We sixteen year old lads were blooded together, rolled and riled (cribbed) laughed and lampooned, indulged in gluttony and gimmickry and lived every moment we spent in the Academy in the three formative years. Reuben was a prankster, always upto his tricks, playing the fool, keeping all of us amused through some of those difficult times. His antics would invariably take the pressure off us and we would all be ready to take on the challenges head on together once again. But when we moved to the main Campus we were allotted different squadrons, he was assigned Alfa, Rana went to Bravo, Anukul to Foxtrot, Vinod and self landed up in Juliet. Since the Academic Class remained the same, we stayed connected, as almost half the day was spent in these very class rooms.
Class D in NDA is for the guys who were not the torchies (brightest sparks) of the Course nor at the bottom of the pyramid, Class F types, the ones who made getting GCIs (compartment) a habit and then managing to squeeze past without losing a term, into an art form. We were fortunate to have a Dr AB Rao as our Maths Professor, he was the most benevolent and empathetic teacher I have come across. He would never wake us up in class as we would invariably be dog tired after all the ragda. Reuben was his favourite. We would often play ‘battleships’ in class, would make our own crossword puzzles and scramble the words, he was a wizard with unscrambling. Soon it was time to move on to Indian Military Academy Dehradun. This one year we were in different battalions so the interaction was relatively less. He did well, was an appointment, a Junior Under Officer and joined Infantry, 5 Madras battalion while I joined Signals.
We stayed in touch via letters and Christmas / New Year greetings, and got to know about his marriage to Sheeba, his stint in NSG and the epitome of his professional acumen when he passed the Staff College Entrance. We again met up when I landed up at Secunderabad after my course and his unit was also with us. He commanded 8 Rashtriya Rifles battalion with distinction in Jammu and Kashmir and went on to tenant a number of other coveted appointments in his career spanning 33 long years.
One vacation when I was here in Indore, he specially called me and asked me to move in the neighbourhood at Sumeru Hills in Mhow, where he and Sheeba had made their own dream house. A sprawling 10000 square feet plot and a palace for a home very thoughtfully done up, away from the hustle and bustle of life, his own abode where he could witness the sunrise and sunset at peace. Since I belonged to Indore, I chose to stick to that place but definitely resolved to keep coming down to Mhow over weekends.
A regular at the DSOI here, Reuben was a passionate Tambola player and a keen gardener who would spend hours in his garden tending to each and every blade himself. A dog lover, who would go out of his way to look after all the dogs in the neighbourhood, get them vaccinated and even attend to them in sickness. A lively fellow, who we thought was defying ageing as he retained his youthful looks even as he turned sixty, so the news of his illness was a terrible shock for us friends and course-mates. His time had come, the Almighty was pleased with him and sure enough He wanted him back there. A compassionate soul, his infectious smile is all that is left for us to remember him by. One seat in the “Class D bench” will continue to be reserved for him forever.
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