Officers and Orderlies

In the military, a soldier is assigned to an officer to attend to his small personal requirements such as prepare his dress, serve bed tea, keep his room in good order, etc. This sets the officer free to deal with more important issues demanding his attention.

A few years ago, someone thought that the term “orderly” was not in keeping with the democratic norms and decided to rename him as “Sahayak” though his range of duties and commitments remain the same.

Over time a strong relationship builds between the officer and his orderly (sorry Sahayak). The latter would go to any extent to make his officer comfortable. Thus an orderly of a Polish officer during World War II would bring hot meals from the enemy kitchen for his officer. He continued with this enterprise for quite some time till one day he was found out and taken prisoner.
When General Musservy came to India to attend the centenary celebrations of his regiment so did his long time Sahayak. The two went into a long hug with tears flowing down their wrinkled cheeks.

Sahayaks not only attend to the basic needs, but often proffer advice to the officer. While I was working as a staff officer, my Sahayak finding that I was not regular with the morning physical training would often lecture me on the need for an officer to remain physically fit. He continued lecturing me till the annual test of a five-mile run where I beat him by a wide margin. After that he never brought up the subject of physical fitness.

During training camps, the officers are accommodated in tents of various sizes, depending on rank. Camp equipment is an essential requirement, such as camp cot, a hurricane lamp, an odd stool or table and in the bath tent, the necessary items like foot board, bucket, mug, stool and a commode, better known as “thunderbox”, etc.

We were on one such camp when a young officer, straight from the academy, arrived late in the evening. He was assigned a tent and a Sahayak. On discovering that the officer had just his bedding and a small box with none of the camp essentials listed above, Sahayak was in a quandary.

The young officer after leaving his baggage with his Sahayak went to the officer’s mess. After dinner everyone moved to their respective tents and so did this officer. On opening the flap of his tent he found that his bedding was neatly laid out on a camp cot, there was a hurricane lamp, stool, a hanger or two for his clothes and the bathroom was fully equipped with a bucket full of water, “thunderbox”, etc. He felt happy at having come to a regiment where they took such good care of their officers!

He was immersed in these pleasant thoughts when someone shouted that his camp cot was missing and soon more protests were heard regarding other items. A search commenced and item by item were traced to this newly arrived officer’s tent. One by one these items were taken away with this officer helplessly watching the proceedings. Soon his bedding was on the floor and nothing else left with him.

Throughout these unseemly proceedings the officer’s Sahayak remained in the shadows and when every item was taken away, he was overheard telling another Sahayak, “Mein ta sub kuch ekatha kar detha se, par saab kolon sambhalya hi nahin gaya.” (I had collected everything, but the sahib could not consolidate his hold on these!)
Reproduced for benefit of Readers Article in Tribune, 26 March 2008

Lt Gen Harwant Singh, PVSM, AVSM (Retd)