Vijay Diwas at Chennai by Brig VA Subramanyam

From: Brig V A Subramanyam vasubramanyam@gmail.com

Please refer to the report sent by Col TN Raman, one of the two principal organisers of the function at Chennai. This is not only to compliment him and Col N Viswanathan for the excellent manner in which they organised the function but also complement what Col Raman said in his report. Have also sent separately the photographs taken on the occasion.
Vijay Diwas 2009

For the first time since I moved into Madras – what has now become Chennai – over a decade and half ago, I was pleasantly surprised to note that the Veteran Officers in the Station had decided to observe the Vijay Diwas.

Thanks to the efforts of two untiring persevering determined veterans – Col N Viswanathan and Col TN Raman who against all odds decided to take matters into their own hands and decided to organize the function by themselves. And the resultant was a message sent on late evening of the 12th Dec, to say that it would be observed at 1100hours on the 16th Dec at the War Memorial.

The weathermen had predicted a wet Wednesday, and based on those readings, the local Government had asked all schools to close. Nonetheless, we drove down to the War Memorial with the skies being overcast and thick dark clouds threatening to open up any minute and pour down in all the fury. But the threats did not have any undue effect on all of us, as having been conditioned to commence exercises and operations in such weather, we pressed on regardless. We reached the adjoining MES IB, where arrangements had been made for parking of vehicles. From there we trooped into the precincts of the manicured lawns of the War Memorial. It was heartening to note that in spite of short notice - about 50 personnel from all the three Armed Services had gathered together to pay our humble tributes to all those brave soldiers who had given their all during the 1971 Indo Pak conflict in order that we and the civil society may live a more peaceful and better lives.

The War Memorial was a relic of the Colonial trappings – having been built by the Raj in memory of those of the then Madras Presidency who had fought on behalf of British Empire. Accordingly the letterings on main face were in English, whereas on the other three sides they were in Tamil, Urdu (possibly due to the troops of Arcot who were primarily Muslims) and Telugu. When the British took over Madras, it was ruled by Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak, a Telugu speaking gentleman.

The wording on the Memorial reads as: “To the memory of all those from the Madras Presidency who lost their lives in the service of ‘the Nation’”. To anyone having a closer look it would be obvious that the words ‘the Nation’ had been added later possibly replacing ‘the Empire’. Inscriptions on the four surrounding pillars have now been added. They read as 1947 – 48; 1962 Chinese Aggression; 1965 and 1971 – Indo-Pakistan war.

The function commenced exactly as scheduled at 1100 hours. Lt Gen C Sundara Rao, the Patron of AFVOA was the first to place a wreath on the memorial. He was followed by Maj Gen Chattaraman, the current President of AFVOA, Col TN Raman, Convenor of the IESM, Tamil Nadu, Col A Krishnaswami, VrC, VSM**, RAdm Sivamani and Sqn Ldr J Nagarajan, KC, decorated soldiers of the three services. Thereafter the rest of all the personnel gathered, offered floral tributes to the memory of war heroes.

The function came to a close by sounding of the last post by the soldiers of 5 Jak Rif regiment.

"We never get what we want,
We never want what we get,
We never have what we like,
We never like what we have.
And still we live & love.
That's life...."
Have a Wonderful Day!
== Subramanyam