समझौता

समझौता भी क्या शब्द है!
कोई भी इस से अछूता नहीं है
चाहे वह लाट साहब ही क्यों न हो।

मनुष्य और इस शब्द का नाता ऐसा है
जैसे अपनी सांस से हो।
जो चलती भी रहती है
और पता भी नहीं लगता।

ठीक उसी तरह आदमी समझौता करता रहता है
और उसे पता ही नहीं चलता।

बचपन में मैं लाल कमीज़ पहनना चाहता था,
तो पिता जी कहते नही,
और, स्कूल वाली नीली दे देते।

बड़े होकर मैं कलाकार बनना चाहता था ।
मां बाप ने कहा नहीं
डाक्टर या इंजीनियर बनना है।
तो साइंस ले लिया।
फिर समझौता।

प्रेम किसी से और ब्याह किसी और से।
समझौता नही तो
और क्या था?

शादी के बाद मां के खाने का स्वाद याद आता
पर पत्नी ने जो बनाया वही खाया।
फिर समझौता।।

कया क्या गिनाऊं तुझको ए जिंदगी?

  जिंदगी, तूने भी तो किए हैं समझौते ।
बोल, तू चुप क्यों है?

   🙏💗💕♥️🌹🪷
…शिव राणा…
21 Feb 2024

Let Us Walk

Let us walk together
maybe just a few steps
hands in hand
without fear of onlookers
and naysayers

You do not ask me
I don’t ask you why.
We walk with your head
on my shoulder and
my head on yours
in silence
let two hearts talk

Let there be snow or rain
or sky covered with nimbus cloud.
or spurious gazes of the prudes
with no destination in mind
just saunter in the wilderness
beneath the bough of a banyan tree.
 
Let us walk together
just a few steps
in silence
hand in hand.
Let the world say what they want.


— Shiv Rana —
05 Feb 2024

Come Fall In Love With Me

come fall in love with me, my dear,
let our hearts dance without fear.

i’ll draw you close with a gentle touch,
my love for you, means so much.
i’ll cherish every breath you take,
and hold you close when you awake.

come fall in love with me, my dear,
let our hearts dance without fear.

come take my hand,
i’ll be your moon, your guiding light,
through the darkest of the night.
i’ll be your shelter from life’s storm,
and keep you safe, snug, and warm.

come fall in love with me, my dear,
let our hearts dance without fear.

we will share our dreams,
dance, sing and laugh together.
with every laugh, with every tear,
we’ll conquer any doubt or fear.

come fall in love with me, my dear,
let our hearts dance without fear.

let’s write our tale,
a love that will never fail.
i’ll be your muse, your source of fire,
feeding the flames of our desire.

come fall in love with me, my dear,
let our hearts dance without fear.

so come, my love, let’s take the leap,
into love’s ocean, so deep.
let our hearts dance without fear.
come fall in love with me, my dear.

come fall in love with me, my dear,
let our hearts dance without fear.

(Someone told me after reading my Hindi poem that I seemed in love with somebody.)

I said I am always in love…)

So here I am… —— Shiv Om Rana ——

Love Has No Expiration

Love does not diminish with age
Nor does it weaken with time.
Eternal love
keeps the changeless memory
of youth in its complacent arms.

Love is lawless,
sees no social boundaries
A white rose with a drop of heart’s blood
Grows red —
a symbol of eternal love,

a perfect nightmare of the prude society.
You beside me,
I was an open book of verse,
singing in the wilderness
turned into paradise

Birds come and sit on the bough of a tree,
Bough dips a little
as if to respect the lovers.
The deeper I immerse in the mountain.
times give wings to my solitude.

My eyes are wet and
my face is cold in the exosphere(1)
It is dangerous to be sincere
in the wicked world.

Alas! Love has no expiration, and
It is the perfect nightmare of
separated hearts!

(1)— Outermost limit of the earth’s atmosphere.)

