as the ground below was marshy and water logged. A total of 32 survivors were pulled in from low hover in two subsequent sorties and were dropped at Tezu .

Mi-17 helicopters and AN-32 transport aircraft are placed on stand by for flood relief operations for civil populace at various Air Force bases as the water level of the mighty river Brahmaputra and its tributaries were hovering around the danger mark.

Tezpur to Tawang--a pictorial journey

With Neten Tashi, a SIB spy in 1962 who escorted
the Dalai Lama from Khinzamane to Bomdilla in 1959

With my closest friend, travelling companion, fellow journalist
Samudra Gupta Kashyap at the Tawang War Memorial

Doing a Piece to Camera at Tawang War Memorial

Pelting rain greets us

At Bhalukpong on the border of Assam and Arunachal

BRO labourers at work

Jimmy Jesibo, a local activist based in Bhalukpong, a town on the Assam-Arunachal Border  is  very angry. The reason: the abysmal condition of the road going right upto Tawang and beyond along the China border.

Bearing the brunt of resentment is the hardworking staff of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), entrusted with widening and improving the roads. Enraged residents, unable to bear the hardship any more, have attacked BRO officials, destroyed their vehicles and have thrown heavy tippers and bulldozers down the steep valleys in the past six months.

Half a century earlier, this was where the marauding Chinese routed the Indian army, pushed into a war it was not prepared for in a tough terrain it was not used to. 


Today the soldiers are definitely better looked after and unlike in 1962, they  are well-trained to fight in the high-altitude terrain of Arunachal Pradesh.

But five decades down the line, infrastructure, especially the main arterial road connecting Tawang to  the rest of India remains a major worry.

Jimmy Jibeso says, "Since the 1962 war, this route is very important for the north-east due to the Indo-china border. If the condition of the road is bad then how will Bofors reach the border in case of an attack. What will we do then? One needs good and big roads for Bofors. This is our main concern. Second concern is that medical help is not good up in Tawang and other places. If a patient has to be taken to Tezpur, Guwahati and other places, the road is so jerky and bad that the patient dies on the way. So we want good roads."

The Army, more than anyone else really requires this axis to be an all-weather road.  Since 2010, it has inducted a full new division - over 20,000 additional soldier -for  this sector.

Deteriorating roads

The majestic Kameng

The Border Roads Organisation, a quasi-military organization is entrusted with building and maintaining these strategic roads. Come rain or winter, labourers of Border Roads Organisation work to keep the only road link to Tawang open through the year but at the moment they are fighting a losing battle. The fault lies not with them but with people higher up who planned  the widening of the only road without building an alternative.

Constant landslips, frequent blockades are a recurring challenge. But landslides apart , BRO officials tell us that they are plagued by a shortage of labour in this sector. Earlier, large groups from Jharkhand and Bihar made their way to these parts.  No longer, since now plenty of work is available in their home states. Excruciatingly slow environmental clearances both by the central and state governments add to the delays.

Many such waterfalls by the road. Koyla was not shot here though

Landslides are a common phenomenon

Once a journo, always a journo!

A BRO labourer

For most of the 300 km, the road is as rough as this

My colleague Nirmal hard at work

One of the lesser known war memorials

Clouds just before Sela

Sela behind me

At Sela--13700 feet

The lake after Sela

The War Memorial at Tawang

Archival pix at the War Memorial. Indian PsOW

A Monpa man

A young monk taking a break in the Tawang Monastery

School children at Jang

At Jaswantgarh--the most famous War Memorial in this sector

No matter what the condition of the road, Army vehicles continue to ply

Unusual site: BRO labourers taking a chess break!

Terribly slushy road

The difficult road

At the Sela zig-zag--doing a piece to camera

Chinese agression in 1962. Captured in a photo 

The Buddha statue inside Tawang monastery

Sri Lanka's friendship with India and China is not a zero sum game, says High Commissioner Kariyavasam

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India Mr. Prasad Kariyawasam is busier than before. Some of the incidents which have occured involving Sri Lankan citizens specially in Tamil Nadu have created new tensions between Colombo and New Delhi. 

The relationship is robust but certainly this has introduced a new element of tension, which both governments surely do not want escalated. What are the issues and how both the governments are trying to solve these new issues is what I asked Mr. Prasad  Kariyavasam himself on Wednesday. Here's the full transcript.


