The train journey to Tezpur across the vast breadth of India from UP through Bihar West Bengal and on to Assam a distance of more than 2000 Kms with three changes of trains and rail gauges was slow time consuming and tedious. One did see the changing landscape the distinct cultural differences of the people that made the nation the changing dresses the spoken language the dialects the accents and the food habits so obvious from the fare sold on the platform even the flavour of the tea sold on the stalls which became sweeter and richer in aroma as one neared Assam, the home of most of the tea gardens. One normally did encounter some old friend on the train which helped in decreasing the tedium of the journey and help in updating about others friends.
Tezpur town is situated on the north bank of the massive and majestic Brahmaputra so broad at Tezpur that the other bank in not visible to the eye. The Signal Regiment was located far away from the town on the airfield a Second World War legacy left by the British. The IAC daily flight from Calcutta with the characteristic drone of the twin engine Dakota took- off and landed regularly at the Sonebari Airport a friendly sight and sound. The Vampire fighters of the IAF also thundered in and out burning rubber on the runway flying training sorties. I do still wonder as to what they were training for since when we needed them most they were conspicuous by their absence. The difficult times under the tough Commanding officer call it my fate or luck proved to be a boon in the long run.
I had been with the Regiment holding a difficult and responsible appointment now for more than two years on round the clock duty. Our waking hours were long for more reasons than one. Our living conditions were primitive to say the least. No electricity except for a short duration in the evenings the accommodation consisted of barracks with bamboo matting walls tin roofs and good old mother earth for a floor. The water table was so high that at times the legs of the bed would sink a few inches in the soft earth canting the bed at most unnatural angles. Weather wise except for the short winters.
Tezpur was hot humid and sultry with all sorts of crawling and flying insects of the latter mosquitoes were in abundance. The sun rose early in Tezpur we were on 'Garden Time' hours ahead of the Indian Standard Time an innovation of the Planters to save daylight hours. We rose early for work and after a long day late in the night soon after the 9 PM news on the Radio eyes drooping with sleep when one wanted to be excused from the Mess he was generally reminded that it was only 9 PM in Delhi and still too early to call it a day.
If not on duty for entertainment one could go on Saturdays to the Tea Planters club at Thakurbari forty miles or so away where on those days a film show was generally held. One could also drink or get drunk and make a fool of oneself. In any case dressed in our mandatory working uniforms with an unauthorised tie round the neck a concession to the club rules we would be visible like a sore thumb even from a distance. We were a species apart unwelcome unwanted but a necessary evil to be tolerated suffered and endured. With all this there was no chance of any social interaction with the club members more so for us junior officers. However, what is still fresh in my memory is the view of the airfield area.
The mundane and uninspiring view during the day of the flat expense of ground with the ugly concrete aircraft pens constructed during the Second World War dotting the landscape with clumps of tall ungainly wild grass growing all over would suddenly transform itself into a beautiful night scape. Spread as far as the eye could see suffused with pale white moonlight the tall reed like grass with white plumes swayed in the breeze shining as if made of silver. On a cold winter night with the moon high in the sky it was an ethereal sight so vastly different from that of the day. The sight and sounds and the peace and quiet of those special nights some what compensated for all the hardships of separation from the family a difficult job and general discomforts of the place of work. Though disappointed in not getting annual leave life had to be lived and work done. I was in the service of my wife now for good seven years and her call could not be ignored also any change from Tezpur was welcome. The two years or so spent with the Regiment in Tezpur were a prelude to the more momentous postings and events to follow at Tawang and forward areas bordering China in 1962.
Brig Lakshman Singh, VSM (Retd)
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