— Shiv Rana —

Prisoner

I am a prisoner
of my conscience
a prisoner and captive
of my conviction

within the chambers of my mind
no iron bars, no walls around
I grapple with my inner voice
and become captive of
the whispers of the night

I navigate
the labyrinth of my inner self
in the sanctuary of my silent plea
and await that silent foot-step
through that enigmatic maze

I am frangible, fragile, and fallible
so, wish to live in solitude’s embrace
with hermit’s heart
that lonely plea echoes
“Come, set my spirit free”

In the quiet realm of solitude
I am now accustomed to the
company of silence
a captive soul looking to be freed
with a flicker of hope.

——Shiv Om Rana——

30 December 2023

💞💗🌹💞💗

Sumdorong Chu : 1986

I read a post on the WhatsApp gp about Sumdorong Chu incident in 1986 which contained a half-truth or I would say a quarter-truth.

I was there from day one of the incident. So, I thought to bring out things as they happened in chronological order. *********

This is what happened in the Sumdorong Chu in Jun 1986.

Prologue 

1.   I was posted to HQ 77 Mtn Bde in Jan 1986 as DAAG after 17 years of service as the MS Branch had forgotten us (Rajpal & me) for our Grade 2 appointments. Rajpal preceded me by a month. We both were due for consideration in the Selection Board No. 4 in 1987. So, the MS Branch seemed to be in a hurry to post us anywhere quickly.

Chronology of Events

2.   I joined the Bde in Jan 1986 in Gachham. (5 Mtn Div). Brig PK Batra (Armd) commanded the Bde,BM was Maj Sirohi (Armd) and DQ Maj Sahni (Mech). The Sparrow was Maj Surendra Singh— no Dy Bde Cdr was posted. So, I was the senior most after the Bde Cdr.   

The Bde was mobilized for test ex in May 1986. And before that, the Bde was conducting its own Bn ex. So virtually, we were out from Mar 1986. The Bde ex got over in the first week of Jun 1986, and the Bde was preparing to move back to Gachham. Before that we could begin de-induction, an OP Imdt msg was received to mov to Op Loc. Since the Bde and all the Bn were already out, and vehs lined up, everything became easier to mov immediately to Tawang.

3.   Sumdorong Chu (Chu is a river in Tibetan – like Twang Chu) is a part of “No-man’s-land”, east of The Thagla Ridge, across Nyamjang Chu. And the area was part of the 77 Mtn Bde Op responsibility. 12 Assam, commanded by Col AS Antal – part of 77 Mtn Bde, was on the ridge dominating the Sumdorong Chu and a summertime post in the South. 12 Assam completely dominated the entire area in the front. The other two Bns were 8 Madras, commanded by Col Amrik Sing Hansrao and 9 Guards, commanded by Col RD Kadyan, deployed south of Thagla ridge and west of the main river coming from Tibet called Nyamjang Chu. Sumdorong post is on the east of this river. The Thagla ridge extends from the Tri-junction of Tibet-Bhutan-India in the northwest of Zimithang village to the east up to the Nyamjang Chu.

(A little history – It is believed that our IB used to occupy the Sumdorong post every year from Jun to Oct to show our presence. Chinese had been objecting to it, saying the area was part of No-man’s land and, therefore no one should occupy it. Since the prac was going on for some years, the Chinese decided to surprise the Indian side by occupying the same very post in May 1986 when the IB approached to occupy the post, they already found the post being occupied by the Chinese. So, the reaction which followed.)

4.   The Bde reached Tawang. Thereafter the Bns and the Bde HQ had to mov on foot as there were no rds. 12 Assam mov to occupy their Op loc dominating the Sumdorong post. The op loc of the Bde HQ was Lumpo, two days march from Tawang. (Incidentally, Lumpo was also the HQ 7 Bde of Brig Dalvi in 1962)

5.   The Bde was assured of airdrops of logistics to maintain the Bde as it did not have adequate logistic sp due to Op imdt mov. Lumpo had a DZ in the slopes marked in 1962. More about it later.

Bns occupied their Op loc.

