Colonel Surinder Jeet Singh Chabba - Papa for me and veera, and Dadaji for Tanveer, Aarya, Ahaan and Sairah...
(as told by Dadaji - minor literary liberties taken while writing this)
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Surinder Jeet Singh Chabba (@sjs.chabba) • Instagram photos and videos
Dada ji was born in village Painth Chakk (65 Chak) at Lyallpur (Faisalabad) in
Pakistan on 19 October 1942. He stayed there till partition and was brought up
by Pandit Bhagwan Das, fondly referred to as Dada, and the governess who was
referred to as Amma. When partition happened the whole family was shifted
to India (Amritsar, Chabba) by Squadron Leader Shivdev Singh (who later became Air
Marshal) who was a good friend of Dada ji’s chacha, Captain (later Colonel)
Surat Singh (Billoo chacha and Koni – Mohan chacha’s father). Sqn Ldr Shivdev
flew down a transport aircraft and shifted most of the sikh families from there
including Shri Ram Lubhaya, the village grocery shopkeeper (Late Harbans Lal
Khurana’s father).
On shifting to Amritsar, the
family lost all its landed property in Lyallpur and was given some in lieu in
Sohiyan village. The next few years he studied at Government School, Chabba - what he'd lovingly call "Chabba Convent".
The school had just been opened and the little kids would take gunny bags to
school to sit on. Sardar Manjit Singh (Teji/ Pali/ Golu’s father – Pilibhit), Sardar
Jasjit Singh (Vicky/ Dolly’s father) would stay at Sarkaria House and sometimes
in Chabba with the three brothers Inderjit (shammi), Narenderjit (nindi) and
Surinderjit (billoo). Dadaji studied at “Chabba Convent” till 6th
class (1953) after which he shifted to St Paul’s, Palampur and stayed at the
hostel there. The fee was Rs 50/- per month. Captain Datar Singh (my Dadaji) who was on active duty all this time, thought that the kids would get supervised better at the hostel rather than at the village where there was no one to "lagao danda".
Bibi Kartar Kaur Chabba (Dada
ji’s bhua ji) had no children and her husband died in the second world war.
When her husband died, the family had no 'waaris' and so she got her
father in law married again so that the family line could continue. After her father
in law’s second marriage, she came and started living in Chabba out of her
attachment with the family. She was very fond of Shammi tauji and insisted that
he stay at the village with her so that she could look after him. And so the three brothers got separated - 'Nindi' and 'Billoo' going to Palampur and 'Shammi' staying on at Chabba.
After desi ghee and parantha's at the village, eating the hostel rice was very difficult. Perhaps this started their love for good food - specially non veg. Nindi tauji and Dada ji couldn't reconcile to eating the staple hostel food - rice. A dalit (lower caste) classmate once invited Dadaji for dinner since he had cooked some chicken or pigeon. Dadaji had a yumm dinner with him.
However, the family got to know of this and the hostel warden sent a complaint to Pardadaji - Sardar (Captain) Datar Singh after which a stern message came to the kids directing them to eat whatever was served and Dadaji got a solid thrashing for having eaten with a lower caste boy. The boys studied there till 10th. Nindi tauji failed in science and so both of them came to the same class after which they studied together. Once when the boys were coming to Amritsar, they decided to catch the train from Pathankot. At the station, Dadaji was so mesmerised by the movie posters that he missed the train. By then Nindi tauji had gotten onto the train. Dadaji wasn't carrying any money (it was all with Nindi tauji). Perhaps this left a very very lasting impression on him. Later in life, he would have money tucked away in various nooks and corners, chor pockets, etc. He would get very upset if I would at times travel with no cash.
