Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Army Experience!
Hey, for those of you who don't know about it, I love playing music. In fact I love playing it enough to not join my job and want to play forever. Well, in the aforementioned noble quest, we (Neville and I) were given the most unique opportunity, to play for the country's elite, the army.
They got in touch with us via RJ Rajiv (that story is for another day), and we were told that we were to play country songs for a very special gathering. We agreed, as always, and went off to the army cantonment to see what it was all about.
First impression, professionalism. They don't just let any tom, dick and harry enter the place. You park your vehicle outside, state your business at the gate and they check to see whether it is authentic and then you are given permission to enter their gates. The way they walk, it's like keeping your chest out and stomach in is the way everybody on the planet should walk. Their uniforms, their shoes, their discipline is all a model to behold. A lot of my friends in college were from the Sainik School background and far more used to it than myself, who has never had any such experience.
They had a couple of howitzers kept there, just lying around, and I was like "Oh Shit!". Nevertheless, we were shown to the second-in-command of this particular troop, his name is Capt. Joshi. and he is one impressive guy. What I mean to say is that this is how an officer should be, whether he is of the Indian Army or of any software firm or whatever. It is so often that I see a guy who's an officer in his company but is a total lout and who never makes any impression whatsoever, it's depressing. Here was this guy, who could rip you apart with his bare hands (trust me) and still was talking in the most courteous polite tones ever, giving us the respect for being musicians!! We were served water, tea and coffee within 2 minutes of stepping into his office. The discipline is astounding, any junior officer salutes and asks for permission to enter the room before stepping in, in contrast to my college years when we walked out of class without as much as a look at who is teaching.
The Captain explained the basic gist of the gig to us, told us we would be paid, asked us to not charge exorbitant amounts as they were a non-profit organization, all of which was super-cool with us. The best thing he said was, once this gig happens, you guys can come here anytime, we have Nike, Adidas and such brands available here, all at 1/4th price!! And the booze prices are unbelievable. That aside, it would always be fun to just chat with them.
We then proceeded to the commanding officer's chambers. I couldn't get the guy's rank for some reason, but he was higher than a major, and had previously been a pilot. Huge hunk of a man, even though he spoke to us in the most jovial of tones, it was obvious that this is not a guy anybody would want to cross. I am guaranteeing that any of those guys give a slap, then that will have the victim in some discomfort for some time. He told us how he got the venue, he spoke to the venue's manager who was like, we don't give this to even the high ranking Tata Steel officials, this guy said, I'm not a high ranking Tata Steel official. We are out there killing people with our bare hands for you'll and you say you can't give us a room?? Needless to say the room was theirs, such a compelling argument never fails to strike home. He was talking about being an RJ if he were to resign from the army!!
We were there the next day too, for the soundcheck and so on. Coolest thing, we got to ride in their jeeps, with guys with guns as our protection!!! Speaking to Capt. Joshi, he told me that he had completed his MCA and was running a web designing firm with his friend when he decided to join the army. The last posting they had before Jamshedpur was at the Chinese border, 800 metres from the border. They have a policy of rotating their war zone-peace zone shifts so that their family lives don't take a massive beating. 4 years in Jamshedpur and they are leaving for Rajouri in J$K on the 4th on August. On asking Capt. Joshi about the experience, the guy was literally rubbing his hands with glee, he was like, this is why we are here, this is what we do, we don't like sitting in peace zones for too long. I was like wow! They are something else. This particular troop will be manning the LOC there, and Capt. Joshi says that once he sends his men up there, he aint asking them to come down for the next 2-3 months, since they need to get completely acquainted with the terrain and everything about the land. What a difficult life, but they seem to hunger for it.
Onto the show day then, it was an amazing experience, Army guys look smart even without the uniform! We had 2 generals in attendance as well, very small restricted show. Lieutenants and above only I think. Some of the wives were in attendance as well, a very well set-up room, good food and drinks in supply and the guys had a blast. To watch them completely unwind is brilliant, to have a discussion on Bob Dylan lyrics with a general is something out of this world.
