Bharat Darshan Memories (Dec 17th, 2011 to Feb 10th, 2012)

I may go for tours and excursions with friends in future. However, I may never match the excitement and learning that I derived from the 56 day long Winter Study Tour (Bharat Darshan as we popularly call). I was lucky to be part of such group which was travelling from J & K to Tamil Nadu (touched all the states on the way) and then to Andamans and West Bengal as well. The tour became more memorable as I was also given the responsibility as the Group Leader of my proud Group IX. Arranging for accommodation, food, travel, tickets for the places of interest, interacting with the district administration over all these matters was an experience indeed and I can never forget the same for life.

Initially it looked painful to discharge those responsibilities – calling collectors, liaison officers everywhere, discussing the programme schedule with them, then ensuring that all my friends in the group are informed and finally seeing that programme goes off smoothly. However, I realized within the first week that I started enjoying this role and from then I never looked back throughout the tour be it for troubleshooting or arranging for extra visits.

I always feel that one of the main purposes of our training at the academy and attachments like this is to teach us learning to adjust with colleagues in a group and becoming a team player. I feel that Bharat Darshan serves this purpose most wonderfully. There are umpteen circumstances in the tour that reveal our personality to our friends in entirety and also reflect that of others. My experience as the group leader and also as a member of the group helped me learn being a team player, appreciate my colleagues better and be responsive to their needs and sentiments.

I could not have asked for better group mates than who were with me in our group. We began the tour with many apprehensions about group dynamics (there were already warnings in the tour briefing that we should not fight openly in public). However, our group shared remarkable chemistry and everybody got along very well. There were neither misgivings nor any bickering. The differences were appreciated and everybody respected others' point of view. I am personally grateful as a group leader to all my group mates for never making fuss about the facilities offered to us, attending even the most boring of attachments and making Bharat Darshan a memorable lifetime experience for all of us.

Accommodation

We were fortunate to get the best of accommodation with exquisite facilities as well as experience the basic ones with minimal facilities. Staying along the Line of Control in army camps with the Company Commanders is a lifetime experience. It is so inspiring to see our jawans staying in places with harsh conditions and minimal facilities to protect their brethren. Similarly, staying in tents in Sathyamangalam forests and taking bath in Moyannar river is also an unmatchable experience by itself.

The Narmada Sagar guest house in Khandwa (M.P.), the South Point Circuit House in Port Blair, Dolphin resort in Havelock island (Andamans), the Jalandhar Circuit house, Thamizhagam guest house in Ooty (was once the property of the erstwhile Jodhpur maharaja) are some of the wonderful stays we had in the tour. At the same time, the shabbily maintained ones like the VIP Guest House in Dalibagh in Lucknow also come to mind.

Food

We got the opportunity to taste variety of cuisines all over the country. We had the fortune of tasting the most lavish delicacies in five star hotels as well as taste the most basic food like the mid day meals cooked at schools. We were also fortunate to eat variety of foods while being on the move – like many dinners in the trains, breakfast in the aero planes, and lunch on the boat in Sunderbans. I cannot afford to miss to write about the food that we ate in religious places – langar in Amritsar golden temple, breakfast in Jain math in Shravanabelagola, Karnataka, and lunch in Belur temple in Hassan (Karnataka) etc. Personally, I enjoyed the South Indian food the most. After reaching Karnataka, I discarded all spoons and bowls and started eating with hands in banana leaves.

Modes of transport

We enjoyed all kinds of modes of transport. I do not think we missed any mode. Army in the Surankot (Jammu) sector made us experience travelling in their jeeps, vans. We also walked and trekked there along the Line of Control and in other Company Operating Bases. We also did enjoy the jungle walk in Sathyamangalam forests in Tamil Nadu when we were with the Special Task Force. We travelled in all classes of Indian Railways like AC, Chair Car etc. However, the most memorable among the train journeys was the short one from Ooty to Conoor in the toy train in Nilgiris. This route is already a UNESCO declared world heritage route (celebrated its centenary in 2009).

Journeys in water were no less either. The boat ride in Narmada Sagar dam in Khandwa, Pykara lake in Ooty are the small ones to begin with. Later the two hour cruiser ride from Port Blair to Havelock island in Andamans was the longest in terms of distance and memorable as well. Finally the boat ride on MV Krishna boat in Dhamkhali in Sunderbans in West Bengal is also an experience by itself.