When he missed the train, Dadaji started crying and some (very pretty) college girls who were passing by took him to the Station master. The station master gave him a rupee (big amount then) and boarded him on the bus to Amritsar. The bus left him at Shaheedan from where he walked to Chabba. At Chabba Advocate Avtar Singh (Manjit tauji’s father) saw Dadaji coming and heard the whole story. By then Nindi tauji hadn’t reached and now the focus completely shifted from Billoo being left behind to Nindi missing. Dadaji was warned that if Nindi didn’t come, he was in for a thrashing of his life.
Thankfully Nindi tauji came in the rickshaw shortly after crying that his brother had gotten left behind. Both the brothers were overjoyed at seeing each other and the evening ended on a happy note. This laid a solid foundation for the brothers and they would go on to stand by each other for everything in life after that.
Dadaji captained the school basketball, cricket and hockey team. The Principal at St Paul's was Mr Guttoun (?) – Canadian and later Mr P Samuel, an Indian. Many years later Dadaji presented a trophy to the school and we revisited it together a couple of times when he'd talk about his arts teacher and show me the school playground, St Andrew's hostel and classes.
After 'matriculation' (class 10th/ year 11), Dadaji wanted to appear for NDA exam and so shifted to Delhi and stayed with Bhenji Daljit who’s husband, Lt Charanjit Singh (IN), was posted in Delhi (Dr Rituraj and Gogi di's father). In Dadaji's words, it was a very 'different experience' staying in a nuclear family in a metropolitan city - he definitely didn't like it too much. He attended classes at SN Das Gupta College. His friend Harbans Khurana who had shifted from Pakistan to Delhi with them, was already there. Both of them would enjoy riding bicycles from India Gate to Karol Bagh. When he couldn’t clear NDA, Captain Surat Singh, his chacha, called him to Agra for his higher education. Dadaji wanted to stay with his brothers but could not dare refuse his chacha. In Agra, he was enrolled into St John’s College, Agra. He studied science for one year there. He would ride a bicycle to the college and some boys would trouble him enroute. During one such incident he found Surinder Uncle and they became friends for life. Surinder uncle continued to stay in Agra and had two sons. One joined the army and another opened a shoe factory. Dadaji couldn't stay away from the family and wrote to his father about it. Much against Captain Surat Singh's (my father's chacha) wishes, Dadaji was allowed to move back to Amritsar. Years later, during the 65 War, Captain Surat and Dadaji served together in the same sector.
After St John's College, Dadaji joined Khalsa College, Amritsar and stayed at Nabha Hostel. Years later when I didn't do too well in my 12th, he got me enrolled into Khalsa College and made sure I too got Nabha Hostel. At that time I never knew that Dadaji also used to stay there. Perhaps after that fate rewrote both our lives.
His fondest memory of Khalsa College was the Bhangra team. Dadaji used to stay at Nabha hostel with his friends Sukhwant (who went onto to become a spare part engineer par excellence but gave it all away to become an astrologer), Manjeet, and his brother Nindi. Under his 'Captainship'. the Bhangra team won Bhangra competitions in Ropar, Pathankot, and Bhiwani. A regular at these festivals was Jagjit Singh, the ghazal singer, who would come from the DAV Jalandhar team. In 1961 Khalsa College team won the all India inter university festival at Bangalore and in 1962 won the All India Bhangra Competition in Delhi. In 1961 he also performed at the 2nd International Film Festival at Bombay which was organised by BR Chopra. The festival showcased Vijayanti Mala’s dance and Khalsa College’s bhangra. The team started getting a lot of offers from Bollywood and featured in movies like Vilayat Paas, Laado Rani, Kashmir ki Kali, besides others.
Dadaji was also on the basketball and hockey teams.
19 Oct 1961 Dadaji’s father suffered a heart attack and passed away while in service. He was on leave to meet Shammi tauji, as he was not happy with Tauji,s job who was then working at the Bhakra Nangal dam. Years later, the bane of heart disease would take away many a Chabba's. The curse of October would also strike quite a few.
To support his family after his
father death, Dadaji joined the Punjab government untrained teacher scheme
wherein anyone who was 10th pass could enroll as a teacher and was sent to
villages to teach children there. Dadaji would go to Majitha to teach in a school there
and was paid Rs 100/-.
