What is the best military leadership style for the Armed Forces? Difficult question. We have all seen some genial souls succeed. On the other hand, absolute tyrants also succeed. Professionally competent ones succeed and so do those whose IQ equals that of boiled potatoes. I guess nature loves equilibrium and…
Category: Humour in Uniform
Life in the Forces. Coursemates! Devils and Angels
Navy Coursemates Reunion Ahoy! “There is not a word yet, for old friends that you’ve just met” – Jim Henson. This could well describe the joy of meeting old friends at a Navy coursemates reunion. We were a batch of 297 coursemates at the National Defence Academy (NDA). And even…
Humour in Uniform – If it is Simple, Make it Difficult!
As most of my 12 readers will know, I spent 35 years plus in the Navy. And, I loved every moment of it – the camaraderie, the ceremonies, the uniform, everything. The stand out feature of the Navy however, was the ability of the powers that be, to add a…
Naval Officer Tales. May God Bless the Ethereal Ms Madhu Sapre!
Most of my 12 readers will know that the Navy conducts a ‘Navy Nite’ (earlier called the ‘Navy Ball’) every year sometime in early December as part of the Navy Week festivities. This Ball is quite popular amongst the citizenry of some of our major cities, especially Mumbai, Delhi and…
Humour with a Twist. What’s in a Name? Or for that matter, in a Number?
The Navy decided one fine day, sometime in 2011, that handsome Captain RK Dahiya (my seven readers will know that that is me) was the most appropriate guy to commission (ceremoniously induct) a new ship for our Navy from, and in, Russia. Excited at this honour, and pumped to the…
Life in the Services. ‘Cross country runs’ are Hell!
This post is dedicated to our dear departed course-mate, the ever smiling, ever positive, Joginder Chandna. Chandna was born to run and was, to my amazement, happiest when participating in Marathons, burning up the miles with his graceful and fluid running strides. May his soul rest in eternal peace. My…
Navy Humour Stories. Life is the Greatest equaliser!
Having just been promoted to Captain in the Navy, I was called to Naval Headquarters, New Delhi for some work. Ordinarily, an official move such as this should be a smooth affair, with vehicle and accommodation being arranged by the Navy. Equally ordinarily however, the vehicle remains elusive. But surprise,…