Possible Indian Military Scenarios - Part I

daulat
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Post by daulat »

namashkar bhai loge

your feedback is all good and all valid. i was not trying for accuracy or authenticism, i simply do not have the time to do a proper job on that score. nor - this is important - do i really wish to. a theme was introduced, i felt like taking it in a certain direction. If i had a year to research the actual details, i would have - i don't, so i rely on you folks to fill in those things. if you really want to have a discussion on corruption then by all means do so.

i don't think GPS arty etc., is all that unrealistic - particularly if you can have satellite comms. also the actual scenario presented was not unrealistic, sure the mechanics and distances may have been, but the scenario itself was not.

i also do not think that the khubsoorat loge should be written off just like that. we learn time and again not to generalise. if you look at ww2 many many khubsoorat loge undertook remarkable acts of heroism, many of them behind the lines and many paid the price. why should they be any less patriotic? is it that we don't want them to be because we dont like their lifestyles?

i don't read tom clancy nor le carre and i watch very little bollywood. i just took the story somewhere i felt like, perhaps i absorb those influences subliminally?! you don't have to like my writing, but i wanted all of you guys to think more broadly, not just knee jerk jingo behaviour! :)

anyway, the story has ended, so MT Singha's normal service will resume shortly!
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Post by Y I Patel »

The Very Ordinary Commander Sudhir Govil

It was like any other freighter, only hundreds of miles away from any known shipping lanes in Indian Ocean. The fishing trawler drawing up to it was like hundreds of other fishing trawlers, except that it was more than a thousand miles away from where it would normally be operating. The navigation and search radar on the freighter was unusually powerful as well, but not powerful enough to catch the rubber zodiac boat and the dark figures with night vision equipment…

Sudhir Govil was feeling extremely uncomfortable – he had gone off the beaten path, something that he almost never did, and the backlash was beginning to make itself felt.

He was born 37 years ago in Indore to Radheshyam and Sharda Devi Govil. Radheshyamji was a retired government officer, who had served in the Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. As a teenager, Sudhir had worked hard under the usual pressures to good “marks” in board exams, and was a very relieved person when he got admitted to REC Warangal in Electrical Engineering. The first three years at Warangal had been among his happiest, as he experienced liberty from the familiar pressures for the first time. The time passed all too quickly, come final year, the old knotted feeling was back as he had to start thinking of life after college. The usual round of on-campus interviews followed; his normal steady style saw him being selected by the Services Selection Board.

No one in his extended family had been in the military before, and his parents were not very sure about sending him in such a profession. Old Colonel Sharma living three houses down in Karmachari Nagar was approached for advice. Sharma sahib was only too glad to talk at length about how those bloody Naval types spent all of their time repairing their junks, how the airheads drilled holes in the ground, and how the army held the nation together in face of incompetent bureaucrats and slimy politicians. Ironically, this tipped the balance in the favor of the Navy, because Sudhir’s parents figured that barring an odd unavoidable tour, Sudhir would end up spending most of his time in a Naval base in some big city like Mumbai or Vishakhapatnam. He would not be exposed to all those terrible crashing planes, and they had heard Army guys had to spend a lot of time getting shot at by Khalistanis. Easier to convince girls’ parents of the boy’s suitablility if he did not have to spend most of his time in some godforsaken place called Mizoram…

So Sudhir ended up joining the Naval Academy. He was used to the discipline already; the demanding instructors held no awe for someone who had to grow up under Sharda Devi’s stern eye. But he did feel the need to work extra hard to keep up with the ambitious NDA types. As usual, he did fairly well without setting the Academy ablaze with his glory, and predictably, opted for the safe navigation branch without trying anything fancy like aviation or submarines.

As the years passed, Sudhir grew more comfortable in his abilities; he saw how most people were like him – driven not by some burning ambition or hidden demons, but by a humdrum sense of responsibility and a desire to avoid screwing up. The only stressful time he had was when he had to sail to Russia for commissioning of INS Trishul. Capt. Soni was a slave driver of the old mould, and being his navigation officer was very trying. Sudhir was one relieved person when that stint was over, he expected that having paid his seafaring dues he would be given some undemanding onshore berth and could get back to enjoying his growing family...

The promotion to Commander was expected, but the selection posting as CO of INS Nirghat came as a huge surprise. Sudhir suspected the old ******** Soni’s hand in that – that bloodsucker would not let him be in peace even now after all those hours slaving away on Trishul! Even though the Nirghat was far from being at the cutting edge of the navy, a ship’s command carried prestige and privileges. Admiral (honorary) Bhavini Govil would be thrilled at the opportunity to show off to other officers’ wives and friends, and if she was happy life was good.

When the Bangladesh situation started fermenting, INS Nirghat was ordered to shift to FORTAN to help with patrolling of SLOCs. In keeping with INS Nirghat’s capabilities, it was assigned a low priority area, which was fine with Sudhir. He had no burning ambition of winning medals or becoming an Admiral, and was secretly relieved at having an undemanding role where fewer things could go wrong.

Soon Sudhir realized that the area was too quiet for his good – he had served for long enough to realize that a continuous stream of “all’s well nothing abnormal” type of reports could easily be misconstrued by a suspicious superior as a sign of slacking off. So unease began to build, and he gave the fateful order.