During the 1962 conflict, Emergency drafting for the army was started and he got selected for the EC4 course. He went for this initial interview at Khalsa College. This interview was conducted by 4 professors and 2 army officers. They asked him what the difference between artillery and infantry was. Dadaji replied that infantry walks on foot and in artillery there were “topes”. Everyone started laughing and so did Dadaji. Then they asked Dadaji what is New York. Dadaji replied it was capital of USA. So all the answers were wrong. After the interview Dadaji requested one of his professors to do something to get him selected. However, the professor said that he couldn’t help since all his answers were wrong.
The next day when the result was declared, Dadaji was the only one to get selected. The army officer felt that he was the only confident one who could laugh at himself too. For the SSB interview Dadaji went to Meerut. The interviewer there on finding out that Dadaji was part of the Bhangra team, asked him to perform and was very impressed by his performance - perhaps more by his lack of inhibitions and the desire to join the army. In April 1963 Dadaji joined OTA Madras (then called OTS which had shifted from Mhow to Chennai).
During a 26 kms endurance run, Dadaji couldn’t do well. He was amongst the last people. The heat and humidity was so much that he removed his turban and poured water on it. His room mate Rana who was ahead of him decided to go through the fields to take a shorter route. When Dadaji somehow dragged himself to the end point, he found that Rana had still not reached. A close friend during the troublesome training, Rana used to tell Dadaji that he would be the first officer from his family but destiny had something else in store. While taking the short cut, Rana suffered a heat stroke and passed away in the rice fields. By the time he was found, Rana was no more.
Dadaji raised the OTS bhangra team which performed at the end of term cultural show. A lot of instructors congratulated Dadaji after the performance and were keen that he joins their unit. Out of 565 cadets, Dadaji was 65th in merit. The Commandant, Brigadier Ram Singh invited the first 100 to his house for a cup of tea. It was a proud moment for him. Years later when I was asked to the Commandant's house for tea in NDA, Dadaji would proudly narrate his story.
Dadaji didn’t attend the pipping ceremony as no one from the family came to pip him. He wore his uniform when he reached Amritsar and asked bibi ji to pip him.
In 2020, during my last posting in Chennai, Dadaji visited OTA. He felt very happy to drive into OTA in my staff car. Robby, a dear friend, organised for an LO to show us around. We walked in the drill square, the cadet mess and tried to find his barracks but sadly, couldn't find them. Much had changed in those 56 years since he had left OTA after his training.
I intended to get more stories out of Dadaji during our next meeting. Unfortunately, it never fructified. The rest of this blog is from what I remember - fond memories of my father, as narrated and as remembered....
Dadaji got commissioned into 20 Locating Regiment. A whole batch of 7 YOs joined together. The best part of the unit was their officers mess cook who had been taken a POW by the Chinese Army during the 62 conflict. On being released, he came back as an expert in Chinese cuisine!
Dadaji fought on the western front during the 65 conflict. He narrowly escaped death when his willy jeep was targeted by the enemy. Somewhere around the same sector, another artillery officer, Lt Varinder Sachar gave the supreme sacrifice for his motherland and was martyred in enemy artillery shelling. Years later his niece and I would marry.
During the 71 War, Dadaji served as Staff Officer to General Jacob. After the war, Dadaji was accompanying General Jacob on a flight. Being a war hero, General Jacob was a celebrity in his own right and was very well known and respected. Midflight the general called the airhostess and complained that there was a stench coming. They were seated in business class and the mortified airhostess started fretting and trying to find what had troubled the General who had liberated Bangladesh. When the General had had enough, he burst out laughing, called the airhostess and told her that the stench was coming from outside the aircraft because they were crossing Chabba village!
