VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2016

VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2016

Dear Friends,

As the year draws to a close, it is time - once again- to connect with friends, acquaintances and loved ones. Kumud tells me that my memory is failing, but I think this should be my 11^th – or is the 10^th – Newsletter. Towards the end of her life, my mother, who passed way recently at the ripe old age of 95, had been stricken by Alzheimer’s, so I will not be surprised if I follow suit, after 20-25 years. But I take heart from the fact that there were many who had excellent memories, even when they were touching 100. A few that I can recall were stalwarts like Tery Barreto, Sam Manekshaw, SK Sinha and several others.

The most notable event of the year was the demonetisation of notes of Rs 500 and 1000 announced by the Prime Minster on 8^th November. I saw it on TV but was not very perturbed, since it was announced that one could exchange old notes or withdraw new notes from the ATM from 10^th November onwards, right up to 30^th December. I was busy on the 10^th so it was only on the 11^th that I thought of going to the ATM. But the long queue that I saw was something of a shock. In the event, it was only on the 13^th that I was able to withdraw Rs. 2000 from the ATM in DSOI. After this, the ATM was never loaded with cash and I had to make several visits to the bank during the next few days to get some of my own money. Obviously, the Government had not foreseen the magnitude of the problem or the hardships that common people have been facing since then.

Even serving soldiers and pensioners, especially the widows, are finding it difficult to get their dues. I wonder why nobody has thought the system of Field Cashiers that is unique to the military. In field areas, the Field Cashiers are responsible for paying the soldier his salary and other allowances, if he so desires. Even if he has a bank account, he can draw his salary as well as an advance from the Field Cashier. Old timers will recall the thrill that we felt when the Field Cashier visited the unit or formation HQ to disburse money. Can we not use the Field Cashiers to alleviate the problems being faced by our pensioners? If we can have mobile canteens visiting small stations to cater for the needs of ex-servicemen, what is the problem in having a similar system for Field Cashiers? Even if they visit every town once or twice a month, it will be a boon for ex-servicemen. The Army is called out to assist the civil administration in almost everything. Why not for disbursing pensions? This will be nothing but another facet of Aid to Civil Power, which is part of our duties.

The court cases concerning my book India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) are still on, as well as some that I had filed against authors and publishers of similar books written by others. In one case concerning two books – “Inside RAW: The Story of India’s Secret Service” by Asoka Raina and “The Kaoboys of R&AW – Down Memory Lane” by B. Raman – the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate passed an order summoning them, expressing an opinion that the material contained in these two books is far more explicit that the one contained in my book. As expected, they went in appeal to the High Court, which set aside the order, on the grounds that Section 13(3) of the Official Secrets Act stipulates that no court can take cognizance of any offence under the Act unless the complaint comes from the Government. The same happened with my complaint regarding corruption in RAW. After several years, the CBI Special Judge opined that he was helpless, since previous sanction of the Government was not taken! Mercifully, my visits to the courts this year have reduced, from 40 to 50 in yesteryears to just 20 this year.

With the publication of the History of the Corps of Signals, Volume III last year, I thought that I would now get some time to devote to another book that I have been working on for about three years now. It is being written in fits and starts – for the last three months or so, I have not had time to turn to it. Hopefully, I will during the next couple of months. Of course, my involvement with the Corps History has not ended. I still visit the Corps History Cell in Signals Enclave about once week or so. After all, I spent almost 15 years in that room, working on Volume II and then Volume III. Maj Gen PK Mullick who now wears the mantle of the Corps Historian, is working on Volume IV that will cover the period after 1972. I am sure he will do a fabulous job, as always.

This year, I had a wonderful holiday in Kerala, which I had not visited earlier. Sukesh Jain offered to take me along with his brother-in-law Sharad  – his sister was going abroad at that time – and Sharad’s son, daughter-in-law and grandchild. It was a nine day trip during which we visited Kochi, Allepey and Kumarakom. Sharad had a Club Mahindra membership so we stayed at Hotel Ramada in Allepey and the Mahindra resort in Kumarakom. We had a wonderful time, taking in all the sights and doing a lot of boating in the backwaters. We also tried the traditional oil massage. The last two days were spent in the Engineers Mess at Kochi, from where we made a trip to the Athirapalli falls. Of course, RK Nair was the friend, philosopher and guide for the tour. He had planned the whole trip, booked the cab for us, and received us when we arrived. As some of you may recall, Sukesh, RK and I share another bond – we had been driving together as part of the Signals team in the Himalayan Rally in the early eighties.