Later on, he would be asked many, many times about what prompted him to order his ship so far south of its designated area. With practice came polish, and there would be talk about experience gained by interdicting LTTE gunrunners, hard won insights into how “those guys” operated. But deep down, the reasoning was far simpler. Earlier in the year, during the annual squadron exercises, that ******** Khurana had sneaked in an attack from outside the exercise boundary. The referees had sided with Sudhir, but their demeanor and Khurana’s smug expression had made it clear who the victor was. Sudhir would be damned if he would give those NDA mafia another excuse to snigger about time-servers and slackers…

So Commander Sudhir Govil ordered INS Nirghat to turn southwards out of its designated patrol area, and a rousing speech about going the extra mile and leaving no stone unturned followed…

Two days later, deep mortification was beginning to set in. Nothing, not even a passing school of whales, had turned up. The engineer was beginning to voice concern over the engines’ health. But most of all, there were the uncomfortable second thoughts about not going by the book. Admiral Bhavini’s unsparing critique about going off on wild goose chases was beginning to play increasingly loudly inside his head too. How would he explain this departure to Commodore Tanwar? And so, Sudhir Govil was a very unhappy commander…

When it came, the contact at extreme radar range was a direct gift from Bajrang Bali himself. Govil muttered a silent prayer of thanks, and ordered Nirghaat to pursue to contact discreetly. The most likely explanation would have been a ship that had lost its way, but one does not go two days out of the way during a tense international situation to help wayward ships whose crew did not know how to read their compass. So the contact had to be a suspicious one, and an encrypted message was promptly sent off to flotilla HQ in FORTAN. Soon, however, the contact’s behaviour did start getting very suspicious. First, there were the strongly encrypted messages, which caused Nirghat’s and Sudhir’s antennae to start tingling. Then, there was the shockingly powerful radar, and Sudhir thanked his lucky stars he had followed the book and stayed well out of known maritime radar ranges… and finally, there was the second contact transiting rapidly towards the first one.

All orders that followed could have been made into a classic case study, had they not come directly, word for word, from naval standard operating procedures. The years of training; hours upon hours of boring and exhausting drills kicked in. Lt Arvind Srivastava was ordered to keep visual contact with the freighter and start collecting intel on it. The freighter was registered in Indonesia, and was supposed to be carrying Nissan auto parts to Europe. The second contact turned out to be a fishing trawler registered in Chittagong. Given the strange no-war no-peace situation, the fishing trawler had been able to sail out under the noses of all the menacing destroyers and frigates, and there would have been no way of impeding its passage back to Chittagong, had it not been observed taking suspicious cargo mid-ocean.

Srivastava reported transfers of cargo as well as personnel from the freighter on to the trawler, and these were faithfully relayed to Eastern Naval Command and beyond. IN Bears from Arakonam were scrambled, and INS Nirghat was authorized to board, search and if necessary, seize any cargo or person on the trawler. All search, board and seizure procedures went by the book, including carrying of radiation meters and apprehension and restraint of personnel.

And so it was that the very ordinary Commander Sudhir Govil, 5’ 7”; with a receding hairline and extending waistline; scion of a long line of small time bureaucrats; product of Madan Mohan Malavyia Vidyalaya and REC Warangal; henpecked husband of Bhavini Govil; and commander of the very ordinary INS Nirghaat, had achieved an extraordinary breakthrough.
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way of writing

Post by bhavani »

I have a question to Everybody. why does each scenario that is written starts with a situation, then the life of the person in that scenario is explained, then we return back to the beginning. My question is why is everybody's narration so similar. Is this not an influence of some western writers. Writers like John grisham, they explain a little about Every person. For ex a judge who is there only for 2 pages, a little about his background, ethinicity, education is explained. Everybody's character is first established. Why is it always like that.

The Katrina sehgal scenario seems highly improbable to me like a scene involving james bond.
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Post by ramana »

Knowing the background provides prespective and adds life to the character. You are welcome to have your views. I think the Katrina charcter provides insight into the complexities of the Indian elite and is useful.
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Post by JTull »

I've not heard of engineers getting into NDA or the Naval Academy. The Govil character needs little refinement. Maybe a selection in 12th std is more likely. A comment may be made of a trip from the desert to the seas.
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Post by JCage »

Daulat,

Like I said- hope you dont take it the wrong way,coz we appreciate the effort. But you are on the warpath. Oh well. :) I guess Katrinaji stays. :((

BTW NSN is wondering where its star reporter is gone and the public suspects a coverup. :)

YIPatel,

More more more more more more!!
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Post by daulat »

ramana wrote:Knowing the background provides prespective and adds life to the character. You are welcome to have your views. I think the Katrina charcter provides insight into the complexities of the Indian elite and is useful.
katrina's character was going to take her down an alley of condemnation and derision, which is what led me to get into the story. i guess i am an optimist, i wanted her to be able to redeem herself. i had no plot in mind, just went with the flow. her character as definied by MT changed for me, as her redemption revealed itself :) I chose not to elaborate on any characters per se. i see that most people do not buy the katrina redemption story but it seems to be based on perceptions about what that class and gender of person can and cannot do... why so gentlemen?
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Post by Y I Patel »

JTull, Sudhir is NOT an NDA graduate - he got entry directly into the Academy after getting a BE from Regional Engineering College Warangal (now known as NIT Warangal). I suspect non-NDA types are rare in the Naval Academy, but that little fact is very central to my character. If it helps, we can give him a BSc from a no-name MP university. That would fit in with my portrayal.


JCage Thank you! Please don't hold your breath though! Totally conventional and boring characters are very hard to imagine and portray :(
Last edited by Y I Patel on 07 Dec 2004 23:49, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ramana »

No let him stay in RECW.
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Post by SaiK »

I was wanting a clancier attack and win back an invaded and occupied A&N islands by china. Chinese having all the powerfull force, and our indian navy the major player in the Operation AN-Freedom!, using our military satellite, newly developed ATV with brahmos doing about 200 kills. Chinese had a aip-sub-fleet of about 45 in numbers, and ours about 15 ATVs. We lost one ATV due to technical error. Maricos sanitized the beaches in about 1 hour or so, after IA dropped more troops and finally chins instead of surrendering felt running away is a better option. they exit dis-gracefully, losing lives with bullets hit from the back.
:wink:

A&N free again. August 15th 2012 - they become born again territory for us.
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Post by Sharma »

A very nice and intresting thread staling to death.
:cry: :( :-?
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Post by JCage »

i see that most people do not buy the katrina redemption story but it seems to be based on perceptions about what that class and gender of person can and cannot do... why so gentlemen?