Dadaji was very fond of letters, photographs and valued relations. He would unhesitatingly implicitly trust everyone and carry fond memories of them irrespective of their behaviour/ sometimes vested interests. His photographs are catalogued on Instagram "sjs.chabba"
Another incident he would narrate was that of Ambala Cantt. He was newly married. It was a sunday and the bachelors had come home for beer and biryani. After a few bottles, the youngsters started bragging about who was the bravest and they decided on a unique test to find out the bravest of the brave. They would strip down to their birth suit and climb the water tower. Anyone who could do it, won and the loser would have to part with a hefty amount of money. Dadima was immediately hushed into a room and locked so she couldn't see what was happening. Despite Dadaji trying to control the "developing situation", clothes were flung and the race started. When the person who was betting against this saw his salary of a few months also running with these guys, he started shouting "chor, chor" (thief thief)... You can well figure out what chaos ensued next. It was day time.....
Dada ji was also very fond of his "Bullet" Royal Enfield motorcycle. It had to be tuned to a certain sound. Dadaji would call it "thak thak thak" and had to start in half a kick. He never used a number plate and the motor cycle would just have "Chabba" written behind it. This started his friendship with Channa chacha would would tune his motorcycle like no one else could. Years later when I donned the uniform, I would often meet people who would tell me about Dadaji and his Royal Enfield.
Once while in Yol, Dadaji decided to go to Dharamshala. He wore a kesari kurta, a rudraksh maala, and tied his hair in a pony tail behind. Unfortunately, his commanding officer noticed this "hippie" going out and stopped him at the unit gate. He then told Dadaji, "Swaamiji kabhi humaare office mein bhi darshan dijiye".... The next day, Dadaji and his battery commander were both standing outside the Commanding Officers office. Needless to say, he couldn't visit Dharamshala for quite some time after that.
Dadaji appeared in Staff College exam from Devlali where he was commanding 206 SATA Battery. Also posted there was Maj (later Brig) Chamba. When the results were announced it wasn't clear whether Chamba or Chabba had passed. Since Chamba was an instructor and very bright, everyone congratulated him and he even threw a party. When the written result came, unfortunately for him, Dadaji had passed the exam and Chamba had failed.
Later, Dadaji was told to take over command of 113 Field Regiment in Jhansi. A few weeks before he could take over, CO 79 Medium died in a fire accident and overnight, he was transferred as CO 79 Medium. A tag that stuck with him till his dying day.
79 was a mixed bag. While 5 years of command in Punjab helped him establish and make a name for himself, the timing was slightly inopportune as it was in the midst of Operation Bluestar. Worried about a pure sikh regiment in Punjab during the zenith of sikh insurgency, his GOC sent a message that he wanted to address the troops. Sensing that there was nothing positive to be gleaned from such an interaction, Dadaji told the GOC to have faith in his Commanding Officer and asked him not to come to his regiment. Luckily for Dadaji, the General appreciated the Commanding Officers confidence and his ability to take a stand refusing a General to visit his unit. He would often quote this example of courage of conviction to others till he became Chief of Army Staff. General BC Joshi then directed for Dadaji to be posted to Delhi under him. During one of the inspections at his office, one of Dadaji's commanders liked his sofa and wanted it to be gifted to the brigade for his own office. Dadaji refused and all hell broke loose. When the steward brought tea to the office, Dadaji yelled at him to take the tea back and told him to get the Commanders vehicle placed since the inspection was over. The commander got the message and quietly left. Obviously, Dadaji didn't make it to a Brigadier but definitely won over the hearts of his men and officers. Both these incidents were more special for me since they played out in an almost exact similar manner later when I was a commanding officer - and I told the DG Artillery not to visit my unit and yelled at my Commander asking him to leave since he too wanted extra favours. Proudly, I maintain that I learnt all the right things from Dadaji.
Another Commander had a fad of making a staff officer place a nickel coin on top of a window sill/ door a day prior and then during his inspection, the Commander would swipe out the nickel coin - much to the horror of the unit being inspected - and give them hell for lack of cleanliness. Dadaji noticed the coin and instead of removing it, had it polished and replaced at the same location where it had been planted. You can imagine the Commanders surprise when he came the next day.
