All the recruits were allotted different battalions located in different parts of the country. Chunni’s unit was the closest, located in Khrew, near the JAKLI Training Centre. The next morning, an Army truck arrived to fetch all nineteen recruits assigned to 8 JAKLI. Chunni, Suresh and Narad were part of the group. It was a happy coincidence that all three of them had been recruited together and were now been allotted the same battalion.
Chunni was particularly pleased that Suresh was with him. They were buddies. As per the Indian Army’s buddy system, all soldiers are assigned a buddy. When two soldiers are nominated as buddies, they live and operate together. They help and support each other on the battlefield and off it, tactically as well as logistically. A soldier’s buddy knows him best. This system is a great reassuring factor for the soldiers themselves as well as for the army. Over time, the buddy becomes exactly as he is known, the best buddy for life. The equivalent of the present generation’s BFF – best friends forever.
When they reached their battalion, 8 JAKLI, they were allotted companies. There are four fighting companies in a battalion and two more companies that offer fire support and logistic support, respectively. Chunni and Suresh were in the same company, Bravo Company. They remained buddies in the battalion too. Two other soldiers were also allotted Bravo Company. Narad was posted to Alpha Company. After spending a couple of days completing documentation and other formalities, they were taken to Sonamarg, where the battalion was undergoing training in preparation for its tenure at the Siachen Glacier, or simply “the Glacier”.
The next day, they were addressed by their Company Commander, Major (Maj.) Varinder Singh, a very tall, burly Sikh officer with a deep voice. He had the physique of a Greek god and he twirled his moustache sometimes. It gave him a very soldierly demeanour. “Welcome to one of the finest paltans of the Indian Army,” said Maj. Varinder. “This battalion has a glorious history, and you are fortunate that you are directly being launched into operations. But first, you have to be trained for that. Your training for the last one year has made basic soldiers out of you, capable of operating in any terrain. Here we are training to prepare ourselves especially for mountain warfare and glacial conditions, because next year, we will be deployed in the higher reaches. Terrain and weather are as dangerous as the enemy itself, sometimes more because you don’t encounter the enemy every day, but you have to negotiate the terrain and weather every day. There are snowstorms, blizzards, crevasses, avalanches and more. Take your training seriously. Your life depends on it.”
“Sir, why is fighting going on at the Siachen Glacier?” asked a Jawan sitting near Chunni. “That is a good question,” said Maj. Varinder, affectionately called “Viru” by his seniors and fellow officers in 8 JAKLI. He explained, “Siachen Glacier has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for many years. The ceasefire line, and later the LoC, between the two countries has been demarcated up to a map point called NJ 9842. Thereafter, due to the inaccessibility of the area, it was agreed that the line would run northwards. Later, Pakistan started sponsoring foreign mountaineering expeditions into this area in order to establish its claim over the area. In the early 1980s, Pakistan tried to occupy the dominating mountain peaks in this area. As per the watershed principle that governs the LoC, the Siachen Glacier is in our territory. Hence, the Indian Army occupied the dominating heights ahead of the glacier to safeguard our territory.
“The LoC at the Siachen Glacier is called the Actual Ground Position Line, or the AGPL. The strategic importance of this area must also be remembered. The Glacier is not very far from the trijunction of India, China and Pakistan. That is the reason why despite the vagaries of existence, it is imperative to guard it. And to be able to do that effectively, we must prepare ourselves in all respects to be able to operate at the Glacier.”
Their battalion was being trained as part of the Himalayan Brigade to be able to undertake operations in the glacial areas. For the next few months, they followed a gruelling training schedule. They learnt the use of ropes for rock climbing, slithering, rappelling and side rappelling. These complicated exercises would become a matter of routine while moving from one place to another on the Glacier. Chunni was also fascinated when they were taught different types of knots and how to use ropes adroitly. He was particularly impressed by two instructors, Nb Sub. Hem Raj and Hav. Mulk Raj. Both had been trained at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg.
During training for crossing difficult terrain that had steep falls and ice crevasses, Chunni and his fellow soldiers were taught how to move groups of five to seven men roped up – tying one rope around these men at intervals of a few feet so that if one man slipped and fell off a cliff, the others would be able to arrest his fall and assist him. Chunni recalled the invaluable lesson of the battle obstacle course in Srinagar, where he had learnt that reaching ahead of others was not as important as reaching together, securely. The soldiers were also taught all the precautions for weather, extreme cold and hygiene to be observed in the higher reaches.
In advanced training, they were put through snow training and ski training. While on night duty on the snow-covered mountains, Chunni mused that in the movies, snow-covered mountains looked very scenic and made for a romantic background setting, but bearing the chill while executing military manoeuvres was another thing altogether and not so pleasant. Yet he did not find himself cursing, as some others did. They were also taught how snow clearance was to be done from the tents every morning so that the tents could survive another day. Sometimes, they woke up with the tent half-covered with snow. Someone had to clear the snow from outside to let out the trapped soldiers. This happened often in the snow season. It speaks volumes about the trust soldiers have in each other and their camaraderie that they can sleep peacefully during heavy snowfall, knowing that their comrades will dig them out in the morning if needed.
That winter, Maj. Varinder Singh took his company for a training exercise. They had beaten a new path through fresh snow to a place called “Ghumar Gali”. They had to beat the soft snow ahead of them with a spade to ensure they did not sink in it with their next step. They took seven days to reach their objective. Every morning, they would start early and walk from 0400 till 0800 hours (in the army, time is always measured using the twenty-four-hour clock).
They would have to beat the soft snow in many places before stepping into it, and yet they would sink nearly up to their thighs in many places. They would stop after 0800 hours each morning for fear of avalanches that were triggered when bright sunlight fell on loose snow. They ate pre-cooked meals that they had carried with them and brewed tea using melted snow on the paraffin stoves they carried. To Chunni, the tea tasted like hot nectar. He could feel the glow of its warmth travelling down his throat into his stomach. It felt like heaven. He had often heard that drinking tea drove sleep away, but Chunni found himself drifting off to sleep while the ‘tea warmth’ in his stomach lingered.
Excerpted with permission from Bravest of the Brave: The Inspiring Story of Naib Subedar Chunni Lal, Satish Dua, HarperCollins India.