Daulatji,I buys redemption most assuredly and unabashedly, but ji the way you portrayed said incident was very filmi, with the "Durga dialogue" and cross border Uzi business and all...so kya karen, reality meter went haywire.

Thats my take at least. Sunil of course, being a hard hearted RAWman does not buy into redemption at all.
But let bygones be bygones, much effort from your side so perhps we can crib less. ;)
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Post by Sunil »

Hi,

To answer bhavani's question, the character development is the key to revealing attitudes that people have. The person is more important than the actual event because ultimately how the event gets interpreted is more a function of the mindset that the person has. Without the insight into the thinking of the actors - the entire scenario becomes very dry and boring. Usually a critical decision is taken by a person, but unless the rationale becomes clearer, or the assumptions that they make become transparent, the entire thing seems arbitrary.

The katrina character is a poster-child of a generation of Indians that grew up in the relative prosperity of the 90s sheltered from the harsh realities of Punjab, Kashmir and the North East. The Katrinas of the world did not get a sense of the terrible world around them, by the time they started reading and watching TV the worst was already over. Not for them the sight of watching Indian soldiers bleed to death in Jaffna city or the DD broadcasts of children of slain police officers in Punjab vowing to avenge the death of the fathers. To these people TV means entertainment - Music Television and magazines mean Vogue and Cosmo.

The first time some of these people saw a riot was in the recent Godhra Ahmedabad cycle. They all consider that something novel. They don't even know of the terrible rioting that used to occur there in the 70s and 80s. The first time these people saw a cripple was on TV during Kargil. You mention Kashmir to them, and they tell you about Sumantra Bose's book. And if you ever get to watch them talking about security affairs, the only word that comes to mind is "wow".

There is nothing wrong per se with this lifestyle, and it is these people that are shaping large parts of the consumer economy today. So I have no problem with them. However there is a strong disconnect between the India that these people live in and the India that really exists. These people are a non-trivial faction of the top echelons of India's society. The Real India is extremely harsh and unforgiving. That is what is missing in this chocolate spy story of Katrina - reality.

Most of the people from this generation get a dose of reality when they take up a job and try to hold it. The ones that join the Army and get shoved into Kashmir/NE learn very quickly that stupidity costs lives and lives have to be accounted for. So yes there is hope for them, perhaps in disillusionment... but there is definetely hope.

I have no problem with Daulat's attitude on this. Katrina may be able to redeem herself, but I find it unlikely that she will actually live to enjoy her redemption. This kind of thing only ends in one way.

The movie Lakshya actually captured this in a very decent way.

YIP,

Nice!! Bring on the bull of manipur!
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Post by daulat »

sunil s - i think you put it nicely. yes the katrinas of india are in their own world, rather removed from the real india. and yes lakshya was perhaps my subliminal inspiration. i would still propose that there are katrinas who do understand the awful reality and do want to do something about it. like i said, if i had time the story would have been more plausible, but you have to go with your gut instincts when the writing bug strikes! :)

things i didn't do in the story but thought about -

daddy's corruption could have been real and katrina could have rebelled against it, or it could have been a ploy to unmask andersen. interesting to ponder

could have spent more time in the gritty spy chase, but given that MT had already made her a bipasha basu look alike ;) i had to go with what there was. in the beginning it was a nice tongue in cheek way to test the story, but then later it got in the way! :)

the durga dialogue is filmi, but it felt apt to put into the story. the vengeance of arun was critical to her motivation, particularly as the story evolved. like i said, i had no plan (wow - this perhaps reveals a lot about how clancy and co write! :))

uzi-schmuzi and all came across as filmi due to shortness of description. i could have had them fighting a tactical withdrawal back through the mountain paths... but then why bother? it's secondary to the point.

to me katrina's redemption struck me as being somewhat akin to noor inayat khan's story. also a glamourous socialite 'babe' in her time, but also a heroine who operated behind the lines and died at the hands of gestapo torturers. she could have opted out too, but didn't.

let me ask one final question on this topic - would it have been better that instead of Katrina Sehgal, Delhi Socialite turned spy chaser, we had Kaveri Subramaniam, simple girl from Madurai, humble father, shivering and shuddering on mountainside, trembling with fear and nervousness, killing the bad guys and then fleeing for her life? She would be no less a Durga in this scenario, and perhaps more palatable for BR jingos? :)

one of these stories will sell, the other will not! in the meantime, bring on next installment of YIP and MT

satyameva jayate!
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Post by daulat »

Delhi Socialite Passes Away

NSN (New Delhi): Yesterday, Katrina Sehgal, daughter of a senior civil servant and well known on the Delhi social circuit was declared dead at the AIMS institute in the capital. Katrina had recently been on holiday in Paris for a private visit, but met with an accident and contracted hepatitis shortly afterwards. On return to India, her condition worsened and she passed away despite attempts by doctors to resucsitate her.

No one from the family was available for comment and it was not clear whether the last rites had yet been performed. An AIMS spokeswoman said that Katrina's friends in the military had brought her to AIMS from the airport and also later arrived to take the body away once declared dead. No military authority was able to provide any additional information.