6.   Chinese were taken by surprise to find the whole Bde against a small post of Sumdorong and the whole Div mobilized.

(Military hierarchy

Bde Cdr – Brig PK Batra (Armd)

5 Div GOC – Maj Gen JM Singh (Guards) – he was not the GOC of 17 Div, and 17 Div was never mov.

4 Corps GOC – Lt Gen Narhari (Engrs)

Eastern Comd Goc-in-C – Lt Gen SK Puri (Arty)

COAS – Gen S Sundarji)

7.   There were Op discussions at the higher level and GOC 5 Div, Corps Cdr visited fwd areas a few times. And it was decided that the 77 Bde HQ would launch a limited offensive. Neighbouring 11 Bde in area Bumla was ready on their Op loc but not to mov fwd. Res Bde 190.

8.   A helipad to accommodate MI 17 choppers was constructed with great haste.

The Arty Regt in Sp, with 105 guns with amn, was airlifted to Lumpo from Tawang.

The launch of the attack was planned sometime in the latter part of Jul or early Aug, I now forget that.

9.   Required reconnaissance done and all things tied up.

10.   8 Madras and 9 Guards were all ready to receive the final signal to launch the limited offensive. Aim was to capture Thagla Ridge and dominate the north—12 Assam to continue to hold the ridge.

For almost ten days, we got our packed puri and Shakarpara for mov. Sig Coy got their wire drums ready to unroll and arty guns ready to fire.

11.   But the order for the final “GO” never came.

We lost that advantage.

The Chinese came and occupied the Thagla Ridge in Sep or Oct sometime. 

12.   There were huge build-ups by the Chinese side to strengthen Sumdorong, as we reported a large number of heli sorties from their side.

13.   The winter was closing in, and the area began to have snowfall. So, the tps moved back to their loc in Nov/Dec.

14.   We were back in Mar 1987 in our respective Op loc.

15.   The summer of 1987 saw the induction of 57 Div. Our Maj Gen Kumar, then Dy Bde Cdr, who had come with his Bde as a part of the Div, and I hosted him for dinner.

16.   No Div was inducted using choppers as stated in the write-up above.

17.   Meanwhile, there was a change of Bde Cdr, and the new Bde Cdr Was Brig Malik of 5 GR, later Lt Gen. And a little before that, Col Bhanot from 11 GR was posted as a Dy Cdr.

Overheard

18.   Everybody wondered why we let the opportunity to occupy Thagla Ridge go. And the Chinese took advantage and they did what we could not.

19.   We used to hear in the grapevine that GoC-in-C did not allow the limited offensive mov and put his foot down. All those who know, Maj Gen JM Singh and Lt Gen Narhari were hawks by instinct/nature. I think it went along with the thinking of Gen Sundarji also. But Lt Gen Puri had reservations and the political green was not given to undertake the op.  

Tit-Bits

19.   In the initial period, the Chinese were taken by surprise completely.

20.   For the first time, Indian tps opened MMG fire over the Sumdorong post. One morning 12 Assam post opposite the Chinese Sumdorong post saw some Chinese tps trying to come to the ridge. The matter was reported to the Bde HQ. The Cdr was in Tawang meeting with the GOC. The msg was conveyed to the Cdr and the GOC auth to open fire overhead fire first to force them to retreat. If not then shoot. I was the one who passed this msg to the Bn.

21.   The same post was manned by 12 Assam offr, I think Capt Jaya. One night he found a loud blaring sound of Chinese music coming from their post. I believe he went out of his hut, threw a few stones and shouted to stop the music. And the music was never heard that loud thereafter.

22.   Khinzemane is located along the river Nyamjan Chu (Mane is a small wall along the path with some stones inscribed with Buddhist Mantra. People always walk left of the Mane) is believed to be intersecting the Mc Mohan line. The 14th Dalai Lama was received by the Indian Political offr at this point in Mar 1959 and the Assam Rifles tps provided the security.  

23.   The post haste mov to Op loc saw some very difficult/funny situations. We were assured that the sup would be airdropped. When we reached Lumpo and gave coordinates of the unused 1962 DZ for airdrops, the next morning, we could hear the aircraft noise above, but no drops could take place due to bad weather for two days. We in the Bde fell short of rations, and the nearby village of Lumpo came to our rescue.

