0:09 I really liked you know the logo of this particular event there to dream and I'd like to start with a quotation from a gentleman called Colonel T .E. Lawrence the British intelligence officer who led a revolt of the Arabian tribes you know in the First World War he said and I quote all men dream but not equally all men dream but not equally those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds they wake up by day to find that it is
0:56 vanity but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men for they act their dreams with their eyes open to make it possible those are the guys who live their dream who follow their dream who follow their rainbow you may not get the pot of gold but you will have the greater the better part is the journey to the end of your own rainbow so ladies and gentlemen my dear young ladies and gentlemen I am going to tell you about my journey through life I had a dream and that dream had you know crystallized in the 8th and the 9th and the 10th classes when I was in school
1:45 in St. Aloysius and Jabalpur and I used to read there Loisus and Jabalpur and I used to read there was you know those days commando comics small little comics at 50 paisa you know and we used to buy them and exchange them so they were about the first world war about the second world war and from then on you know your head was cramped full of images of people charging people banating people leading attacks people defending etc so I was generally quite clear on what and where my path lay but you know I was the studious kind I had an elder brother he was captain he joined the army he was tall handsome guy very very outgoing great sportsman
2:31 great cricketer great hit with the girls so you know he joined the Indian army and he became a captain he was killed suddenly in the 1960s He was killed suddenly in the 1965 war with Pakistan. One fine day we just got the news that he had been blasted to bits by an M16 mine. This is a mine that jumps up, comes up till your waist and then explodes. So I mean, there is very little of you that can be left. We didn't get his dead body, we just got a copper urn, you know, with his ashes. They collected whatever pieces they could, the unit, and then... they sent it back to us. So I was quite shocked. Till that time
3:18 I used to think of the armed forces, but it hadn't really crystallized. Unlike my brother, I was the studious type. I used to have, I was hardly worried about my appearance. I used to have ink all over my hands and my clothes. Half the time I used to be in the library. and not much of a sportsman etc etc so my dad said I think you should try for the IAS And not much of a sportsman, etc. you will make a good babu but when my brother was died I knew what I had to do there was a dream and now I was crystal clear which way the path lay so without telling mom and dad I applied for my India exam you know at those days about one lakh forty
4:03 fifty thousand people use You know, and those days about 1 lakh, 40, 50 ,000 people used to take that exam. So I generally did tell my folks where I was going and I went and gave my written. And then, you know, to the surprise of everybody, I got through the written. actually, people weren't too worried, but I got through my written and then, you know, I had to go for the services selection board. And that services selection board came in Bangalore. This selection board came in Bangalore. ahead of Bangalore, the services selection board itself was in Mysore and the medical etc. had to be done in Bangalore. So quite obviously I couldn't tell mom and dad that I'm going to a friend. Delhi, you can go to a friend because you have relations there. I couldn't go that fast. So I told them I have opted for the army. And they were shocked. Because
4:52 this is the year of the Lord, 66. Just last year, my brother had been killed in September, 65. this last year my brother had been killed in September 65 66 I you know December I had given the paper the results had come March and I was ready to go for my SSB in 66 so there was a big tamasha in the house big furor big fight who the hell told you why did you do it without asking us and our family they take a rakha aki homey ko bhejne hai bache for you know and etc etc so then my dad said okay let it be a trial run for your IAS. I want you to join. He had a dream. One of my boys will be in the IAS. So I went and I gave my SSB and dad said look you won't make it. So I'm quite sure. You know because you're not the type. You're not the military
5:40 type. So you won't make it. So I said okay fine dad let's see. So we went and gave that exam and of course that SSB service selection board and then the final medicine. the service selection board and then the final merit list came out and to everybody's surprise and my own I was number two in the all India merit list in the army, navy, in the airport so so then I went to my dad and I said dad that's not now let me go see I've done well and all that you said I won't make it though now he said no no no this was a trial run for the IAS So now he said no no no this was a trial run for the IAS and then he refused to let me go and I was quite shaken because the day for the opening of the NDA
