Brahmanyan
Active member
The following episode was forwarded to me by a reputed source, the contents of which is
self explanatory.
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
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Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime
minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of army officers to
select the first General of the Indian army.
Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General
of The Indian Army as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."
Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all
the civilians and men in uniform present nodded their heads in
agreement.
However one officer,Nathu Singh Rathore,asked for permission to speak.
Nehru was a bit taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, he
asked him to speak freely.
Rathore said ,"You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a
nation too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime
Minister of India?"
You could very loudly hear a pin drop.
After a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore, "Are you ready to be the
first General of The Indian Army ?"
Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army
officer, my senior, Lt. Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among
us."
This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General and
Rathore the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.
The characteristic courage with a sense of duty and honour displayed by
Lt. Gen. Rathore, unfortunately is increasingly rare to find, even in our
armed forces.
It appears that most people in present day society suffer from bone
problem, too much in the head and too little in the spine !!!!!!
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self explanatory.
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime
minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of army officers to
select the first General of the Indian army.
Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General
of The Indian Army as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."
Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all
the civilians and men in uniform present nodded their heads in
agreement.
However one officer,Nathu Singh Rathore,asked for permission to speak.
Nehru was a bit taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, he
asked him to speak freely.
Rathore said ,"You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a
nation too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime
Minister of India?"
You could very loudly hear a pin drop.
After a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore, "Are you ready to be the
first General of The Indian Army ?"
Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army
officer, my senior, Lt. Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among
us."
This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General and
Rathore the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.
The characteristic courage with a sense of duty and honour displayed by
Lt. Gen. Rathore, unfortunately is increasingly rare to find, even in our
armed forces.
It appears that most people in present day society suffer from bone
problem, too much in the head and too little in the spine !!!!!!
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