Katrina was known as a girl about town and one of the key features of the club scene. Her socialite friends are said to be in shock.
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Post by Sunil »

Hi Daulat,

I love reading your detailed and descriptive NSN reports. You clearly have the talent so all I am asking is why not put in the few extra days needed to push the Katrina story into a more realistic description of events? Its not like we are working to a time limit or something. I think YIP has done the same thing you have, the Govil character is an excellent counter balance to the deeply injured psyche of the Jacobs and Warichoos in India.

The Dil Chahta Hai (DCH) crowd aren't completely new. Hey, if the legend is something to go by, one Vallab Patel also had many such tendencies until he met someone with the unlikely name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. These people are always there, and with time they change. Most of the DCH crowd that joins the army and goes to NE/Kashmir learns very early on that this "pehle over mey wicket lenge", "aaj haath par mehendi lagaenge" tendency will only get you and your boys killed.

I feel if you put your back into it, this double cross scenario will look really nice. Right now it is something between a James Bond script and a David Dhawan movie. I like both but this is thread has been about details, look at MTS's description of Fatasil Ambari, when other people have put in so much effort, this "GPS guided Durga" angle looks totally out of place. The intention appears to be to make the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis die laughing.

Please understand I don't have a problem with the concept, it is merely that the execution is looking very shaky. I would suggest that someone work on it. I would obviously like that someone to be you - since it is your baby to begin with but I understand if you have something more important to do.
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Post by ramana »

daulat, why not run them by someone else before posting them. I am sorry to see katrina's demise. Hope it was only a front for a deep cover mission.
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Post by Y I Patel »

Major Shabir Hussain of the 3rd Bangla Armoured Regiment knew he would have a stroke if he did not do something about these fricking Jessorie peasants soon. These idiots were just too much! First, they pile on four to a cart with a broken pump casing, then they hurl abuses at their bad tempered bullock and at each other, then they pick a fight with his soldiers when told to get moving... Oh how he missed Dacca and his cultured friends from the University! He made a mental note to pay a "visit" to these morons' hovels and straighten them out as soon as Brig Akhtar's visit was done.

Brigadier Akhtar was due anytime now, and these ******** were showing no signs of relenting. Now one of them was wheezing ingratiatingly at him to provide a truck, for heavens sake! Shabir was trying very hard to project a controlled and commanding presence like his colleague Major Khan from 14 Punjab, but Maj Khan must have never had to deal with dolts like these Jessories!

The guy called Taslimuddin was fawning at Major Hussain's leg and pleading Colonel babu to help the poor weak cousin brothers to get their broken pump to the repair shop 7 kilometers away, relating how the esteemed Colonel's lovable nephews and neices were dying of thirst because their father... wait, what was that car with the flag that just drew up??? Jonorol sahab is here! Surely Jonorol would take pity at these poor disadvantaged wretches who were like his children??? So Taslimuddin droped his ministrations with great alacrity, and trotted with arms outstretched towards to flag car. Major Hussain and his soldiers tried in vain to stop Taslimuddin, but were impeded by the three other bumpkins who seemed to have decided to give their bullock a break and concentrate their energies on cajoling the mighty Bongla army.

Soon Taslimuddin was at Brigadier Akhtar's window, tears streaming down his gaunt cheeks, sobbing hysterically at the travesties of this evil world, beseeching the omnipotent Jonorol's aid in averting the calamity that had visited the poor weak soul now prostrating himself before the wheels of Jonorol's chariot! The Pakistani officer sitting beside Brigadier Akhtar was having a mighty difficult time controlling his mirth, the only way he could stop his guffaws from bursting out was the the wonderment at how these morons had managed to win an independent country for themselves!


***********

Meanwhile, back in tehsil Hamirpur, Madho Singh Jadav was singing loudly and tunelessly as he ferried his milk cans to the Laloo Prasad Yadav Kisan Vikaas Cooperative. This new bullock was so much stronger and better tempered than his old hellraiser Gauri! And to think that young fauji Ghanshyam from his village had offered him thrice the price he had hoped for!! Better not to ask too much about these things. Probably just one more of those schemes that Lalooji was working on for the betterment of kisaans! He just hoped that Ghanshyam remembered the warning to not feed old Gauri oats with her fodder. That made her gassy and even more evil tempered than usual....
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Post by daulat »

boy you guys have high standards! :)

yes, the durga hair flowing thing is all dhavan - so fair enough. she had to kill him, its only fair that she did it in style! ;) besides our mythology is resplendent with lethally violent females, often of great beauty, why not ressurect for modern times?

on the GPS arty thing - it is used in a british army advertising film shown on tv all the time. therefore i concluded that there was nothing unusual about that.
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Post by ramana »

daulat, the head of IIT Mumbai while addressing the latest NDA graduates lauded the upgradation of the simputer with GPS module by the forces. So its ok. Try to work on the deep cover assignment for Durga.
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Post by daulat »

guys - thanks for all the feedback, i am not worthy. i would rather we got more fatasil ambaris and other excellent stories from the truly committed writers on this thread.

btw - i am claiming copyright on durga-uzi-jehadi-mardini! in case this shows up in your local bollywood theatre in the near future, pref with a combat trouser clad bipasha kickin' jehadi butt, you heard it here first! apon ko iska rokra mangta, kya? ;)
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Post by Sunil »

Yaar jo bhi likhna hai likho, go with the flow etc... but style match karo bhai.

All this colorful "gps-durga-hare-rama-hare-krishna" style is there in plenty in mainstream movies and tom clancy and in Aniruddha Bahal's Bunker 13... why go down that beaten path?