6:26 came and went and I was still waiting at my house and you know in the meantime the the armed forces authorities they send a thing called you know it's called that indemnity bond so your mom your dad has to sign that indemnity bond that if in the course of the training in the National Defense Academy, your son gets killed, he gets injured, he loses his arm, leg, foot, eye, arm, whatever, etc. You won't claim any compensation from the government. So he has to sign that. So you can imagine this was the year of the Lord, 1966 had come to an end, it was 67 now, and just after losing one boy, he had to sign. that I won't claim any
7:14 compensation, I refused to sign. And then I got very worried because I saw my dream slipping away from my hands, literally, you know, like water going through your fingers. That's the feeling you got. But anyway, so one fine day I packed up my bags. It was 10 days since the NDA had started. Dad hadn't let me go. So, you know, I was in Jabalpur, we lived in that old, huge, old style bungalow, so I called for a rickshaw, I loaded my trunk and he said, where are you going? I said, to the NDA. So, you know, I was in Jabalpur. We lived in that old... Dad said, but I told you, you won't go. I said, I'm going. He said, what about your indemnity bond? I said, you send it later. I'm going. And my dad was quite shocked, so he thought I was just trying to pull an act
8:01 and scare him, so he let me sit in the rickshaw and the rickshaw started and when he found out, He let me sit in the rickshaw and the rickshaw started and when he found I was almost out of the gate so then he came back and he held the rickshaw from there and he said I can see that you want to go but don't go like this, don't fight with the house, with the family and go, you go tomorrow. So the next day he took me in his old Austin 48 car, dropped me in the railway station and he asked me are you sure you want to go? I said yeah. That's the way. So that's how my dream started. Day later I was at Pune, the National Defense Academy, sun -kissed, bright day. I don't know how many of you
8:46 have been to the NDA. You must go there. It's a grand sight. We've got the Sudan block, the building. You know, the government of Sudan had given us about 80 ,000 pounds those days, which was a princely sum. and with that instead of building a statue of a war memorial they built the NDA as a living war memorial it has the Ashoka pillar and I mean it's grand so I felt so very nice that we were there and then started a journey which lasted actually 41 years if you count my training period three years in the NDA one year at the Indian Military Academy Dehradun and then 37 years in the NDA. And with that... the academy in Dehradun and then 37 years as an officer in uniform it's been long long long journey but
9:35 my dear boys and girls when I look back over it when I look back at the time that I have spent if I had my life all over again I would still do the same I would still join the NDA so we finished our training in the NDA where the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, they train together. we finished our training at the NDA where the army the navy and it is ragdha of the highest order, but you know they really take good care of you and you bond. like hell because when the pressure from the environment is so heavy, the friendships that you form are lifelong and lasting. And you may have just heard that the Army Chief, the Navy Chief and the Air Chief that we had the highest soldier
10:22 of this country and then from there we went to the Indian military academy Dehradun we were given 10 days leave to see mama and papa okay and at the end of it we got into trains half of us went to the western front most of us went to the front in Bangladesh and I remember I had got into the Assam mill so about 25 30 remember i had gotten into the assam mail so about 25 30 of us who were coming from various places assembled and assam mail broad gauge then it used to change into assam mail meter gauge and finally you know we landed up at siliguri this was 25th of november we were at siliguri and when we got down again a bright cheerful winter morning like this you know and when we got down
11:12 at that railway station we could see thousands of troops When we got down at that railway station we could see thousands of troops with steel helmets with their rifles with bayonets gleaming in the sun. You know that station had no shed those days. It used to be out in the open and the bayonets were shimmering in the sunlight and you know the first thing that your eyes flashed was with those bayonets. So we got down, we were not sure when we would see one another again, how many of us would live. one by you know one another again how many of us would live you know so we were hugging one another bye -bye and bye great chap good chap jolly good fellow etc so our boys came up to us saluted and said saab jaldi karo paltan bangladesh mein hai yeh loo sahab apna yeh stand pharo sahab tusi you know in good punjabi stand