The second holiday of the year was in June, along with Kumud, Mauravi and her two daughters, Mriggya and Eshaana.  Also accompanying us was my son’s daughter, Khushi, and Bhumika, who is the daughter of Kumud’s nephew Ajay. So there were three adults and four girls, aged between 14 and 11. Mriggya had gone to Camp Himalayan in Himachal on a school trip last year and so we decided to go there. Unlike our previous holidays when we went in our own car, this time we went by bus. After an overnight journey from Delhi, the Volvo dropped us on the highway short of Manali, from where we were picked by a SUV sent from the Camp, which is run by Mr Naveen Bahri and his wife, along with a veteran, Air Marshal PK Bhangu. We stayed in a cottage with bunk beds and the kids had a rollicking time, indulging in activities such as river crossing, rappelling and trekking.

We had planned to stay for four days but on the last day, we attended a session of Psycho-Neorobics, of which a three-day workshop was being conducted by Dr BK Chandrasekhar. He is an Air Force veteran who now specialises in this new discipline. He is an MSc in psycho-neorobics and a PhD in alternative medicine. He has founded an organisation known as SIGFA and conducts workshops all over the country. Neorobics is a little known science that is related to the power of the mind to control the body, awakening the seven chakras. By common consent of the adults, we decided to extend our stay by two days, and attend the workshop. It was an interesting experience and we came away feeling we had learnt something new. We were given a lot of literature and CDs with videos of the various exercises. Unfortunately, after a few days, almost all of us gave it up – it consumed too much time and the benefits were not as visible as what had been claimed. But the children enjoyed the extended stay, and that is all that mattered.

This year has been fruitful on the financial front, as it has been for most veterans. As I had mentioned last year, about five years ago 53 major generals including SPS Vains had filed a case in the AFT at Chandigarh to remove the anomalies in their pay with those who retired after 2006. The AFT ruled in their favour but the Govt., as usual, went in appeal to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal. Everyone got a large sum of money as arrears, except me – my name was there but the IC Number, Rank and address was missing from the letter issued by the MOD, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW). After a lot of running around, a corrigendum was issued and I got the arrears this year. Another bonanza came after my plea for broad banding of disability pension was accepted by the AFT. Finally, the arrears of OROP also came through as well those from the 7^th CPC. Of course, I have spent some of this windfall on the purchase of a new car. We zeroed in on the Nissan Terrano and decided to go in for a petrol version, since diesel vehicles are going to be banned soon. I was surprised to learn that the petrol version of the car is not in the CSD list, so I had to buy it from the market. Because of the problems associated with my back – lumbar canal stenosis with three prolapsed discs - the only vehicle that suits me is the Toyota Innova. My present Innova is now almost nine years old, but I have to get rid of it soon and go in for a car that runs on petrol. Thankfully, a petrol version is now available. Perhaps I will buy it next year, again from the market.  

Last year, the whole family had assembled in our village in Sultanpur in UP to celebrate the 94^th birthday of my mother. Less than a year later, all of us were there to mourn her passing away, on 2^nd September. Fortunately, I was there when she breathed her last in the hospital as Lucknow. Thankfully, she had no ailments and passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones.

Two controversial events took place earlier this month. The first was the arrest of a former Air Chief by the CBI. Needless to say, it was a shock. I am only praying that the real culprits are brought to book and ACM Tyagi comes out without a taint on his otherwise spotless career. But what about the incalculable damage to his reputation and the morale of the Services? Would this have happened in the time of Cariappa, Thimayya or Manekshaw?

The second event was the appointment of the next Army Chief, overlooking two who were senior to him. Here is a historical perspective. I wonder if many people know that the job of the first C-in-C of the Indian Army was offered by Sardar Baldev Singh, the Defence Mister in the Interim Government to Brig Nathu Singh in 1946, but he did not accept, since Cariappa was senior to him. In 1948 it was offered by Sardar Patel to Lt Gen Rajendra Sinhji – he had a better war record, having won the DSO in WW II - but he too refused, for the same reason. Has this breed become extinct? Anyone who is interested can read the full story in the biographies of Cariappa and Nathu Singh that are part of my book Leadership in The Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers. They are available on my blog:veekay-militaryhistory.blogspot.com.