He faced an extraordinary challenge of keeping the sikh troops constructively occupied during these troubled times and so devised a novel method of doing so. After the morning PT, there was one hour of compulsory Bhangra for everyone. Even the biggest of shammers could only resist the drum beats for some time and would then join in the revelry. After an hour of bhangra, they would be too tired to do any "hanky panky". Some incidents did happen but were "managed" by the excellent team of officers Dadaji had.
When Dadaji missed his promotion to the rank of Brigadier, he asked all of us to sit together and asked us whether we felt ok as a family. We all said that the rank didn't matter to us and his happiness did.
He retired from the army on 31st October 1995, a few months after I joined NDA - in his words, it was "jyot se jyot jagate chalo".
During service, Dadaji was allotted a flat in NOIDA and we often saw him scrounge, make trips to HDFC and ask his brothers for help to make the payments for the house. A few years before retirement he applied allotted a plot in Amritsar. Much to his dismay, he wasn't allotted one and went to AWHO to ask them to reconsider since he wanted to settle in Amritsar. They assured him that they would give him one and allotted him a size which was available for Brigadiers and above - 500 square yards. He couldn't afford it but since it was the only one available, after a lot of arguments with AWHO, he gave in and accepted it. He worked in a Flour Mill after retirement to repay the loans, oversaw some construction work at Bansal Sweets and did a stint at WWICS too. To make sure that he wasn't paying extra, he would personally go to Rajasthan to buy marble, hire a truck and get it himself. Brought concrete blocks since he was convinced they were stronger than bricks, laid down the garden himself making a waterfall (the sound of which he loved) and a small sit out next to the lawn to feed the birds (he loved it when parrots came to feed there). Dadaji married both his sons (me and Veera) and saw their families settle.
In 2006-07, Dadaji was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He fought it really well and put himself on a strict regimen of good food and exercise. He would often say, "I have to see my grandchildren getting married".....
In June 2022, Dadaji came to London for my convocation and stayed over for about a month. We would go for walks, sit and have a drink at the pub opposite our house - they played some live music there. He then went to New York to spend time with Veera before returning to Amritsar.
In October we planned a surprise birthday party for his 80th birthday on the 19th, organising a dinner at the lawns at Taj Swarna, Amritsar. We invited over a 100 guests - friends, relatives and anyone who had been associated with him - and asked each one not to let him know about it. We told him that we would have a small dinner at Taj. Dadaji dressed up smartly, asked me to help him tie the turban and put on his famous "buddha" belt. On reaching, he was shocked when he saw everyone. Dadaji broke down, it was a really pleasant surprise for him. He interacted with everyone, didn't sit for a minute and loved the evening. He was the first male Chabba member to reach 80.
On the 22nd, before leaving Amritsar, I told Dadaji to stay strong. Dadaji retorted that a pundit had told him that he had a very long life. The next day, he was feeling exceptionally energetic. He asked Dadima to come for a bike ride on my Bullet motorcycle to relive old days. Obviously, she refused. He then drove the car and went out for a drive. On the 25th, he went for his usual walk. Just that unlike his usual shy self, today he interacted with everyone he met on the road. In the evening he again took a stroll to get "limca" from the corner shop since he had a burning sensation. When the heartache was too much, Dadima took him to the hospital. He got dressed, used his deodorant spray and walked on his own. Colonel and Mrs Bachchitter joined them there. The MH doctor told Colonel Bachchitter that Dadaji had had a heart attack and asked for him to be rushed to Fortis since the military hospital didn't have a cardiologist. The doctors at Fortis put him on oxygen, said that he was stable and would be discharged after a couple of days under observation. Since he couldn't speak due to the mask - he asked for a paper to write on but just scribbled a few lines. He passed away that night ....