12:02 pharo sahab binat cha leo ki binat chala le na Anything can happen any time Okay? You say this is the same I say don't worry You say this is the same Move, move, move So we got into the trucks We got into the vehicles We moved We joined our units Ladies and gentlemen Most of us were in action On the very first night of our service I am sorry to state that Many of my very dear friends Were killed on the first night of our service we got our parents got our pension before we got For the first night of our service whatever could get our first pay right we were killed those boys were
12:51 killed on the battlefield they had given up their lives for their country on the first day of service number of them who were good runners is very strange the guy who was best at cross country running marathons and all that in 14 days we had changed the map of South Asia you know it is said you can't you can't change your neighbors you can choose your friends you can't choose your neighbors you have to live with them if they keep kicking you you just have to take You have to live with them and if they keep kicking you, you just have to take it. I am sorry that is the Ahinsa method or whatever method. But let me tell you
13:37 straight, the Indian armed forces today are strong enough to change maps. We can't change maps. So people who want to mess with us, people who want to mess with us, we don't go around changing maps for the heck of it. but if people want to mess around with us if they want to keep killing But if people want to mess around with us. indians innocent indian women and children this is what the terrorists have been doing for the last 30 years you want to kill women and children you will have to deal with the indian armed forces and you may cease to exist okay you may cease to exist you will have to be ready for that and we've already shown you the trailer in bangla ready for that and we've already
14:23 shown you the trailer in Bangladesh by the way I hope the girls know that if you join the air force today you can be a fighter pilot combat fighter pilot okay you can be in the combat arms you can be in the engineers which clear the way of the tanks by clearing the minefields you can do all these courageous acts in the navy you can be on the warships now submarines I think they're still submarines I think they are still not taking the girls but it will in course of time open up so the Rani Jhansi regiment by the way I hope you know that in Netaji Subhash Chandra boss Azad Hinn Forge there was an all women regiment the Rani Jhansi regiment
15:09 and they fought they actually fought in Burma because he was very keen on women empowerment far back then the americans give us big lectures on women empowerment how we are this and how we are that but so far each one of us has his own dreams to some the dream may be to become a business entrepreneur to some the dream may be to become a doctor a scientist a banker what have you or an artist follow your dream I am not here to impose my dreams onto you. I am not here on a recruitment drive to recruit people from the Hans Raj College boys and girls and
15:55 send them to the armed forces. No. I am here to tell you that I followed my dream and I enjoyed every single moment of it to an extent that if I had my life again, I would again go to the national i'm not here to impose I would again go to the National Defense Academy. I would follow my dream once more. It took me to the highest mountains. I have served in Chola, 16 ,500 feet. We fought. We killed about almost 140 Pakistanis, right? In major, I was clobbered by artillery. I was pounded by martyrs. I lost six of my boys were killed. 6 of my boys were killed, 21 were wounded but we got 25 awards including a
16:44 Veer Chakra Posthumas I was given my Vishisheva medal, my first medal in that area and of course one of the things that happened to me there was that those days the dead bodies were not sent back they were not sent back and you had to cremate them there itself And the commanding officer had to light the torch, right? And when I cremated six of my boys, I went white. At 38 I had white hair. And that's one of the prices that you pay for being a leader in combat. But the very simple thing is that the ethos in the armed forces is
17:31 follow me, mere piche, move, this is the only order you give in the battlefield, my shoulders are broad enough for a thousand men to line up behind me in single file, I will lead the charge, and that is what the Indian army officers do, they lead from the front, they set the example. I don't say, Javano, Aage Bado, Main Yahaan Pathar Ke Peechhe Hoon I don't say, Jawano, Aagee, Badho, I am behind the stone, I am behind the stone, I am behind the stone. You bloody well lead yourself Long career of mine, 50 % of my service was in combat Live combat Boys to my left, boys to my right have died I have seen the intestines