               After Independence, there have been several supersessions in the appointment of the Army Chief. When Gen Shrinagesh retired in 1957, there were several contenders for the post. Sant Singh and Kalwant Singh were from the same Sandhurst batch, having passed out on 29^th Jan 1925. The other two were Thimayya and Thapar, who had also passed out from Sandhurst together, on 4^th Feb 1926. Thimayya had been placed 15th in order of merit, while Thapar was 18th. Hence, he was technically senior to Thapar. What tilted the scales in favour of Thimayya was his war record - he had won the DSO, and was the only Indian to have commanded a brigade in battle. The others did not have any notable achievement to their credit. As expected, Thimayya was selected for the top job in the Army, and took over as COAS on 8 May 1957. He superseded Sant Singh, who resigned, as well as Kalwant Singh, who decided to continue.

  The second incident occurred in 1974, when Prem Bhagat was sidelined. Because of his immense popularity, even Indira Gandhi hesitated to supersede him. The Army Chief, Gen Bewoor, was due to retire on 11^th Apr 1974. Prem Bhagat, who was then GOC-in-C Northern Command was the senior most Lt Gen in the Army.  At that time, the retirement age for the Chief was 58, and 56 for Lt Gens. Since Bhagat was to reach the age of 56 only on 13^th Oct 1974, he was almost certain to become the next Chief.  But the bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry had other ideas. Having dealt with an intractable Chief like Sam Manekshaw for four years, they did not want another strong Chief on their hands. A routine letter is sent to officers who are due to retire, about six months in advance. This was done in case of Bhagat also. In order to bring pressure on him, and force him to resign, this fact was leaked to the Press, which speculated that he would now seek premature retirement. Bhagat was furious, and made it clear that he had no such intentions.

       The Government now realised that the only way to deny Bhagat the post of COAS was to supersede him. However, by now he had become immensely popular, and his supersession would have had wide ranging repercussions. So another ploy was thought of. Due the extension granted to Manekshaw,  Bewoor's tenure had been reduced, and he had been Chief just for a year and half. To compensate him, it was decided that he should be given a year's extension. This would ensure that Bhagat would retire as a Lt Gen without technically being superseded. So this is exactly what happened.  In July 1974, Bhagat accepted the appointment of Chairman, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and moved to Calcutta as a serving Lt Gen. Sadly, he breathed his last just ten months later.

The most well known case of supersession occurred in 1983, when Arun Vaidya was made COAS, superseding SK Sinha, who was the VCOAS and senior most. Sinha promptly put in his papers, but refused to comment on the issue. The story made front page news and though Parliament was not in session, there was a joint statement in the Press, by six prominent MPs, which included Charan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, L.K. Advani, H.N. Bahuguna, George Fernandez and Dharam Vir Sinha. They  severely criticised the Government for its interference in the professionalism of the Army for short term political gains, and praised the dignified reaction of Sinha, at his supersession. They demanded a debate in Parliament, on the subject, in the forthcoming session. When the House met, the members tried to raise the issue. However, in the Lok Sabha, the Speaker did not permit a discussion on grounds of security. In the Rajya Sabha also, the Chairman disallowed a debate, leading to angry exchanges between the treasury benches and the Opposition, some of whom quoted the instance of Thimayya's resignation, and the debate in Parliament that followed.

               On 29^th Dec, I am scheduled to address officers undergoing the Higher Command course at the Army war College, Mhow on ‘Leadership in the Indian Army – Our Historical Legacy’. I have decided to concentrate on one important quality that our predecessors had which the present generation of officers seem to have forgotten -  a stiff backbone.

     

We are still staying at Abhimaur Vikum in Palam Vihar in Gurgaon. My son Abhimanyu lives on the first floor with his wife Jasmine and their two children Bhuvanyu (13) and Khushi (11), who go to the Sun City School. Bhuvanyu is budding cricketer and plays in State level tournaments for under 16 teams. My daughter Mauravi and her husband Vaibhav have recently moved from Hextex Commune to Trinity near the DLF golf course. Their two daughters, Mriggya (13) and Eshaana (11), study at the Kunskapsskolan School. Vaibhav, a Captain in the Merchant Navy is presently sailing. Mriggya had hosted a girl from Sweden for two weeks in her home this year, and will be going on a reciprocal visit next year in July. The rest of the family is planning a trip to Europe, after picking up Mriggya from Sweden. 

