Air Marshal (R) Harish Masand says: Hasimara Happiness December 2024 (Part–2)

07 Apr 2025

Druks. Harassed. On the phone trying alternate lunch.

The icing on the cake at the end of the morning schedule was a visit to 101 Squadron, “The Falcons of Chhamb”, with a brief on the squadron’s history and enviable accomplishments, particularly in the 1971 War on the Western front. For all of us, and particularly the ladies in the group, this was a wonderful visit and all of us were impressed not only by the latest technology on display but also the enthusiasm and zeal so evident in all the young pilots and technical personnel of the Squadron. I had personally served in 101 twice before: first in 1972–73 on the Su–7 and later in 1976–77 on the MiG–21M, both tenures in Adampur. One of them had even tagged the squadron diary of those days and showed me the long tall handwriting in which I used to write the Diary those days. Old photographs of that era were also truly nostalgic and all of us taken back to those days and felt like youngsters again. I also had the pleasure of meeting my namesake, young Squadron Leader Masand, currently serving with the Squadron, though no relation. That evening, we were taken to the new auditorium next to the married quarters to be felicitated and introduced to the current generation including some Army Officers from the Brigade for a 2 hour session wherein we were asked to recount our stories and anecdotes from our time in Hasimara. While everyone talked of their time in Hasimara or their experiences in the War, Actor decided to divert to his days in Afghanistan, training Afghan airline pilots. The funny part that kept everyone in splits then, and even later, was about how he was asked to stay back for a million dollars and also choose any woman by just putting his hand on her. On the question as to who he finally put his hand on, he left us all in suspense, and in splits. Finally, in the end was my long talk to fill in the allotted time as the organiser and mop–up guy followed by the presentations to our hosts where we presented to the Wing a painting by Deb Gohain of the Meghna Crossing by IV Corps of Lt Gen Sagat Singh with just 11 Mi–4 helicopters commencing 9th December 1971, some of them from 111 HU ex–Hasimara, and another by Rakesh Chouhan of the attack on the Governors’ House in Dhaka by 4 Hunters of 37 Squadron on the 14th of December 1971. We also presented a miniature reproduction of the painting by Deb Gohain of the F–86 Sabre shot down on the 4th of December 1971, symbolising the two shot down by then Wg Cdr N Chatrath and me that day, to CO 101 Squadron wishing them.many such kills in any future engagement.

Binaguri-Smiles brighter than the sun.

101 party.

Gorgeous team leader.

Chouhan of the attack on the Governors’ House in Dhaka by 4 Hunters of 37 Squadron on the 14th of December 1971. We also presented a miniature reproduction of the painting by Deb Gohain of the F–86 Sabre shot down on the 4th of December 1971, symbolising the two shot down by then Wg Cdr N Chatrath and me that day, to CO 101 Squadron wishing them many such kills in any future engagement. Immediately after the above ceremony, the Wing hosted a dinner for us in the front lawn of the Officers’ Mess. The young MC thought that we oldies would be happy with the music from the Hindi movies of our time though this was hardly the music to dance to. To their surprise, Mrs Asha Cariappa, Mrs Chatrath and Padmini Menon took the floor and showed their Bollywood dance moves. Soon, the entire lot was enthused and joined in. A lot of videos were filmed showing the energy and enthusiasm of our “young at heart” ladies! The effect of such enthusiastic participation and dancing was evident through our stay in Hasimara and did not wear off from many as would be evident from breakfast on the third day. As a matter of fact, some younger folks even asked me later as to where we were hiding the elixir of youth and from where we got the energy. Moral of the story was that age is just a number and one can still enjoy life and dance to its music, no matter what is played, depending on one’s mindset and thinking. The next day, on the 5th, we had planned to visit Binaguri and the Binaguri/Western Dooars Club and then drive back to Phuntosholing to have lunch at Druks, all of these being our favourite haunts in the those old days. The idea was to spend just half an hour driving around the military station in Binaguri to see the changes from our time and then visit the Club for a cup of tea, if possible, and drive back at 1130h to reach Phuntosholing by 1230h for lunch. As it happened, the 20 Division Commander, Major General Vanthanu Raghu, on hearing of the visit of veterans who had supported 33 Corps during the 1971 war decided to welcome us with all his subordinate commanders and staff and also laid out an elaborate tea for us The red carpet was literally laid out for us particularly after hearing that Field Marshal Cariappa’s daughter in law was part of the entourage apart from the wife of CO of 17 Squadron who had shot down a Sabre on the very first day of the War, that is our leader Mrs Pam Chatrath.