Nitin: Tell us we had this incident in Tamil Nadu yesterday where the Sri Lankan pilgrims were under pressure, they were attacked in couple of cases. What is your government's view on that incident or even the incidents earlier?

Prasad Kariyavasam: First of all I want to clarify that there is no tension between Sri Lanka and India. Sri Lanka and India are old friends and we have historical relationship and these incidents, these sort of episodes happen on and off and we two are mature democracies and and our leaders are fully capable of handling these issues without any tension. What happened in Tamil Nadu is very unfortunate, regrettable specially because few fringe groups who are pro-LTTE obviously and who were supporting LTTE and who continue to support that ideology have resorted to violence. 
We thought we have eradicated violence from our part. I mean from Sr Lanka we have eradicated. They seem to be engaging in violence, our pilgrims were harrased, attacked and some were injured even and that's something we are very concerned and I must say the indian government specially the central government was very very prompt in helping us and providing safety and security to our pilgrims, for them to taken back to Sri Lanka we had to bring special aircraft and do that. Law and order machinery in Tamil Nadu was also very helpful to us. But this sort of action by pro-LTTE groups is a major concern for us. I am sure its a concern for India as well.

Nitin- What has Indian government told you. How are they going to handle this? 

Kariyavasam: Well they are equally concerned like us and they have provided support for us. Provided security and took care of the pilgrims for there evacuation...quick evacuation.

Nitin: Have you analysed the developments in the past 3 or 4 months because it started of with... if I remember correctly with the protest agains two Sri Lankan Armed forces officials who were undergoing course here at the National Defence College, going to Tamil Nadu and protest against them and then demand from Tamil Nadu political parties that your defence officers should not be trained by India. Have you analysed why this has happened and what is your response to it?

Kariyavasam: Between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu the relationship is very deep and old. There are 80 flights between Colombo and Chennai per week, so that's the level of people to people contact, the depth and the breadth of contact. So natural state of affairs between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu is very normal and people go up and down in large numbers; for business, for pleasure for, tourism, for pilgrimage, thats normal. But there are some elements who are bent on perhaps vitiating the atmosphere for different reasons. But I would not want to speculate who and why they do that, but at least the group that harmed the pilgrims, we are aware that they are pro- LTTE elements.

Nitin: This has always been a problem. Tamil Nadu domestic politics or domestic politics in India have always cast a shadow over the India- Sri Lanka relations. I know you have handled it in past for a number of years. You have seen through the worst days during war with LTTE. But I am again asking why has this re-surfaced. Is there anything that you have come across. Some reason, do you think there is something that has prompted them to do this...the groups, the fringe groups that you were talking about. Has any analysis has been done on that?

Kariyavasam: There could be that defeat of LTTE was perhaps difficult for them to accept and LTTE is still alive in some western countries. LTTE support groups and there could be a nexus between them and LTTE ideology may be still a platform to mobilise people and that could be one reason. There are other political parties who express concern about the welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamils, which is not a bad thing because we are also similarly concerned about them because they are our citizens and we take care of them. 
But of course we would like them to discuss those matters with us and visit Sri Lanka. Come and see the ground situation themselves and observe things and talk to us and then talk about it. Unfortunately despite of invitations not many Tamil Nadu leaders have visited Sri Lanka. There are few Congress party Tamil MP'S who have visited. But we would like to have more of them. Visit Sri Lanka and see the situation, see how the northen province has grown. In fact today the northen province growth is 22% and all those were displaced and all those 300,000 people whom we rescued from the LTTE custody they are now all now being re-settled, except for just few thousand. Issue is livelihood issues, we want to provide them jobs and livelihood support. In fact if our Tamil Nadu friends are very serious about helping us they should allow Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen to fish in our waters without going and fishing in our waters. That sort of help you should give.

Nitin: That is another matter of tension. The Indian fishermen or the Tamil Nadu fishermen getting caught by Sri Lankan Navy is what constantly Tamil Nadu political parties keep saying. But from what you are saying; is there a conmmunication gap betweeen the Tamil Nadu political parties and the Indian government at the Centre as well as the Sri Lankan government in Colombo. You said you have invited them, they haven't gone. Is it a misperception?