Kuch naya banao boss, something different. That has been the emphasis here. Nobody is asking to match Kalki's greatness but something like "The Hunt for K" or "A Whiff of Old Evil" is within sight here. Who knows we might even create something completely new.
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Post by Khalsa »

YI Patel

Khalistanis are not shooting at army people anymore.
Mister its 2004 and not 1984

Move on.... My father served in the army for 22 years +

replace the khalistanis with Hizbul sh1t if you will
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Post by Khalsa »

The Pakistanis were shooting at us well before mister. why don't you refer that.

Reference to khalistanis would hurt a lot of feelings of sikh people who think India as their country. Khalistanis is a word that was used by the militants so as to personify themselves. The fact is Sikhs are Khalsas and and Khalistan should not be used as a dirty word.

Weigh everything Priyank... this is a fictional thread.
Our next COAS is a Khalsa

Besides I rather just wait for Singha's next installment.
He seems to go much better atleast the Khalsa in his installement eats a lot of rations and does well.
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Post by Yerna »

He would not be exposed to all those terrible crashing planes, and they had heard Army guys had to spend a lot of time getting shot at by Khalistani
Khalsa ji, I think the highlighted part should clear any misunderstandings.
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Post by Priyank »

I certainly did not use the word "Khalistani" to mean anything other than the terrorists in Punjab. I was just pointing out that terrorism in Punjab was very much alive at the time Commander Govil would have joined the Naval Academy, more so than in J&K.

However, in deference to your feelings, I will edit out my post.
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Post by JCage »

Khalsa,

The word khalsa has no negative connotations as the word Khalistani.
Please dont be emotional and ascribe unnecessary motives to the poster.

The incidents that YI Patel has described did occur, I grew up with daily reports of the gory incidents of the time perpetrated by these so called Khalistani's. We cant merely look at them and wish that they had never happened. Nor should they hurt the sensibilities of any Sikh, I dont consider the perpetrators to have been following the Sikh faith.

I also know Sikh soldiers who fought against the scum. So whats the issue here?

Does the fact that India has a significant number of Tamilians and we have Tamil Nadu in the Indian Union in the forces etc mean that we cant describe the LTTE as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam?

These events occurred and we just have to take them in our stride, be happy that better times have come and move on. To brush them under our carpet is no solution.

All the above in due deference and no disrespect intended.

All the best.
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katrina analysis

Post by rajpa »

methinks:

sunil's analysis of the katrina like khoobsurat log can be a section of the story itself.

something like the corleone character study section in <>...

sunil?
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Post by JTull »

JCage, you're on the right track. Present day terrorism in the name of religion appeals to the sensibilities of common people who are swayed by the intoxicating mix of extremism with historical and respectful connotations. It takes time before this runs it's course and people of the real faith show the distinction between religion and just toxic idealogy.

Pak misled (sponsored) Sikh extremism is now a thing of the past. It is important to not forget but it is also important to not open old wounds.

Let's move on and keep the narration sensible.
ramana
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Post by ramana »

While it is nice to be politically correct and members can write their feelings, still it is YIP's story. So whats the real issue?
Sunil
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Post by Sunil »

rajpa,

working on just that. give me a few weeks. it takes time to work it in properly.
Nainan
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Post by Nainan »

From,
BRF Mil. Scen. Fans Assn

To
BRF Writers Assn:

Dear Writers
Its been some time since we saw any updates on the scenario. We humbly request you to please provide us with new chapters.

warm regards
BRF Mil. Scen. Fans Assn
rajpa
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Guru and Farid

Post by rajpa »

Guru was debugging his application server code. His was one of the few companies that were writing J2EE compliant servers, and he was working on a complicated piece of server clusters.

"Hi Guru!", he heard this project lead's voice. "Let me introduce you to Farid Abdul Shukkoor. He will be joining our team."

Since then, they, Farid and Guru had done everything together, dating girls, drinking binges... they broke out of their seeming middle class inhibitions, inconsistencies, geekness etc and almost became cool socialites.

They went to the five star hotels, posh discos... Guru found Farid's social skills soothing to his own gawkishness, aiding him tremendously in giving starters to conversations, pre-emptively filling in before the awkward moments, and hitting it off with everybody they met. They were the toast of their company and of the local socialite crowd.. the up and coming software yuppies with high disposable income.

They rented a bachelor pad in town, a nice two bed flat, furnished fully, that included a small weight training kit and a treadmill. It was a rollicking time that they had.

That was two years back.

Later, Farid married Afsana Obaid from Rohtak, had two of his cousins and his brother stay with him in a three bedroom apartment about a couple of kms from Guru's place. He used to visit them often and they had great dinners together. Guru remained a bachelor.

On Dec 11, at 10:30 AM two technology parks at the two corners of the city witnessed bomb blasts.

Guru was hit in his stomach by flying debris as he was entering his workplace. He also had third degree burns on his face, arms and legs and was admitted to the nearest government hospital by some quick thinking, high adrenaline young men who had managed to extricate themselves out of the situation.

Police reports indicated that the blast generated was due to a compact pipeline bundle of gelatine and PETN, chained through the fire escape of three consecutive floors.
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Post by Y I Patel »

His Excellency James Hinson III was his usual personable self. The President has instructed me to convey his deepest condolences and disgust at the latest barbaric attack, Mr. Prime Minister. We share India's pain and sorrow at the latest acts of terror on your soil, and we hope the perpetrators are brought to justice at the earliest. The FBI has developed some very intriguing new approaches to bomb fingerprinting, perhaps they may be of assistance? We are all very concerned about the effects of instability on the booming US-India trade, and the President wants the Secretary of Commerce to finalize his visit to New Delhi and Banglore to ensure that the pace of scientific and commercial exchanges continues to grow at the record rates of the past years.....