24.   On the third day, when the airdrop finally happened more than half of the drops went down the cliff, and it could not be retrieved. Whatever was retrieved presented a funny situation. One whole parachute load had just one type of ration like we received a whole load of salt or Atta. This was later corrected to pack a composite load in each parachute. So that whatever is retrieved can be more useful.

25.   I as a 2/Lt, manned a post called NITI opposite Sumdorong Chu in 1971 Feb — Apr. I could see a Chinese camp from the top with their tps playing volleyball in the valley, I could also hear in ANPRC radio set the American conversation in Vietnam launching air strikes etc… Giriraj Gaur was then manning the Lumpo post opposite Niti.

26.   The Cdr asked me to write two citations — Sena Medal (G) for Col AS Antal, CO 12 Assam and VSM for the Air OP pilot Maj Anuj Bhatia. Both got the awards. Later Col A from the Div HQ rang me up to send a citation for the Cdr for AVSM. And he also got the award. Yudh Sewa medal series were not introduced that time.

27.   I left HQ 77 in Aug 1987 on promotion. I believe there is a huge infrastructure development now and vehs can go right up to the Zimithang.

Thank you for reading…

Col Shiv Rana

The Fall Morning

The coos of doves on my window sill wake me in the morning.

But I miss the murmur of the bees’ trills wafting from the garden.

I look out and see the lustres of hibiscus matching with doves’ litheness.

I also feel dark confessions of glistening eyes of a Bulbul

tell a different story, casting a different spell.

I’m baffled.

I can’t read the mind of the bird.

Why is she so gloomy?

Why is she not chirping? as I always saw her.

Is it the wintery cold wind?

The immensity of the future for the bird

puts a heavy stone in my heart.

Then come hovering kaleidoscope of butterflies

in a vivacious colour,

tasting nectars of flowers of the garden.

I hear the rustle of the following leaves create an intoxicating rhythm.

I love the fall morning, not very cold,

the air crisper.

I want to go out and play with the birds.

Will they?

Col Shiv Rana

02 Dec 2021

डरता हूँ

डरता हूँ

जब तूने साथ छोड़ा 

मुझे अपने साये से 

डर लगने लगा है

बातें तो बहुत की थी

जिंदगी साथ निभाने की

अब मुझे बातों से 

डर लगने लगा है

वो रिमझिम बारिश 

वो गरमाई धूप

वो बदलते सुहाने मौसम

मगर अब मुझे ऋतुओं से

डर लगने लगा है

वो स्याही रातें, वो गर्म साँसे

तेरी ज़ुल्फो से बँधी रातें

अब मुझे अंधेरे से 

डर लगने लगा है

“Building Back A Better World”: Can it challenge the BRI?

Notes On Liberty

Introduction

Ever since taking over as President, Joe Biden has reiterated the need for the US and its allies to work together to check China’s economic rise by providing alternatives to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project as well as its burgeoning technology scene. During his State of the Union address in April 2021, the US President had said:

China and other countries are closing in fast. We have to develop and dominate the products and technologies of the future

It would be pertinent to point out that 138 nations on five continents have signed various BRI cooperation agreements with China as of the end of 2020. (EU member states including Greece and Italy are also on board the BRI.) China has so far invested a whopping $690 billion in BRI-related projects in 100 countries.

G7 and the B3W

On June 12, 2021 the G7 unveiled…

View original post 817 more words

Heads Must Roll

The world over Armed Forces has been looked upon as the last resort to go to when the civil administration fails to deliver. Why?

There is always a well-thought-out plan for any operation (work/project in civilian parlance). All officers are trained for appreciating the situation well before any course of action is finally adopted for execution. There is a backup plan, should the original plan not proceed as per plan. And all officers are continually trained to upgrade to their skills for higher echelons of responsibilities.

Also, there is a swift and decisive action in the case the executing officer fails to deliver. Heads roll fast and quick. There have been instances of change of command in an ongoing operation. The next in command is always in the know of the things. It is all seamless.

All things may be similar with the civil administration except one incredibly significant aspect. Here heads don’t roll. With my seven decades plus experience in watching civil bureaucracy, a civil servant may be transferred or suspended after a long delay. Meanwhile, the damage may have been done.