Kariyavasam: I cannot comment on the development in India with regard to the Indian political parties. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned we have always indicated to them that Tamil Nadu parliamentarians are welcome to visit Sri Lanka and CM has been invited as well. So we welcome them but not all of them have visited Sri Lanka. They can then see the good progress we have made on the ground. Instead some Tamil Nadu political leaders seem to be believing some propaganda material that emanate primarily in the western world by groups who were earlier alligned with the LTTE and believe those stories. So that is not a very good idea. Tamil Nadu...we have been friends for long long years...very deep connections.

Nitin: There is another point of friction, if I may call it...is the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen constantly getting entangled with the Sri Lankan navy and getting caught. How are you going to solve that issue?

Kariyavasam: Easiest way is that no fishermen should cross international maritime boundary line. Large number of Tamil Nadu fishermen are crossing that in the season...large numbers crossing into Sr Lankan waters which are...that water is now being used by Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen who were deprived of the fishing during the conflict period. Now they want to exercise their right to livelihood in our waters. But they have a competition from the Tamil Nadu fishermen. So they complain to our navy and navy try to ask them to get out of our waters. But navy is under strict instructions that they cannot haress them, thay cannot manhandle them, they cannot shoot at them. Shooting never happens now.So they follow those things and also some time Tamil Nadu fishermen use what we call bottom trolling and nylon nets. Now those are banned internationally and if you use them it damages the sensitive sea area in the Palk Bay. Fish generation gets halted. So that's another issue so these issues must be addressed  by Tamil Tadu and I think if they are concerned about Sri Lankan and Tamil fishermen the best thing is not to let them come in our waters.

Nitin: When you answered the first question that I asked you you said there is no tension between New Delhi and Colombo...fair enough. But if you see the vote in the UN body where India went against the normal stand that India takes, supporting Sri Lanka. Since then what has been the growth trajectory between the India Sri Lanka relations. Have have they gone slow, have they halted. How do you assess that?

Kariyavasam: Between friends sometimes there are some episodes of disagreements. So we have agreed to disagree at that time, we were disappointed by that vote, but its a simple disagreement, its just that eopisode. We have moved on. Since then we have had 5 cabinet ministers from India visiting. Hon'ble Anand Sharma, Hon'ble Kumari Selja, We had Hon'ble Jai ram ramesh and then we had leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj leading a delegation of parliamentarians

Nitin: Even our NSA went there I think...
Kariyavasam: National Security Advisor went there. Similarly we have had our ministers coming here. Visits takes place at a frequent pace and more than that large number of tourist from India visits us. India is our biggest investor,our biggest trading partner and today India is in fact sponsoring Sri Lanka Premiere League. Its called Mahindra Premiere League. All franchises of all teams are owned by Indian companies, so that is the level of connection we have. So Sri Lanka -India everything is normal. Even with regard to Tamil Nadu situation we like to think its an abberation of the normal situations and we hope mature polity in Tamil Nadu will put things on even keel.

Nitin: I hope so but there is this travel advisory you had to issue. I guess over travelling to Tamil Nadu or not travelling to Tamil Nadu for Srilankan citizens so long as the situation doesn't normalize. When do you think you will review that advisory or withdraw that advisory?

Karivayasam: We would like to withdraw as soon as possible but we will have to observe the situation. So lets see how it goes. We were compelled to issue that advisory because we never expected a pilgrim group, a Christian Tamil group who were mostly the Tamils to be attacked. That actually disturbed us so we had to take some response as a responsible state

Nitin: Moving away from there, there is also the issue of India-Sri Lanka defence cooperation that the Tamil Nadu political parties are insisting that they should halt. Training Sri Lankan defence forces or defence forces officials. There has been a long India Sri Lanka defence cooperation...agreement if i can call that. Is it going to go forward. The training will continue, you think? Or you are going to review the training of the officers and Is there any progress with the defence cooperation proposal?

Kariyavasam: Sri Lanka and India has now set up annual defence dialogue so that will continue and our defence cooperation with India is long standing, deep and broad, those things will continue. Of course with regard to where they should be trained and how they should be trained is the matter that Indian government authorities will decide.

Nitin- But you will continue? There is no review over that?