The threats were so subtle , Arora thought grimly. They didn't have to be obvious. America knew how imporant international relations had become for an Indian economy that was becoming increasingly dependent on its exports for raising the quality of life. How can a poor refugee from Lahore deny his children their spot in the sun? And yet, this was not a matter of maintaining moderation in the face of provocation any more..

The second visitor was neither so gentle, nor so subtle. He was not very welcome either - Arora would rather have slept with a leper with AIDS rather than have the second meeting. But he had been forced to have ithe meeting by his own party chief. The old pracharak had not come alone. He came with Arora's party chief and the home minister. And he had come directly to the point. We know what got hushed up at Guwahati, he said. And we are begining to hear rumors about something even bigger getting swept under the carpet. This is scandalously craven.

We can't talk about everything we are doing, Arora fumed. We need our flexibility, just as NDA had theirs while conducting Parakram! War is very unpredictable, it will undo all that we have worked so hard to achieve. We are the true representatives of people, you can not threaten us like this!

A puppet wants to masquerade as a true representative of the people? You think palying spy games and snatching toys will stop the enemies of Bharat Mata? Is this the extent of your anger at the barbarities perpetrated on our soil? Very well then. We will not threaten. We will stand back for a week, then the people will take matters in their own hands. Like we did in Gujarat. And the next time we will make the events of 2002 look like one of your maitri sammelans. Goodbye.
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Post by Y I Patel »

The wan faces, the terse summons, the brooding air of silence in PMO.. Gen Shastri could sense the changed atmosphere even before he stepped into the conference room for the hurriedly convened CCS meeting. Arora looked ashen, he thought. What caused him to almost reel back, though, was the presence of the Chiefs of Staff. Sastry was enough of a politician to know that the establishment had just struck back. What followed confirmed his rapidly escalating dread...

The hawk Dighe started the meeting, in place of Arora who just sat silently and listened. Shastri sahab, you have been very remiss in not presenting us options for a more rapid response, Dighe said accusingly. Your office was intended to act as a source of unified wisdom, to educate us on how to deal with these not unfamiliar situations when terrorists hold the entire country hostage! How could you just sit back passively for so long, when all past experience indicates that international reaction kicks in in a matter of days? General sahab was kind enough to educate us on a very interesting exercise that he and his collegues in the sister services had undertaken a while back... something called Exercise Durvasa...

Gruh Mantriji, I am very familiar with that Exercise, Shastri responded desperately. You should know that there are several lacunae in the structure of CDS that would not permit us to execute those plans as visualized... he would have continued, had he not been rudely interrupted by that jhonny come lately army chief. Sir, raksha mantiji has authorised formation of an ad hoc integrated planning and execution authority comprising of the three chiefs of staff. You will continue to be in charge of long term perspective planning, but some mobilization decisions have to be taken rapidly, and it is felt that the three chiefs are much better situated to formulate and implement rapid responses called for in such a situation. We will report to a political committee comprising of gruh mantriji and raksha mantriji, who will advise pradhan mantriji on all actions for the duration of this emergency. An emergency session of the parliament has been called, as should have been done long ago, and you should know that the opposition will unanimously agree to the declaration of a national emergency.

As Shastri walked out, he saw the national security advisor and RAW chief being escorted to their cars. His aide Punia whispered that the intel agencies were being held responsible for the worst intel failure in independent India's history, in not providing any warnings about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Bangladesh and its effects on the NE.

Heads were rolling fast and furious all over New Delhi.....in a raucous and chaotic democracy, a quite and unchallenged coup was taking place...
Last edited by Y I Patel on 16 Dec 2004 01:24, edited 2 times in total.
Sunil
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Post by Sunil »

Haha.. YIP ... you've been planning that since Leila-1 haven't you?

:D :lol: :lol: :D
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Post by Anoop »

That really is a master-stroke, YIP. Turns the conventional wisdom of a coup in Pakistan or Bangladesh, in response to a loose weapon, on its head.
ramana
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Post by ramana »

Moreover its a political coup and not a military one. Wasnt that what happened in Great Britain after the disaster in France in WWII and Churchill took over a National govt.?
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Post by Y I Patel »

India, the cliche goes, is a mystifying country for foreigners. It is no less so for many Indians, and the reasons are not far to see: the country thinks locally and acts locally, speaking in many voices and articulating diverging and contradictory motivations... if India looks divided and chaotic, that is no accident or pretense. It is divided and chaotic. What is difficult to undertand, especially for the lazy intellect, is the slender, subtle, ineffable skein of beliefs and outlooks, the unspoken and sublimated meshing of ideas, the ideals and aspirations born out of centuries of civilzation that hold the land and its inhabitants together even when they are under wildly different rulers and empires...

Gujaratis are from the heartland of India, and they exhibit many of its mystifying characteristics... they have a long tradition of ahimsa, one that caused the rise of a certain Mohandas, son of Karamchand. They are vegetarian, "non-martial", mainly known for being devout lovers of Lakshmi. Their idea of an adventure is to sneak across the border to Rajasthan for VAT Shikshtinine, or to the local dhaba for Cheeken Teeka. Most look and act like they would not hurt a fly - yet, these are the same people who periodically organize themselves in terrifying gangs that overwhelm all attemts to maintain or impose control. These gangs, with typical Gujarati attention to detail, arm themselves with voter rolls and ration card records, then they proceed to root out intended victims from hiding places, then they rape, mutilate and murder wives and daughters while husbands are tied and watch helplessly... and the rest of the country reels in horror and pretends that there is no evil Gujarati lurking in its heart. Yet, the ugly Gujarati lives in every Indian, and manifests himself ever so often: against Sikhs in Delhi, Muslims in Bombay... the list is as long as it is dishonorable. And so it was in Khadia, Ahmedabad, that nervous and watchful eyes of IB, CBI, RSS, and every other Indian organization in the alphabet soup began to pick up the first warning signs.