Suspension is such a Khushi punishment. A person under suspension is most likely reinstated after many years with full pay & allowances. He or she, in the meanwhile, might have been doing other business during the suspension is another attached benefit. Here Mumbai Police cop, Vaze, is the reference point. QED.

Now relate this to the current pandemic situation in our country. At the beginning of the Covid-19 in Mar 2020, India started well to deal with the scourge and therefore the 1^st wave in Oct – Nov 2020 was handled appropriately and efficiently.

When the effect of the Covid-19 began to ebb in Dec 2020 -Jan 2021 the rulers of the country began to throw all cautions to the wind. When, at the same time, other western countries and the American continent began to grapple with the 2^nd wave. Our leaders and other responsible for handling the Covid-19 did not learn any lesson from the 2^nd wave hitting the other countries.

We instead of cautioning ourselves, began to brag that the country has achieved “herd immunity”. Instead of preparing for the 2^nd wave, we let “Covid-19 appropriate behaviour” take a back seat – no mask, no social distancing, election rallies, Kumbh etc, etc…

The result is here for we all to see. Those responsible to put a comprehensive plan to deal with the 2^nd and subsequent waves rested on their unfounded achievements and the PM announced on 28 Jan 2021 that India has defeated Corona – India has achieved herd immunity. Past Spanish influenza had returned in four waves. The Indian and the world epidemiologists, virologists and scientists have been warning to take appropriate measures to avoid subsequent waves.

But there were naysayers and, and religious zealots – against vaccines, against appropriate COVID behaviour and enthusiasts to win elections. The lives of the citizens did not matter. Why because we are a 1.4 billion people country. Few lives lost will not matter. The citizens are suffering. It has touched almost all families in the country.

Who failed us? And how many heads have rolled?? None. The people responsible still enjoy their bungalows in Lutyens and elsewhere. All regulators have failed us.

No leader of any country has faced a pandemic like Covid-19 indeed. Because there was no such pandemic in the last 100 years. The Spanish influenza was the last in 1918 of such magnanimity which had four “waves” and infected more than 50 crore population in the world over and killed more than 2 crores. (Imagine population at the time).

My idea of citing the Spanish influenza pandemic is to highlight that top epidemiologist of the world including Indians had warned their respective Govt to prepare for the waves that would surely assail the country. But we in India did not pay any attention to their warning. We, the Govt and the people became complacent and threw all caution to the wind. It was aggravated by the leaders declaring that India has achieved “herd immunity” and we have defeated the virus in Jan 2021.

Economic activities are an important aspect of any nation. But the business leaders, to get back to their annual figures, turned blind-eye to the appropriate Covid behaviour – no mask, no social distancing, no proper hand sanitization. Malls, cinemas, and restaurants were opened in haste. Owners did not follow the mandated numbers in their establishment. The public which had been closeted in their house and deprived of socialization jumped to the opportunity. Political leaders’ behaviour in public encouraged them to let go of their “lockdown fatigue”. The situation was building to explode.

And I am sorry, but the Govt under Shri Modiji did not prepare for the 2^nd wave. He cannot personally do everything. The PMO (Prime Minister Office) on behalf of the PM is to oversee and take stock of the situation from time to time. Here, in my opinion, are the followings who failed him: –

1. The PMO and the Health Minister (Advisor to the PM.)
2. Niti Aayog. (Covid Task Force under Dr Paul)
3. ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research)
4. Election Commission for prolonged elections
5. Home Minister for not stopping Holi, Eid, Kumbh, election rallies etc.
6. And the PM himself for doing extensive election rallies. (He may have had several Zoom meetings with the CM/Netas/Secretaries.) But of what use? When he became a “superspreader” in election rallies.

Anybody who is the head of an org must face the burden of responsibility of assets he or she is responsible for. Our 140-crore people are assets, and we all enjoy the fruit of their labour. Any misery or misfortune caused to them due to the failure of Govt to take appropriate and timely action must also face the consequences.

This is the opportunity for the PM to take stern action. Time has come to bite the bullet.

                    — Col Shiv Rana —