Kariyavasam: From Sri Lanka's side yes. Everything as far as we are concerned is agreed already and where our where they will be trained is the matter that Indian authorities will decide according to their own requirements and reasons

Nitin: I agree when you say long standing, deep agreement or deep rooted relationship between India and Sri Lanka exists. But the public perception in India is somehow India is losing ground to China. You are HighCcommissioner in India, do you get this feeling when you talk to people around here in India.

Kariyavasam: People ask me questions about China but believe me most of what appears in papers are speculative and incorrect. Recently there was a news report of a land

Nitin- Plot of land...

Kariyavasam: Plot of land being given to Chinese company over Indian High commission. That was not accurate. That was a private transaction, that's not government's. The circumstances of that was totally misrepresented, convoluted to give a different meaning. So you know... India is the largest investor in Sri Lanka and lot of prime land is now being taken over by indian companies. ITC has got prime land just next to Taj Hotel and there are other projects where India is fully involved. Northern railway which is 800 million dollar project- is handled by Indian NTPC...sorry IRCON recently. Very soon NTPC and and CEB intend to have joint venture to have 500 MW coal power plant in Sampoor. Things are going normally. With regard to China, China of course is our friend but that friendship and India's friendship is not a zero sum game.

Nitin: They can co exist in Sri Lanka...

Kariyavasam: Exactly... but India is in our relation like our President said and China is our friend. There is a room for all in Sri Lanka. We only want to be hub in our region that can fecilitate better trade, better relationship and more exposure of all businesses. That is our objective. Sri Lanka wants to remain a very active hub for the region and for that India has the first call on anything, if they are willing to take it.

Nitin: That's an important statement you have made. I think everyone in the decision making apparatus knows this but for the general public this is a new thing that you are saying India has the first call on anything they want to take.

Now, President of Sri Lanka is likely to come to India we are told this month sometime. Is it going to be a state visit or is coming for pilgrimage

Kariyavasam: He is expected to be here. It will be a official visit and also there is invitation to go to Sanchi from chief minister of Madhya Pradesh to inagurate university on Buddhist  studies to lay the foundation stone. President is expected to come for that.

Nitin: So this visit will take forward the deep rooted relationship you feel?

Kariyavasam: Sanchi is also a very important place as from Sanchi King Asoka sent his son and daughter from 2302 years ago to Sri Lanka. So Sanchi has a big meaning for us. So it shows Sri Lanka's relationship with india is much broader, Tamil Naduis just one element. We have relationship with almost all states of india...deep ones. We look at India trough all states not only through Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is important-closest--but all other states are equally important. Our relationship with india is multi-layered.

To grandpas with love

Sitting by my father's bedside in a Pune hospital last week, watching him struggling to recover from a stroke, I was suddenly hit by helplessness. And nostalgia.

Helplessness because I couldn't do anything but wait for the doctors to treat him. Nostalgia because now in his 81st year, father (can never think of him as the more modern sounding 'Dad') resembled so much to my grandfather in HIS old age.

The resemblance brought back a flood of memories related to both my grandfathers--my father's father as well as my mother's.

Initially I wondered why. Then I realised. Like my father, those two grand old men, at different stages of my life, left an indelible mark.

They never preached but practised what they said. They never visibly demonstrated their love and affection--as many older people now seem to do in a filmi sort of a way--but were always at hand to support you, to correct you when you stumbled.

Forty years ago, in the wake of the 1971 war, father had no choice but to send me to my Jalgaon-based grand parents so that I could continue with my schooling.

Dad was then posted at Misa in Assam's Nagaon district. The lone school in the upcoming cantonment was shut and because all units had gone to the warfront the one I went to, some 33 km away in Nagaon, became inaccessible since there were no Shaktiman trucks--which doubled as school buses--to spare.

So from studying in a Missionary run School, I was suddenly forced to attend a school that taught ALL subjects in Marathi!

As a 10-year old, struggling to cope with the new atmosphere and my parents' absence, the emotional support came from my grandmother. A petite, pretty woman who loved unreservedly, grandmother would be my last refuge when in trouble.

And I would get in trouble very often. One, because it was difficult to adjust to the school in the initial days and two because my grandfather was a terror.

For him discipline meant everything. Get up at a fixed time; pray without fail; eat only at set timings. He was a stickler. And I, as a 10 year old, hated him for it.

Grandmother and occasionally my father's youngest brother, about a decade older to me, would shield me from grandfather's ire.