Every Indian politician worth his (or famously, her) salt knows about this ugly Indian, knows about that emotional but not irrational tipping point that can change an often callous or indifferent citizenery into a frothing, ravening horde... a horde that can rip apart in days what has taken the country decades to nurture... So priority number one for every ruling dispensation in New Delhi and in every state and union territory is the same: prevent this ugly Indian from coming out, whatever it takes. The easiest way is to be brutal, and few countries can be as brutal on its citizens as India is. But even brutality stops working after a point, so every ruler of India tries, first and foremost, to avoid that eventuality. Indian politicians, truth be told, are not afraid of Indians dying. Thousands of avoidable deaths take place in India every day, thousands of indignities that pass with barely a ripple across the psyche of the nation. And yet, even a single act of omission or commission can sometimes cause the amorphous mass to crystallize into Vishnu's Vikraal Swarup, into Shiva's Rudra Swarup, into Kaali, Durga, Mahachandi.

Arora was more of an academic than a politician, and his only error was in miscalculating how close at hand that tipping point was. His instincts were to count on the indifference and callousness of ordinary Indians in finessing a low profile solution.... but events beyond his control; unseen and uncontrollable forces were brewing that would make events spiral to some unimagined eventuality. The old pracharak sensed it; Arora's party chief, who was no mean politician despite her aloof public persona, sensed it; the "political" members of Arora's cabinet sensed it.

The meeting took place at the home of the minister for Human Resources, after the old pracharak had delivered his message. It was a quiet, respectful meeting. Aroraji was praised for his heroic achievements in uplifting the burden on the poorest masses of India, for taking the fruits of liberalization to the remotest corners of the country. His inititaives in pushing forward the VAT scheme, in implementing the rozgar yojnas and gramin vikaas yojnas were praised fulsomely, he was urged to redouble his efforts in making sure that the poor continue to feel the benefits of the ruling dispensation's concern for their well-being... then, almost as an afterthought, and with the greatest of understatement, the Human Resoureces minister brought up the unsettling situation in Assam... the home and defense minister energetically interjected that Pradhan Mantriji was rightfully occupied in his developmental efforts and could not be distracted by these unfortunate events - and everyone, including a dumbstruck Arora, agreed that an informal group needed to be formed that would continue to monitor the situation and lighten Arora's onerous burden.

In any other county, a leader who is seen as a failure would be denounced publicly and the successor would trumpet coming changes - in some countries and cultures, the disposed leader would fare much worse. Not so in India. Indians would regard the loss of a person with unimpeachable integrity and transperent good faith as a great loss, so what if he was felt to have erred in a matter of vital national interest... Arora got asked, very reverentially at that, to attend to other tasks while others would handle the "issue" in NE. Many others across New Delhi faced the same fate - they got quietly reassigned where possible; some had "heart attack" or other medical emergency; some had to attend to urgent "family business".... Dighe became the public face of the working group in charge of handling the "NE Issue", but the real power lay elsewhere - just where, no one exactly knew. But India is like that onlee!
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Post by Sunil »

Okay time for a quick strike. I will build this up as I go along.

Manoj Avinash Dighe, the first born of the Dighe family of Satara, Maharashtra, was now "incharge" as the MOD Ronen put it between his customary giggles.

Avinash Yashwant Dighe had left his hometown of Mahuli, in Satara District of Maharashtra State, just before the family's fortune collapsed in a surge of land reform that followed India's independence. The Dighes were CKPs (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus) with a long history in the region. Family lore had it that the Dighes had marched shoulder to shoulder with everyone from Samarth Ramdas to Jhansi ki Rani. Not that there wasn't any truth in those things but the recent Dighes owed their wealth to the fact that the Shahu sansthan that ruled the region had summarily been placed under british rule but the land grants made under the sansthan's authority were not reassigned. With the Sansthan gone, none was going to challenge the Dighe family's appropriation of the "Sansthanik" label. That is how the family had risen to local fame in the post 1857 era.

Appasaheb Yashwantrao had seven sons and three daughters. The land would have to be divided among atleast seven people in the pre Hindu-Marriage Act era. The pieces of land were quite small already and then Appasaheb got caught up in the influence of local social reformer. Under this influence he gave back large portions of the land to the shetkaris (farmers). This created a problem - the remaining pieces of land were very very small. Avinash saw the future and realised that the piece of land that he would inherit would be too small to sustain the lifestyle that he was used to. So around a decade before independence Avinash and his young wife Vandana left Mahuli for the port city of Bombay and using his father's contact, a lawyer in the Bombay High Court, he got a job in the Police Department. Through the 40s Avinashrao rose through the ranks, and with each promotion came power - power to dominate those around him. By the time Avinashrao reached the rank of Circle Inspector, he was taxing most of the brothels, hawkers, satta (gambling) rackets and matka (hooch) dens in the Gamdevi area.

Manojrao grew up in police housing in Naigaon. His friends were all the children of other police officers and khaki was probably the first color he set eyes on. His father's money had enabled him to attend a private school run by a local catholic charity and Avinashrao felt that Manoj should become "someone big" but it came as no surprise to Vandana that Manoj chose to give Indian Police Service Exam after graduating from Kirti College with a Bachelor of Science degree. Avinashrao was not pleased but then Manoj seemed to have become impossible to talk to. This was the beginning of Manoj's rebellious phase.