This experience is definitely something I shall forever remember. God Bless them. We are in very safe and capable hands. Jai Hind.
They got in touch with us via RJ Rajiv (that story is for another day), and we were told that we were to play country songs for a very special gathering. We agreed, as always, and went off to the army cantonment to see what it was all about.
First impression, professionalism. They don't just let any tom, dick and harry enter the place. You park your vehicle outside, state your business at the gate and they check to see whether it is authentic and then you are given permission to enter their gates. The way they walk, it's like keeping your chest out and stomach in is the way everybody on the planet should walk. Their uniforms, their shoes, their discipline is all a model to behold. A lot of my friends in college were from the Sainik School background and far more used to it than myself, who has never had any such experience.
They had a couple of howitzers kept there, just lying around, and I was like "Oh Shit!". Nevertheless, we were shown to the second-in-command of this particular troop, his name is Capt. Joshi. and he is one impressive guy. What I mean to say is that this is how an officer should be, whether he is of the Indian Army or of any software firm or whatever. It is so often that I see a guy who's an officer in his company but is a total lout and who never makes any impression whatsoever, it's depressing. Here was this guy, who could rip you apart with his bare hands (trust me) and still was talking in the most courteous polite tones ever, giving us the respect for being musicians!! We were served water, tea and coffee within 2 minutes of stepping into his office. The discipline is astounding, any junior officer salutes and asks for permission to enter the room before stepping in, in contrast to my college years when we walked out of class without as much as a look at who is teaching.
The Captain explained the basic gist of the gig to us, told us we would be paid, asked us to not charge exorbitant amounts as they were a non-profit organization, all of which was super-cool with us. The best thing he said was, once this gig happens, you guys can come here anytime, we have Nike, Adidas and such brands available here, all at 1/4th price!! And the booze prices are unbelievable. That aside, it would always be fun to just chat with them.
We then proceeded to the commanding officer's chambers. I couldn't get the guy's rank for some reason, but he was higher than a major, and had previously been a pilot. Huge hunk of a man, even though he spoke to us in the most jovial of tones, it was obvious that this is not a guy anybody would want to cross. I am guaranteeing that any of those guys give a slap, then that will have the victim in some discomfort for some time. He told us how he got the venue, he spoke to the venue's manager who was like, we don't give this to even the high ranking Tata Steel officials, this guy said, I'm not a high ranking Tata Steel official. We are out there killing people with our bare hands for you'll and you say you can't give us a room?? Needless to say the room was theirs, such a compelling argument never fails to strike home. He was talking about being an RJ if he were to resign from the army!!
We were there the next day too, for the soundcheck and so on. Coolest thing, we got to ride in their jeeps, with guys with guns as our protection!!! Speaking to Capt. Joshi, he told me that he had completed his MCA and was running a web designing firm with his friend when he decided to join the army. The last posting they had before Jamshedpur was at the Chinese border, 800 metres from the border. They have a policy of rotating their war zone-peace zone shifts so that their family lives don't take a massive beating. 4 years in Jamshedpur and they are leaving for Rajouri in J$K on the 4th on August. On asking Capt. Joshi about the experience, the guy was literally rubbing his hands with glee, he was like, this is why we are here, this is what we do, we don't like sitting in peace zones for too long. I was like wow! They are something else. This particular troop will be manning the LOC there, and Capt. Joshi says that once he sends his men up there, he aint asking them to come down for the next 2-3 months, since they need to get completely acquainted with the terrain and everything about the land. What a difficult life, but they seem to hunger for it.
Onto the show day then, it was an amazing experience, Army guys look smart even without the uniform! We had 2 generals in attendance as well, very small restricted show. Lieutenants and above only I think. Some of the wives were in attendance as well, a very well set-up room, good food and drinks in supply and the guys had a blast. To watch them completely unwind is brilliant, to have a discussion on Bob Dylan lyrics with a general is something out of this world.
This experience is definitely something I shall forever remember. God Bless them. We are in very safe and capable hands. Jai Hind.
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