That it’s a small world was once again proven by the fact that General Raghu was the nephew of Air Marshal BR Krishna whom most of us knew. The Div Cdr also insisted that we should have lunch with them instead of going to Phuntosholing. While we declined this offer, all their hospitality upset our schedule somewhat and we were about an hour late at Phuntosholing. Quite naturally, this led to some friendly leg–pulling of the organiser, me. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it, the Dooars club was in a dilapidated and disappointing state and we saved some time there. From there, while everyone else was sent off towards Phuntosholing, in the time saved, I decided to take a small detour to see the house in DBITA (Dooars Branch Indian Tea Association) where Malini and her parents, Brigadier SN and Mrs Amita Mitra, used to stay and where Malini and I got married in November 1974, just over 50 years before this visit. Deb, Actor and Indu accompanied me for this quick look–see at the house. Once again, the house was there but not being lived in so was in a state of disrepair, not in the pristine state when we used to buzz and beat up the place in the 1970s, as can be seen form the attached picture. Druks in Phuntosholing, while a regular big hotel now instead of the small place we used to dine in, was again very disappointing because they had chosen to lay out a typical Punjabi menu with daal, aloo gobi, naan et cetera, due to a misunderstanding, instead of the Bhutanese meal that we were looking forward to. Obviously, I was now scrambling “and harassed” to find an alternate place at that late hour with everyone hungry and expectantly waiting for me to find a solution to this issue, as can again be seen from the picture on the terrace of Druks. Fortunately, we found the Asian Kitchen not too far from Druks which welcomed us with open arms and we literally occupied the entire small restaurant and had a late but wonderful time and meal. Once again, the session was full of light banter and laughter with the management wondering what made us all tick the way we did, as indicated to me when I was clearing the bill at the end. The pictures say it all.

Ladies at the bar.

That evening, we hosted the key officers from the Wing and the Brigade. While I had hinted that we expected the other single officers staying in the Mess to bounce the party, as per the old traditions of Hasimara, the squadron guys and others supporting staff could not join us because of night flying planned that evening and since it was a Thursday with the working week not yet over. Even though the younger crowd was missing, we still managed to liven up the party with some dancing music and our “young at heart” ladies taking to the floor. This included Brigadier Ajinkya and Mrs Rachna Jhadav who livened up the party further. Having started the party at 1930h, with sunset being around 1700h, we finally wound down around 2300h. I was just wrapping up the party with my last drink with the LO, Harsh, with me when some of the younger pilots from 101 returned after night flying. Seeing me there in the lawn, young “Sukhi”, stopped by and sat with me while Harsh drove his car to the back to its parking slot. Sukhi was not flying the next morning though he had a 0700h, perhaps for some debrief or some such commitment. Initially, he didn’t have a drink at all but finally had a tiny one, even smaller than a small, since we were having an interesting conversation about Hasimara, the old anecdotes about squadron life then and comparing it with the current environment apart from exchanging bits about our personal lives. Before we realised, it was 0100h and Sukhi asked me if I had seen my old room yet.

The “Bhangi” colony that we had initially stayed in for about a year had been demolished but the room I had moved into, and shared it initially with my course mate Derek J Daly and later with Deb Ghosh, was still there but locked since the current occupant was away. Sukhi then showed me his own room in a new block. I was very happy to see that the current lot of bachelors were staying in much better accommodation in a two room set with a small kitchenette and modern facilities. I walked back to my own room around 0130h though the Flight Commander the next evening told me that he kept a track of all younger officers and Sukhi was reported to have been “drinking” with me till 0230h. Before Sukhi got into any trouble over this, I clarified the true facts with both the Base Commander as also the Squadron Commander. The evening did give me a taste of the spirited youngsters that now man our Air Force which was reconfirmed later on Saturday, the 7th. On the 6th, we had actually planned to visit Jaldapara sanctuary for a short while in the morning before getting back to the Brigade for a briefing and lunch.