As a young DySP in Nagpur, Manojrao quickly made a name for himself in the papers killing a gang of wanted dacoits. The Hitvada carried a photo of him on the front page with headlines screaming his name. A few years later another high profile encounter occured with Naxals that were attempting to pass through Manojrao's jurisdiction. This would normally have resulted in a police medal of some sort - but there was a problem - the "Naxals" were actually relatives of a politician from Gadchiroli district. They were "Naxals" in the technical sense, but for the better part of their time they protected the politicians illegal timber rackets in the district and quite obviously the man was upset. It was the intervention of the father that saved the day otherwise Manoj would have ended up spending a long time as a passed over DySP in Washim or Hingoli District.

The incident changed Manojrao's view of the world. A sense of cynicism took hold and the idealism and positivism instilled by the Catholic schooling and the sheltered childhood washed away in a flood of anger. As Manojrao stood with the official reprimand in his hand, he seethed. Like all men of his time, Manojrao turned his anger inwards. Avinashrao watched his son's predicament with amusement. Privately he was thrilled that the incident had not spoiled Manoj's prospects of marriage to the beautiful Sayali Karnik. She was the daughter of Avinashrao's old friend Shripad Karnik, and there was little chance of it happening but still Avinashrao was worried. The father never let the son forget who bailed him out of that mess. The rebelious phase of Manojrao's life was now over.

As part of his punishment for the incident of Nagpur, Manoj was transferred to Aurangabad town. During his stay there - a place of worship was desecrated a month before a local election. As the rioting raged for two weeks, Manojrao carefully collected evidence and filed a case against a popular local lawyer who was running for office in the election as an independent candidate. The case was mostly make-believe, but the judge had found the entire allegation scandalous, and so issued a non-bailable warrant against the lawyer and that tarnished the man's image. The election had gone over to the ruling party's candidate and Manoj's name had fallen on the Chief Minister's ears. From that day on, Manojrao's fame grew. He became the fixer - the man who got things done.

His last posting before he quit service was as a Asst. Commissioner in the Bombay Police Crime Branch where he made a very tidy sum by brokering a deal between a notorious gangster by the name of Wangya and local diamond merchants. Wangya was an extrotionist who had a penchant for kidnapping young women related to diamond merchants. The merchants usually forked out large sums of money for the women to be returned unharmed. The merchants would have put a contract on Wangya himself but Wangya was also the landing agent for illegal gold and currency shipments for a man named Memon. Everyone called Mr. Memon - Bhai and respected him. The diamond merchants needed gold and currency to ballast their illegal transactions, and they needed also needed Wangya to sort out "business disputes" in an out-of-court way. Again Manojrao saw opportunity when he heard that Wangya's sister, Anita, was due to have a child in a few months. Manojrao detained her for questioning at his police thana and informed the president of diamond merchants sangh of the matter. Wangya was quite upset but Manojrao told him that she would have a healthy delivery if Wangya agreed to stop the kidnappings in exchange for an insurance from the diamond dealers. The deal went through and the diamond merchants showed their gratitude in the obvious way. Bhai was amused with Manoj's ingenuity and gave his blessings to the affair. The deal held till Wangya fell foul of Bhai and was executed on his orders. Bhai himself was killed later by Karim Lala's Pathan Gang in a battle for control of narcotics distribution. Manojrao was beyond caring long before that, the tidy sum from the merchants and Bhai's blessings eventually helped launch a political career with the local Samajwadi Navnirman Party, from there to national status, had been an arduous journey, but he was finally there.

Whenever Manojrao had a problem - he instinctively turned to the Men in Khaki and for their part - they gave without hesitation knowing that rewards would follow. Manojrao had never let them down. As a member of parliament he had attended every police funeral he could. As terrorism raged in Punjab and Kashmir he had repeatedly struggled to ensure that money was allocated to get modern arms and personal protection for the police - so what if his brother owned the largest company manufacturing police uniforms in the country? His wife headed a private foundation that helped police widows find employment. Manojrao had donated a sizable portion of the wealth bequeathed to him by his parents after their untimely death in a car accident in a trust that paid for the construction of schools for policemen's children. A hospital that offered free treatment to the close relatives of police officers in Mumbai was opened with donations from Manojrao's family members. If ever the overworked, underpaid and underappreciated policemen of India had a patron saint - Manojrao was it.

When the cabinet was formed from the coalition partners, tongues had begun to wag about the raw deal that Manojrao had been given. The chatterati had their reasons but they were missing a point - Arora and Dighe were quite a pair. In some sense they were opposites, Arora - the academic, the bureaucrat and Anandrao the street thug, the bad cop... while Aroraji had grown up watching his people get kicked around, Manojrao had made life out of kicking as*.

Now effectively the "Lord Protector" of the Republic, Manojrao stared out of his window into the yard of South Block. The Director of the Intelligence Bureau, the topmost police officer in the country, Sri. M. S. Dubey, looked on with a sense of visible pride... for once things were the way they should be. Next to him the Secretary MHA M. Unnikrishnan eyed the biscuits that were sitting next to his cup of tea... all that sugar thought Unnikrishnan, da*n this diabetes!!.... and slowly he reached for the cream filled biscuit when Manojrao shot him a look, he was aware of Unni's condition, and with that Unni's hand backed away. ... Manojrao was in a pensive mood, the CCS meeting had gone of predictably. Even Mighlaniji's questions about "internationals needing evidence" had been handled by giving him a copy of Munawar Ehsan's confession. The meeting with the old pracharak and the PM he had arranged, but that was not sufficient. The old pracharak had his heart set in the right place, but every now and then he came up short...

Manojrao reached for his cellphone...

Hundreds of miles away, in the police post atop the water tower on the Juhapura-Vejalpur "border", SSP Mazhar Momeen of the Central Reserve Police force answer the call.
Last edited by Sunil on 16 Dec 2004 23:20, edited 28 times in total.
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