18:16 of a soldier coming out Hit by shell The intestines spilling out And I hope you understand that your life is in combat And I hope you understand that your large intestine is six foot long. It will change you forever. But that is the price you pay for being a soldier. That is the price you pay for fighting for your country, for putting duty, honor, country beyond your personal safety, beyond your own life, beyond your wounds. beyond death and darkness, that's the way to go. You go towards that light, you fight for that light of freedom. Ladies and gentlemen, you may not
19:05 ever join that fight, but whichever profession you go to, whichever profession you choose, I will today give you a Guru Mantra. And it's very easy to learn, you know, we have these little words. that you coined to help you remember a particular thing. You've all heard of CCTV cameras? CCTV cameras, you know, when you are more naughty and you are ragging the freshers, you know, your principal is watching. Any educational institution must not just transmit knowledge, it must impart values. Values, a big capital. Values The big capital V for values Unless you have values You are
19:55 not a human being if you don't have values You may do very well You may earn a lot of money But that's not what it is all about So C, C, C, D and V Always and every time If you go to the Chetwood Hall In the Indian Military Academy Deiradoon On that wooden panel In words of gold you will find this Your country comes first Always and every time The men you command Come next And your value system Will be absolutely right If you put your country first, always and every time, it doesn't
20:45 matter whether you are a Hindu, you are a Muslim, you are a Sikh, Christian, Jain, Parsi, whatever, courage, himmat, you heard that little slogan, himmat e mard, madad e khuda, you say sir it's all very good, you are a soldier, you have to die, I live a normal life, so what is this for me? Let me tell you this. normal life so mere liye iska kya fayada let me tell you this it is a very important mantra for success in life it's a very important mantra for success in life and why you have started a startup you've taken loans you know you've gone and taken loans you've put your mama's jewelry on
21:33 girvi with the bank sir fail fail fail it will fail if 24 7 you are thinking of failure you are bound to fail and you find that your company will be sunk why don't you think i am the next ambani i am the next adani world here i come dekhoza ramaja you know and you will succeed with a positive outlook you have to appear for the exams you want to be a winner all your way through and have you seen
22:19 you know courage makes you expand it's a positive emotion it makes you bigger than you are it helps you transcend yourself have you seen a little dive or it helps you transcend yourself have you seen a little dada in college you know he may be five feet foxtrot alpha compassion also helps you expand it helps you transcend give till it hurts when you make big money don't store it up into buying the latest you know model of the mercedes give give till it hurts have compassion think of the Buddha. Think of Mother Teresa. Give till it hurts. The more you give, the more you will get. Don't have
23:07 a small heart. Don't put your heart in a prison inside. So country, courage, compassion, the last value that I like to speak of is truth. Satya, Bev, Jayate is the, is the, is the. Jaiate is the motto of this country. Truth alone triumphs. If you read your sacred scriptures, Satyen Titishtai Jagat. So, get this thing in you. The source of all corruption. You remember what an outcry there was against corruption. When, you know, 2013, 2014, people were sick and tired. How do you put an end to it? People are sick and tired. How do you put an end to it? If you don't tell lies, there is no corruption. If you don't... fudge your
23:55 papers, there is no corruption. If you don't fudge your figures, which is a lie, there is no corruption. So ladies and gentlemen, country, courage, compassion, truth. Just take care of these four values and you will sail through your careers. You will achieve all that you have to achieve. years you will achieve all that you have to achieve and what is more you will be very good in it. The time of our country is coming. There is a sign curve. Every wave that goes down reaches a minima has to rise and reach a maxima. The Indian civilization had reached its minima around the 13th century. Eight and a half centuries we have been invaded.
24:42 Our cities have been burnt. I thank you for a very patient listening. Jai Hed! Our cities have been burnt. I thank you.