The forest officer in charge at Jaldapara was most uncooperative and raised a lot of issues including even the transportation to get to the forest lodge. We, therefore, switched to Buxa Tiger reserve which was a little rather but welcomed us with open arms and finally turned out to be a better drive and experience. Of course, due to the driving time, there was some delay in reaching the Brigade but the Commander was most understanding and accommodating in this respect and gave us not only a great briefing on his area of responsibility in Sikkim but also laid out a sumptuous lunch where we met all his officers and their ladies. On top of the driving time, my driver Sushil in the lead vehicle erroneously took the slightly longer village route back and just gave a sheepish smile when I asked him about it. However, even that turned out to be good because we saw Hamiltonganj and Kalchini, places that we wanted to see earlier but couldn’t due to the tight schedule. Due to the delay, I got some more flak from some impatient members but it was all in jest and, actually, I got some more laughs because Deb Ghosh had opted out of this visit and wanted to see and have lunch in the Forest Resort where we had planned to stay in between. And this delay meant that his transportation was delayed too. As it happened, Amrita was with us for Buxa so we pulled Deb’s and Amrita’s leg a lot about why he went on his own and who he had got tucked away in the Resort.

Good Ole Druks with a New Look- SK Sharmas with Padmini menon

The DBITA House at Binaguri of Malini Mitra where we got married on 25 November- 1974-With “Actor”, Indu & Dev Ghosh-50 Years After

The Brigade gave us a warm welcome with Brigadier Jadhav giving us an interesting briefing about his area of responsibility. In his welcome address, he also made a special mention of my brother, Bharat, and called me an OG pilot since I half belonged to their Battalion, 7 Para, and had attended all their functions since 2004. We presented a miniature reproduction of the painting by Deb Gohain of the Sabre being shot on 4th of December to the Brigade which was much appreciated. The Brigade also laid out a sumptuous lunch for us. Having complimented the Brigade cooks on the meal they had prepared, I requested the Commander to loan us one of their cooks for the Barbecue dinner we had planned that evening in the Air Force Mess. Unfortunately, the Mess staff sent him back and sort of messed up the barbecue which I had to personally do because the staff detailed for it didn’t know how to. Apart from this minor hiccup, we had a great party that evening also, being the last evening for the team, apart for me. This was Friday evening, and true to tradition, 101 guys staying in the Mess all bounced the party and made it livelier. As it had happened, the evening turned out to be even more interesting than I had anticipated. Seeing the earlier parties, Actor got inspired to stay the extra day with me in Hasimara on the 7th, visit 101 and fly the simulator, and leave for Bagdogra only on 8th morning when I left for Cooch Behar to catch my train while Indu and he would cab it back to Bagdogra since his flight was only in the evening. Little did Actor realise what he was in for that evening. Most folks left the party around 11–11.30 pm to get some sleep, pack and be ready to depart for Bagdogra early the next morning.

Since it was weekend eve, and since I was managing the barbecue the whole evening, I was at the bar with four of 101 guys, including their Flight Commander “Vicky”, having a drink and in an animated discussion with them. Actor came to the bar last, with Indu a few paces behind, to take their leave. The younger folks immediately caught him and asked Actor to have a drink with us like a fighter pilot. Actor looked back at Indu to see if she was okay with him having another drink while Indu just signalled that they should leave. I was now in splits seeing Actor’s dilemma. He wanted to continue the evening with us and swap some fighter pilot tales but Indu obviously did not approve. Since I had my leg pulled through the visit for one reason or another, the moment Actor seemed to decide to leave, I purposely egged the youngsters on to hold him back, citing the old traditions. Finally, Actor gave in and had a drink with us. I was suppressing my laughter just thinking of how Actor was going to get nuked that night because Indu walked back some 30 paces and sat alone with her arms crossed.

Bagdogra lunch. Some Ladies paying attention. Rare. Ms Dey Extreme Left.

Actor left us around midnight but we carried on and I walked back to my room around 2 am. While walking, I saw there was a missed call from Actor at about 1 am. I decided that it was too late to call him back at that time and left it till the morning. By 5.30 am when I got up, I saw a message from Actor that he was reverting to his old schedule and going back with the rest to Bagdogra in the morning since, as he put it, “his flight had been preponed to 1045h on the 8th from 1740h”. Over breakfast, you can only imagine the way we pulled his leg over the way he got nuked that night and decided not to spend another night with me. As it turned out, he not only missed a wonderful session with the younger folks in 101 Squadron that morning and flying the simulator later, he also missed out a great party of 101 on Saturday, the 7th. Since I had stayed back alone for that extra day to clear the bills et cetera, after seeing off the team at 0800h heading for Bagdogra, I visited 101 Squadron after seeing the old dispersal of 37 Squadron from we had operated in the 1970s. That building and dispersal were currently being used by some other unit but the crew room across the taxy–track from the flight complex had disappeared with the ruins reclaimed by nature and the vegetation.