That about sums it up for the year 2016.  Those who wish to read the previous newsletters can do so by logging on to my blog veekaysnewsletter.blogspot.com.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Vinay and Kumud Singh

G-31, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon – 122017

Tele: 0124-4074077, 9873494521, 9899110913

25^thDecember 2016

  

The photo was taken in July 2016 in Devi Bhawan, which has now been converted into a heritage hotel - Bharat Mahal Palace – by Kumud’s brother, Col Jitendra Singh Nathawat. Kumud was born in this house.

VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2015

VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2015

Dear Friends,

The year 2015 is almost done and the time has come to talk of ‘shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings’. With the advent of novel means of communications such as e-mails, Skype and WhatsApp, one would have thought that the British custom of annual newsletters would become passé. Fortunately, this did not happen. Lazy people like me find it much easier to write one long letter at the end of the year to let friends, acquaintances and loved ones know that they are still alive and kicking, instead of sending them regular updates every week or month. It also does away with the need of sending Christmas and New Year cards, thus saving paper and trees, and keeping our planet green

Like the previous years, 2015 has been full of ups and downs. Thankfully, the highs were more that the lows.  The case filed against me by the CBI at the behest of RAW in 2007 in connection with my book India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), is still going on, with no end in sight. But the number of court hearings was less than in previous years. For the record, there were seven in the High Court, 25 in the CMM’s court (sometimes, two or three on the same date), one before the CIC and five in the Consumer Forum. The main case in the CMM’s court has been stayed by the High Court, until the issue of the prosecution giving me the documents that I need for my defence is decided (the CMM allowed it, but the CBI has filed an appeal in the High Court). The case filed by Prashant Bhushan on my behalf in the High Court in 2008 to quash the FIR and charge sheet is also hanging fire – the last hearing was held on 1/5/2014, more than a year and a half ago! Two of the five cases filed by me – one concerning corruption in RAW and the other four against authors whose material I used in my book – have been dismissed, as previous sanction had not been obtained. As everyone knows, it is almost impossible for a private citizen to obtain Government sanction in advance for prosecution of a public servant. I now intend doing what Subramanium Swamy did – he wrote to the PM for sanction to prosecute Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and when he did not get a reply, appealed to the Supreme Court. (On 23^rd December, when I was on way back from Jaipur, a constable from the CBI came to deliver a summons to my house in Gurgaon. When I told him on telephone that I was out of town, he said he will come again next Monday i.e. on 28^th. Who knows, this may be the beginning of another case!)

A major event was the release of the History of the Corps of Signals, Volume III, covering the period 1947-72, by the COAS on 15^th February during the Corps Day party. With this ended the seven odd years of struggle – three to write it and four to get it published – with the project. This was the second time the book was released, the first being during the centenary celebrations of the Corps at Jabalpur in February 2011, when a ‘dummy copy’ was released. After four years of shuttling between MI, MO and Signals Directorates, clearance was finally accorded in 2015 and the book saw the light of day. Unfortunately, the entire chapter on the 1962 war had to be deleted, along with some portions of the 1971 war and the skirmish at Nathula in 1967. As I expected, the veterans who took part in the 1962 war and the other operations that were omitted, many of whom are still living and had contributed to the respective chapters, were severely disappointed. Hopefully, these maybe added once the records of the operations after 1961 are de-classified by the MOD. Those who are interested can read these chapters on my blog: veekay-militaryhistory.blogspot.com.

Just a few days ago, I received the welcome news that Maj Gen PK Mullick has accepted the assignment of writing the next volume of the Corps History. As most of you know, he is one of our most distinguished and erudite veterans, who has been writing on professional issues for several years. I am sure he will do an excellent job and Volume IV will be even better than the previous ones. Of course, he will need the support and cooperation of all of us. I wish him God Speed and all the very -best in this venture.

One of the high points of the year was the Golden Jubilee of our passing out from IMA, which we celebrated in Dehradun in June. Though it concerned only the Army officers, we invited our NDA course mates from the Navy and Air Force (the dam busters) after getting concurrence of the Commandant IMA. As usual, I was shanghaied into agreeing to produce the souvenir for the event. I thought it would be similar to the NDA souvenir that I had produced in 2011 for the Golden Jubilee of our joining the NDA. But as it turned out, this was a much more demanding assignment. The souvenir was to include the profile of each one of the 301 officers who were commissioned on 27^th June 1965, with details such as date of birth, IMA Company, appointment held, regiment, rank achieved, date of retirement, date of marriage, names of spouse and children, postal address, e-mail and telephone numbers etc. The officers who passed out from IMA belonged to several streams – NDA, direct entry, OTU, TA and technical graduates. Except the ex-NDA types, most of the others had almost gone underground after passing out and it was a herculean task to locate them.  With the help of several others who joined the hunt, we managed to get details of almost everyone, including the 45 who had passed away.