Then, I fell ill. Seriously ill with typhoid. High fever continued for days. I lost all appetite and craved for my mother's presence and her food.

That's when I witnessed my grandfather's softer core.

He sat and slept beside me day and night. He literally nursed me back to normalcy, making sure I took medicines on time, ate well when I started recovering and regaled me with stories from mythology, history and anecdotes from his own profession (he retired as branch manager of Imperial Bank, the forerunner to State Bank of India in the year that I was born--1962). Much of Ramayan, Mahabharat and the history of Marathas that I know of is from that month-long stay in bed.

But his love and responsibility did not stop there. As fever subsided, he realised that I wasn't in a position to walk to the school (as all of us used to do then), some three-and-a-half km away. So grandfather arranged for a buggy.

For a month after recovering from typhoid, I enjoyed this majestic ride to and from school in the buggy. I felt like a prince. My stock in the school suddenly went up. Fellow students started treating me some thing like a royalty!

Now when I reflect on those years between 1972-1974, I realise how important they were.

I went to play every game--from kho kho and kabaddi to cricket and vitti-dandu (gilli-danda)--with newly-made friends! They were welcome home too. Most of my friends were grand children of my grandfather's friends in the locality any way. So all the older people sort of wielded a collective proprieterial right over all of us! Most of the time we avoided their get together in the evenings. For was the time when we had the maximum 'danger' of facing their collective grilling and an impromptu test of our general knowledge!

Some time, when we were unlucky, we would be made to sit an read an editorial from the Times of India and asked to explain the meaning of a particular word. If we did not know or understand the word, we would be promptly dispatched to fetch a English-to-Marathi dictionary and told to search the word, absorb its meaning and only then allowed to go and play!

Now I know why I still prefer to look up a dictionary rather than depend on spelling auto-correct on my computer!

As dusk set in, one had to back home, no matter what. A quick evening prayer followed by mandatory recitation of mathematical tables and a couple of Sanskrit shlokas! And a bit of school work. Fixed time for dinner. 

In bed by 9 pm, I would however sneak out and sit with my uncle, then in college, listening to the Binaca Geet Mala on Radio Ceylon every Wednesday. That's where the love for Hindi film music really began I suppose!

So in those two years my little mind tried to absorb a couple of chapters of Bhagwad Gita, songs from Binaca Geet Mala and a smattering of cricket knowledge! And yes, learning to do simple arithmetic calculations in my head in Marathi, which I still do!

Then in early 1974, if I remember correctly, grandfather suffered a paralytic stroke and never reovered. Right there in front of my eyes, in one stroke he was reduced to a shrivelled old man from the imposing personality that he was. I was shattered. But looking back, his early influence has remained embedded in many ways than I can think of.

Half dozen years later, my mother's father (materal grandfather as we in India are fond of saying!) had a similar big impact on my outlook to day-to-day living. Studying in Pune, living in a hostel, a weekend trip to his house was a routine. An austere man, this grandpa was a farmer, milkman, businessman, all rolled into one. A sturdy man even in his 70s, he had struggled all his life without too much financial success. And yet, I am yet to come across a more optimistic person than him.

By the time I came in close contact with this grand pa, I was just getting out my teens and was thoroughly confused about almost everything as you would expect a teenager to be. That's where my mother's father made a big difference. He taught me the importance making the best of a bad bargain.

When I now say I take life as it comes, one realises sub-consciously one has borrowed that trait from him! One never saw him downcast because of setbacks in life and he faced many of them. He lost his wife (my mother's mother) when my mother was barely two. But my grandfather brought up the three children single handedly. Handicapped by wife's absence, he could never really concentrate on his business ventures.

And yet, as my mother tells me and from what I saw of him, grandfather was never bitter. He lived in eternal hope, even in his late 70s. In those college years, when every small slight and any setback looked to be a disaster of gigantic proportions to me, granfather would cheer me up by simply taking me out to the sabji mandi or to the neighbourhood garage and show how ordinary people lived and coped with life in the early 1980s. The lesson, now I realise after so many years: Look at the people living in penury and in a stratra below you and understand how lucky you are to have at least a decent living!

Both my grandfathers died more than 20 years ago.

I was too young to have realised the huge impact they had on me in my growing up, formative years.

Here's raising a toast to both of you grand pas, even when I know both of you would not appreciate my saying so publicly.