An hour plus of chats with the young folks of 101 thereafter was invigorating, to say the least. While I narrated some war experiences that they wanted to hear about, they told me about some of their experiences while converting on the Rafale and preparations for international exercises. After that session, I went to the Rafale simulator where an old friend, Group Captain Biswas (Retd) who was in charge, along with a young pilot from 101, “Chang”, briefed me on the layout and displays. I flew the first 30 minutes just handling the aircraft and getting used to the side stick with no movement or artificial feel. A tricky affair for my generation but, I suppose, something that comes naturally to the Gen Z folks who are used to computer games. In the second sortie, Biswas had made a graphic image of the Governors’ House in Dhaka to let me relive a part of the attack on 14th of December 1971. Thereafter, Chang simulated the target on which I fired my guns in manual mode to simulate the way I had engaged the Sabre on the 4th of December.

A quick bite with 101 wrapped up the morning session. During that session, “Trips” the CO had hinted that they were bidding farewell to two of their members that evening. He didn’t have to say more since I indicated immediately that I would bounce the party. I guess he was expecting that since the moment I joined the party at 1930h, the youngsters cautioned me that they wouldn’t let me go till breakfast the next morning, as per the old traditions. I tried to lay a cut–off at 0600h since I was to be driven to Cooch Behar at 0830h to catch my train to Delhi but was overruled. It was a lively evening with the younger lot even grabbing my pipe and forcing me to down some vodka/tequila shots in between lot of dancing and fun. We played some games, danced and joked till the wee hours with the last man standing with me being young Flying Officer Cheema at 0300h in the morning. He then got a call from his fiance/girlfriend and had to leave with me reminding him of the old Punjabi anecdote about shooting the cat the very first night of the wedding. Finally, I walked back to my room at about 0330h laughing, dancing and singing with the music of the evening still buzzing in my head. That music stayed with me for days and still keeps me moving on my feet almost a month after the visit, as I write this piece. With a heavy heart but lot of good memories, I bade farewell to Saurabh Pachauri, Harsh and others after breakfast on Sunday the 8th and drove off to Cooch Behar with Subedar Madeep Singh and Havaldar Sushil of 14 Punjab to catch my train from there. The lessons I took back from this visit cum Reunion are many but let me pen down a few essential ones.

The first one that was obviously reinforced was that life must be lived to the fullest on the lines of the phrase I had coined while in 1 Squadron in 1983 and had it painted across the entrance, “Work hard, Play hard”. Such reunions with old friends, particularly in locations where you spent the best years of your life, help renew old friendships and which give a new meaning to life itself. The second lesson was to laugh at oneself more than one laughs due to others. My leg was being pulled through the visit but I learned to laugh at myself finding that this made me happier than ever before. When I tried to control the proceedings to ensure that things went as per plan to the extent possible in a large group with everyone wanting to do things their own way and in their own time, my friends started calling me “Baas”, in a funny way of saying “Boss” only to bring a bigger smile to my face. The third was to spend more time with younger folks. As I told them in my talk on the 4th, their youth rubs off on one and one tends to forget the aches and pains that come naturally with age. The examples of Mrs Pam Chatrath, Mrs Asha Cariappa, Padmini Menon and all the other ladies dancing and leading from the front are true examples of this youth potion having been injected in all of us during this visit. As I also told the current generation, this dose would probably last me for a year but we would need a booster dose soon while nudging 101 to have their overdue anniversary soon. The most important lesson and comfort I personally drew from this visit is that our younger generation is far more capable and tech–savvy than we were and, seeing their zeal, enthusiasm and high spirits, I am reassured that our Air Force is in good hands.

Their concerns and views also had a faint ring of similarity to the manner in which we had voiced our concerns in earlier days, though the issues were completely different since the basic needs of accommodation and other facilities had been addressed and, now, the concerns were more on higher requirements in the hierarchy of needs. To be honest, I haven’t laughed as much or danced as much in over a decade of my retirement and this visit gave me a new lease of life as well as the strength for facing the usual problems with greater equanimity and with a spring in my steps. No wonder, as soon as we got home, there was a chorus of requests from many of the members of this group to organise another reunion as soon as possible. I am working on that too with music and laughter still buzzing in my head.

Phuntsholing-Sneaking into the photo.