 It was a fantastic event that went off without a hitch, thanks to the meticulous planning by the staff of the IMA as well as Gurmeet Grover, the course coordinator and those among us who had been assigned various responsibilities. Most of us were thrilled to be back in Dehradun after 50 years, in familiar surroundings where we had sweated and fretted before getting that lone star on the shoulder. Thankfully, the gentleman cadets (GCs) live like gentlemen in two room suites with attached toilets, unlike the hutments that we stayed in during our time.  For the wives who accompanied their husbands, it was an unique experience. It speaks volumes for the spirit of the ladies, especially the widows who joined us for the event, some escorted by a son or a daughter.  

Thankfully, my visits to the hospital this year were not as frequent as in the past. My back does not give much trouble as long as I remember to do my daily session of extension exercises. The problem of swelling in the retina (BRVO) is still there, but does not cause much worry. I have already had 12 injections during the last three years – Avastin, Lucentis and Macugen – and there is very little improvement. Dr. Darius Shroff, who is taking care of it, has stopped the injections, but I go to him for a check-up once every two or three months. Of course, I have to take regular eye drops to keep the eye pressure under control and medication for blood pressure and sugar but I suppose these are universal for everyone at our age.

The respite from visits to courts and hospitals has been offset with another activity that I mentioned in my last newsletter –construction of additional rooms in the backyard of our house and extension of the lobby and drawing room. This was followed by the construction of rooms for servants on the terrace that had been demolished when the second floor was constructed a couple of years back. We realised that unless they had a place to stay, no servant was ready to work for us on a permanent basis. We do manage to get some part time help to do the cooking, washing and cleaning, but one is never sure whether or not they will turn up to cook the next meal.  Kumud and I manage to do most of our own work ourselves but with advancing years, a helping hand is needed to shift heavy articles, move furniture and do sundry jobs around the house. Hopefully, in another month or two the project will be completed and we might be able to get a servant on a full time basis.

I am still trying to come to terms with the loss of all the data in my PC that crashed last year. Slowly, I have been able to build up some of it from back up disks made a few years back, e-mails that I had sent or received, CDs and various other sources. However, most of the files made during the period 2010-14 have been irretrievably lost. A similar problem occurred this year with Kumud’s Galaxy 2 mobile phone. Apparently, there was a virus that had made it slow. We took it to a mobile repair shop. The technician said he would remove the virus and asked us to leave the phone with him for about 30 minutes. When we collected it, the phone was working but all the data – phone numbers, photos, songs etc. – had been lost. He had formatted it without making a backup. We realised it only after reaching home. Next day his shop was closed and then we had to go out of station for a week. Kumud returned before I did and gave him a piece of her mind. Once I came back, I did the same. After I threatened him with a court case, he returned the money that he had charged us, but that was small consolation for the loss of data, especially the phone numbers. We could get the numbers of family members and close friends from others, but those of maids, cooks, tradesmen, shopkeepers etc. were lost forever. Kumud was inconsolable and blamed me for the fiasco. For once, I accepted my fault. I wish I had stayed on in the shop and made sure that a backup copy is made before formatting the phone.

This is not the only instance of bad luck visiting us this year. There were several others, some major and others minor. About five years ago 53 major generals including SPS Vains had filed a case in the AFT at Chandigarh to remove the anomalies in their pay with those who retired after 2006. This was based on a case that Maj Gen Vains and several others had won earlier, regarding the anomalies after the 1996 CPC. The AFT ruled in their favour but the Govt., as usual, went in appeal to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal. About a month ago, a couple of my friends told me that they had received a large sum of money as arrears in their bank accounts. I had received a letter from the MOD, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW) a few months ago, directing the CGDA to pay the arrears, but there was no list attached. Since I was one of the signatories to this petition, I went across the DESW and got a copy. Lo and behold, the list attached to the letter did have my IC Number, Rank and address at serial 23, but my name was missing. I then spoke to the Joint secretary, who asked me to submit various documents, including a copy of the list of petitioners in the original petition, proof that I am indeed the same person as given in the petition i.e. IC 16318F Maj Gen VK Singh and that my address is the same. I have done all this earlier this month. Hopefully, they will issue an amendment soon and then I can pester the CGDA in Allahabad to pay me my dues. I am sure all this happened due a lapse by careless clerk, who was probably chatting while typing out the letter. Of course, none of the people who approved the letter or signed it had the time to read it. But why do such things happen only to me?