Temple Darshan

It would not be rhetorical if I write that our Bharat Darshan tour was a tour of religious places. We saw worship places of all religions. We visited Golden Temple in Amritsar, Nangali Saheb Gurudwara in Surankot (Jammu) and had enjoyed langar. We also saw Bara Imambara in Lucknow, Bibi ka maqbara in Aurangabad, Sufi shrines and Aurangazeb tomb in Qultabad and Daulatabad near Aurangabad. We also had the opportunity to visit many Jain and Budhist temples, shrines and monuments like in Ajantha, Ellora in Maharastra, Shravanabelagola, Badami, Halebidu in Karnataka.

Coming to Hindu temples or monuments, listing them itself is a difficult task. We visited Badami caves, Pattadakkal, Aihole in Bagalkot district (Karnataka), Belur and Halebidu in Hassan district (Karnataka). We also saw Durgiana temple in Amritsar, Grishneshwar temple (one of the 12 Jyotirlingas) in Ellora (Maharastra), Omkareshwar in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh), Dakshineswar Kali temple, Belur Math and Kalighat Kali temples in Kolkata. However, the most beautiful of all was the Chennakesava temple in Belur (Hassan) and the Shiva temple in Halebidu. Most interesting of all is the fact that we missed our main Shrine Board attachment with Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Jammu due to certain gaps in communication between the academy and the army.

The best of attachments

Army attachment was the best attachment I enjoyed the most. Wearing the combat dress and doing night patrol along the fence on the border made me feel like a real soldier. The opportunity to shoot with AK-47, Light Machine Gun, INSAS rifle was so thrilling. Getting to know about so much military lingo like CASO, SADO, ADP, COB, TOB etc. was very interesting. We got to interact with some bright young minds in similar age category like the Captains, Majors in various battalions. Interaction with Colnel SS Brar in 39 RR (Granediers) is still fresh in my mind. I also felt like being part of their battalion when they presented us a wonderful memento before departure.

I felt so emotional whenever I went to these armed forces attachments like in Jammu, STF in Sathyamangalam, National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune, and National Security Guard (NSG) in Manesar. I strongly feel that all our youngsters should be exposed to opportunities working in armed forces so that they can consider this option seriously when they make career choices.

Tourism attachment in Andamans is another beautiful experience. Talking bath in Radha Nagar beach in rain and running along the shore in the beach was awesome to say the least. Morning walk along the Kala Pathar beach still looks so fresh in my memory. However, the most thrilling was the scuba diving along the jetty. I only read about coral reefs during preparation time in Geography. But, seeing the countless colorful fishes and other creatures beneath the blue waters only made me humble about the creativity and imagination of the Mother Nature. Sound and light show in the Cellular jail in Port Blair made me travel back in history and remember emotionally the sacrifices made for attaining our independence.

And the not so better attachments

Kolkata was not very inspiring in terms of work culture and ambience. I felt as if people there keep living in the past and do not look forward to meeting future challenges. Rabindra Sangeet, Subhash Bose’s contribution to independence, poet Nazrul’s poetry are no doubt inspiring. However, the tiring traffic congestion, filth and dirt on the streets, laid back attitude of most of the workers were very disappointing. The public sector attachment with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Lucknow was also not inspiring as we saw most the employees idling their time in the workshops. Perhaps, the tour is purposively designed in such a way to expose us to all kinds of realities.

Rich mix of emotions

The physical drill imparted to soldiers and the rigor in army made my heart pump more blood and get charged up. Whenever I saw jawans in combat dresses, I told myself to be physically fit and be ready for any challenge if the need comes. The serene surroundings in religious places especially in Ajantha caves made me spiritually calm and I felt like spending some time meditating in those caves like the Budhist monks few centuries ago. The lush green forests in Sathyamangalam and the clean blue waters in Andamans made me immerse in the tranquility of nature. Lack of basic amenities like roads, electricity, and drinking water in most of the villages that we visited reminded me of the responsibility that I need to deliver as an administrator.

I do not know how many such emotions that Bharat Darshan evoked in me as we kept visiting place after place. I personally got an opportunity to talk to so many varieties of people like the army officers, jawans, collectors, police, drivers, hotel attendants, liaison officers, villagers and whom not. Perhaps, this is one the best ways to train us as future administrators whereby we need to learn the art of interaction with everybody in the society. I may not visit most of the places that we saw in this tour and very less likely in the same group. But the memories will surely stay forever.