Eh!

Eh ! 

Eh ! That was the sound that came from my mouth when I heard from  my Company JCO that Rs.100 was missing or less.

Gaining composure after a moment, I asked “  क्या बोला साब? “ The JCO replied “ साबजी, सौ रुपये के हिसाब नहीं मिल रहा है “

Eh ! I repeated. ऐसे कैसे हो सकता है? 

As a Second Lieutenant that was my first Pay Distribution duty of my Company three months after my joining the Battalion. For a couple of months I was under study to my Senior Subaltern Lt Katoch who was guiding me to various duties of the Paltan. I was well aware of the nuances of ‘pay distribution ‘

I knew that a disaster had hit me. The Adjutant, Capt Vashisht had amply briefed me about the seriousness of handling money and the importance of counting and recounting of notes before handing over to the boys (a term used for Sepoy to Subedar). In fact Capt Vashisht had advised me to report to him immediately about any untoward incident so that he in turn can report to the CO (Commanding Officer) on the spot. 

Suddenly a shiver ran through my spine. 

Our CO was Lt Col Chand Narain Kaul, Shaurya Chakra. He was a tall, well built, fair, handsome and no – nonsense Kashmiri Officer (He looked a lot like Shammi Kapoor), a veteran of 1971 war. 

My Paltan, 10 SIKH had the Battle Honour ‘Parbat Ali’ of West Pakistan in 1971. 

“साहबजी, तुस्सी, ठीक से पैसे गिना सी ना? “Sir, you had counted money properly? “. Subedar Jarnail Singh, the Senior JCO always spoke in Hindi mixed Punjabi to make me comfortable. He was a fierce looking Sardarji. Pakis would run away seeing him only.

 “आप ने भी गिना था ना“ You too had counted? “ Subedar had no answer to my counter. 

There was no question of bringing less money from the bank. The Adjutant always detailed an experienced and serious officer as Pay Collection Officer (most of the time it was Major MK Sharma who was a trouble maker of the Paltan). 

Bringing Cash from the bank was a great affair. Great deal of coordination is done by the Adjutant who monitors the movement of cash from the Treasury to the bank through his sources in the bank. The Pay collection officer is also kept in the loop. Once it is confirmed from the bank that the cash has arrived and getting counted, the party is dispatched. The party consists of a Pay Collection Officer and an armed escorts. The escort will have a Guard commander and three men with fully loaded Rifles duly secured with chains further secured to the belt of the soldiers. They carry an iron box that can accommodate at least 20 lakhs in cash having heavy locks on both sides and further secured by a long chain. The party moves in an All terrain 4 X 4 Truck 1 Tonne Nissan driven by an experienced Driver. 

After reaching the bank, the Officer reports his arrival to the Manager who in turn informs the Cashier. Generally there are many units in a station collecting Cash from the bank. So the bank will look like an army unit that day. 

The cashier would have arranged the lots in lakhs. The bundles are counted first and sample counting of each bundle. Smart ones like Maj. Sharma would have counted each notes. He personally carries the wet sponge for the purpose. The money is then transported in Secured condition swiftly direct to the unit Regimental Treasure Chest RTC, and handed over to the Subedar Major. Cash is then counted at the RTC.  Cash is handed over to the Pay Distribution Officer Sub unit wise for distribution duly counted. 

Pay Distribution or Pay Parade was solemn event that happened on the 1st of every month in the unit. It was started by the British. On the Pay Distribution day every soldier of the unit other than on leave and essential duties will be present in the unit. In fact it gives an opportunity for a real head count. The payment is directly handed over to the soldiers directly by the officer. Normally the Company Commander or the Company Officer only distribute the Pay to the company. It gives an opportunity to interact with the boys, judge their morale as well as know their personal problems if any one to one. Sometimes there will be a ' 'fall in' after the Pay Distribution and the Officer will also address the boys. Of course there will be Chai Pakoras during and after the Pay Distribution. 

Coming back to my ordeal, I could not believe that I could have been careless in handling the cash. I could swear on anyone that I had counted every amount correctly. I was doubly sure that Subedar Jarnail Singh had also ' spit counted' the notes (थूक लगा के गिना था). The Company Clerk was also making the entry in the Pay book and keeping a close watch on my first pay disbursal. 

CHM (Company Havildar Major) Suchha Singh in the mean time had summoned his Platoon Havildars to go the barracks and discretely check if anyone knowingly or unknowingly kept the extra money. Ask them to own up else get ready for a Route March in the night itself. He also warned them about the consequences if matter reached the CO (CO साहबनु पता चल गया तो वर्दी वहीं उतर जाएगी) . Before he could even finish, the Platoon Havildars ran to their respective barracks. 

I, along with the JCO checked the nook and corners of room, the table and the box but could not retrieve the Rs 100 note. Finally I declared to close the matter and pay the money from my pocket ( With Rs. 1300/- as my total pay that time, Rs. 100/- was a big amount for me too). 

I was sipping my second cup of tea when CHM, rushed into my office after a big salute. Behind him stood Naik Nachhattar Singh smiling from ear to ear. He was holding a visibly shaking Sepoy. Before the CHM could open his mouth, Nachhattar Singh yelled “ साहब जी, बंदे नु फड़ लिया) Sir, I have caught him.

 Before I could react, Subedar Jarnail Singh got up and gave a tight slap on the face of the Sepoy. And then he was abusing him in a language that I cannot repeat here. The boy was at his feet crying and yelling “साबजी, मुझे बचालो। “( Sir, please save me) 

After giving a nice thrashing to the boy, Subedar Jarnail Singh came to me with folded hands and said to me. “साहब, गलती से चले गए होंगे। बंदा बुरा नहीं है। इस बार के लिए छोड़ दें। CO साहब को नहीं बताना” (Sir, money must have gone by mistake, boy is not bad, forgive him for this time, don’t tell the CO) 

I was still under the shock of handling of the case by the JCO. I simply said “   ठीक है “ ( It is OK). 

Some how the matter reached the Adjutant. Promptly he rang me and said “ Ramesh, you fucked it up nicely, है न? “. I was trying to explain when he said “ I have already informed the CO, you can explain to him in detail. “

Eh! 

The same sound escaped my mouth involuntarily…. 

Colonel Ramesh R (Retd) 

03 September 2019