One thing that I have not been able to fathom is why a judgment of the Supreme Court, High Court or AFT in matters of pay and pension of Armed Forces personnel does not apply automatically to everyone who is similarly affected. As it stands, each affected individual has to file a petition in the concerned court for his dues, which he gets only after a favourable ruling. It results in a colossal waste of time and effort, and increases the workload of the courts that are already overburdened. Exactly the same thing has happened in the case of broad banding of disability pension. After the judgment of the Supreme Court in December 2014, the disability pension of all veterans who have less than 50% disability should have automatically been revised to 50%. But this has not happened. Each veteran has to file a separate petition in the AFT, which gives a half page order accepting his plea and the CGDA then issues a corrigendum PPO. The lawyer charges around 50,000 to 75,000 from each person to file his case in the AFT. I know several officers who have already done this and got their pensions revised. It appears to be a senseless waste of time and money. Of course, for the lawyers it is a bonanza. Due to various other commitments, I have still been able to file my own petition, but I intend doing this shortly, without engaging a lawyer.

This year we again missed our annual sojourn in the hills. But there were several other family outings that more than made up for this. In November, the whole family congregated at our farm near Sultanpur, where my mother lives with my brother and his family. To celebrate her 94^th birthday, her grandchildren – there are 18 of them – had organised a two-day family get-together. It was after several years that the whole family gathered at on place. The great grandchildren – there were more than 30 at last count - had a whale of a time, many of them seeing village life for the first time in their lives.

In December, we had a similar gathering at my brother-in-law’s place in Jaipur, which included a trip to his farm in Chomu, about 40 Km from Jaipur. As I had mentioned in one of my previous newsletters, my brother-in-law, Col Jitendra Singh, had to get his leg amputated after a surgical operation to remove a blockage in his leg  done in Apollo Hospital by Dr Trehan went wrong. In spite of his disability, his morale never waned. After retiring from service, he converted his ancestral bungalow in Jaipur into a hotel, which is now known as the Bharat Mahal Heritage Hotel. He late bought some farm land near Chomu where he has recently made a resort, mostly for family outings and picnics. He is always on the go and every time we visit, we find something new. Again, the children enjoyed themselves thoroughly and were it not for missing school, would not have come back so soon. Of course, we intend going back to Jaipur again, to ring in the New Year at Bharat Mahal Palace.  

We are still staying at Abhimaur Vikum in Palam Vihar in Gurgaon. My son Abhimanyu lives on the first floor with his wife Jasmine and their two children Bhuvanyu (12) and Khushi (10), who go to the Sun City School. My daughter Mauravi and her husband Vaibhav live in Hextex Commune near the DLF golf course. Their two daughters Mriggya (12) and Eshaana (10) shifted last year from the Excelsior American School to the Kunskapsskolan School, which has recently been voted as the best school in Gurgaon. It is a Swedish school whose name is quite a mouthful -I still find it difficult to pronounce it correctly. Vaibhav is a captain in the Merchant Navy and is presently enjoying a break, having finished his last assignment in November. He is busy doing all his courses gain. Due to some strange reason, the DG Shipping has recently decided to de-recognise all certificates, so all sailors, including masters and mates, have to get new certificates again. These are given after short courses at various institutes that are run by retired merchant navy officers. Like the lawyers, they are smiling, if not laughing, all the way to the bank.

A matter of concern is the likelihood of all diesel vehicles being banned in the near future. Due to the problem of my back, the only vehicle that I find comfortable is the Innova, which does not have a petrol variant. I am now in a quandary. Should I change the vehicle, or modify it to run on CNG?  Or shift to my home state, UP, where these rules will probably never be enforced.  

  

This about sums it up for the year 2015. This is my tenth newsletter (the first one was sent in 2006).  Those who wish to read the previous ones can do so by logging on to my blog veekaysnewsletter.blogspot.com.

Let me close by wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Vinay and Kumud Singh

G-31, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon – 122017

Tele: 0124-4074077, 9873494521, 9899110913

24^th December 2014

At Palam Vihar, on 7^th December 2015