A centenarian looks back at life on the frontlines and regales Prakash Bhandari with tales from a distinguished career.
Lt Col Ram Singh has a rather bold prescription for a long and healthy life—two pegs of whisky at sundown. As he pours a stiff Scotch into a cut-glass tumbler waiting patiently on a wooden side table, the former soldier dusts off his favourite memories and settles down to an evening of reminiscing. These days, he has plenty to toast, having celebrated his 100 th year this April.
There’s another reason for his good cheer—it’s the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Al Alamein, which marked the culmination of the World War II’s North African campaign between the British and the German- Italian army. And our soldier was at centre-field, right where the action took place.
Seated in the drawing room in his son’s bungalow at Veer Vihar in Jaipur, Ram Singh points out that being a Rajput, valour runs in his blood. The son of a landlord, he was raised in Udaipur and like every other Rajput lad, he too dreamt of becoming an army officer one day.
These were times when the princely states in pre-Independent India maintained their own forces or ‘state forces’, which were largely ceremonial in nature. As a subject of the Mewar royalty, Ram Singh was expected to join the Mewar state forces but he dearly wanted to join the British Indian Army. “I wanted to join the regular British Indian Army because the scope of promotions was better and, as it was a regular army, the salary was better than in the state forces,” he shares.
In 1935, Ram Singh went to Dehradun to train as an officer of the Indian Army. When the ruler of Mewar Maharana Bhupal Singh learnt of this, he ordered the young soldier to return. Left with no choice, Ram Singh came back to Udaipur and became an officer of the Mewar state forces. He was commissioned in 1938.
Denne historien er fra December 2017-utgaven av Harmony - Celebrate Age.
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Denne historien er fra December 2017-utgaven av Harmony - Celebrate Age.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Wrapped In Love
My Dadi Meenakshi Banerji was a short and tubby woman with great gumption who raised 10 citizens of the world.
Sharing Her ‘Mettle'
To me, this bell metal vaarpu, which weighs about 80 kg and is at least 120 years old, is an enduring reminder of my paternal grandmother Aleyamma Abraham.
Medical Overload
Your doctor may walk the talk while writing out your prescriptions but here’s the thing: make sure he hasn’t prescribed one too many.
An Act Of Faith
One act of kindness can save someone’s life.’
Armed For Business
The sheer glory and glamour of the Olive Greens motivated me, a third-generation soldier, to join the Army. Thus I enlisted, brimming with enthusiasm, in 1984.
Capture the fracture
Fracture owing to osteoporosis can have a serious impact on a person’s health and quality of life. Dr Abhijit Y Pawar, consultant orthopaedic spine surgeon at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, speaks about the significance of timely intervention in preventing fractures
Friends With Benefits!
Incontinence need not interfere with life.
Yellow, Yellow, Gritty Fellows!
It was a nippy Sunday morning but nothing that would keep the rugged Delhiite away from the annual Senior Citizens’ Run supported by Harmony at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. Not even the mood-dampening smog that had descended on the capital a week earlier could do that! So said 74 year-old Sarla Rani and her band of regulars at the run who arrived at Nehru Stadium on the morning of 19 November even before the sun did. Soon they were joined by busloads of silvers from all over Delhi, Noida and Gurugram.
Magic By The Sea
From Lord Jagannath to oceanside beauty and green initiatives, Braja Sorensen uncovers the many layers of Puri.
Indian Rhapsody
In a span of two decades, Roshen Dalal has attained renown for her painstakingly researched books on history and religions in India. The Puffin History of India and The Puffin History of the World, each in two volumes, have not just received critical acclaim but are bestsellers as well. Her other books include The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths; Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide; The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism’s Sacred Texts and The Compact Timeline History of the World.
