Building to destroy

(This article was published in "The Sunday Indian", 11 August-17 August 2008)

ARMED FORCES SPECIAL: THREE CANNONS OF FAITH
Building to destroy
The 6 engineering regiment is trained not just to build but to destroy enemy bunkers and mines and clear our army's path, says pankaj barthakur

 

They build to destroy. While the morning breeze can lull you into a sense of suspended inertia on the banks of Teesta, army engineers led by Subedar Major SMA. Karunakaran leads hundreds of combat engineers through the paces of their physical refresher training programme. Thus begins a day in the life of the 6 Engineering Regiment.

Every morning, the Teesta riverbed becomes the situational battleground for army engineers to map war plans. A large part of the day is spent in mining, bridging and demolition exercises, under the most arduous discipline. The discipline is unwavering even in the blistering tropical summer noon. With such training and rigueur, the Regiment justifiably remembers the 1971 war with nostalgia when their forbear had laid mines and destroyed bridges to halt the movement of the Pakistani army in the then occupied East Bengal. Commanding Officer Colonel J Adhvaryu tells TSI: "With such discipline, our regiment contributed to the victory of 1971."

Their motto is the stunning and punning: "Aar karega paar". Literally translated, it means `The Six will help you tide across'; the word `Aar' means six in Tamil, which is no surprise, since a majority of these troops are from south India.

Since its inception in 1780, the 6 Engineering Regiment has played a crucial role in the nation building process. As combat engineers, they form the backbone for ensuring the smooth movement of the famed Indian Infantry. During war time, they lay down mines, dispose off deadly live bombs and mines and indulge in demolition and arson. That is their Unique Selling Point.

 

They are specialists in the art of blowing up enemy tanks, bridges, bunkers and clear the road ahead for the infantry. This rigorous refresher is an annual affair. The blistering heat is the perfect catalyst for them to go to work: assembling explosives, working on improvised explosive devices (IED) and other acts of sabotage. "We only require the raw materials for making explosives. We are trained to assemble and explode," a Major, who shall remain unnamed, informs TSI. Their indomitable determination has played a huge role in their many redoubtable successes.

Old military philosophers believed a war was what was needed to galvanise the youth to sacrifices and glory. For a vast number of young Indians growing up in the 1990s, the Kargil war provided that spark. Junior Commissioned Officer, Monoj Srivastava (name changed), narrates his own tale to TSI: "I joined the army after Kargil. After completing my 10+2 in Commerce, I worked as an accountant in an oil company. But Kargil compelled me to join up."

The sentiment is a shared one. "I always dreamt of serving the nation through the military," says Lieutenant Jyoti K Salathia, who until 2006 was a journalist at `The Kashmir Times' before he opted for the Officer's Training Academy. The biggest surprise of it all: a large number of highly qualified engineers opt for the force in a world full of heavyweight multi-nationals beckoning Indian engineers. This is, in a sense, the real soul of India. They all agree on one thing: "We are getting almost all which we want. Money is not all." 

Although trained in the sciences, they have strong faith in the power of the almighty. Every evening their training camp echoes with the serenity of prayers. Commanding Officer, Col Adhvaryu, an M Tech from IIT Kanpur, says his evening prayers at the Ullabari training camp. "It gives us that extra energy that makes us achieve our goal. Therefore, we pray every evening," he says.

In keeping with army's tradition, spiritual practices are not limited to one religion. Whenever a soldier visits a temple in our unit location, there are others who go to churches and mosques.

But how do these hard men who handle dynamite with bare hands ignore common human impulses like love? What about personal likes and dislikes? Love, as we learn, is integral to their lives. SPR Gaurav Setty's girlfriend in Kutsethur village of the South Canara district in Mangalore, for instance, talks to him on the phone once a week. Another young Lieutenant has his girlfriend, Priti, pursuing her BSc in a Jammu college. There are many tales and as many love stories.

In another instance, a young officer has impressed his girl friend so much that she too now wants to recruit for Army Engineers. Says the officer, of his girlfriend, now preparing to take the Combined Defence Services Examination: "I don't know whether she will be fit or not, but joining the Engineers is her topmost ambition." Love, you may say, in the times of bombardment.