I cannot say exactly which year I was born. We do not count age in terms of years, we keep track according to one's zodiac. Estimating my age became all the more difficult as I lost my mother early. My eldest sister-in-law told me that I was born in the month of April. We are now in 2000. So, I should be around 83 years old. I must have enlisted when I was 22-23. From our village, the recruiter took us to Kunaghat where we stayed another 15 days. From there we went to Comilla (in present-day Bangladesh) where we stayed for some time before being taken to upper and then central Burma because war was in the offing.
We arrived in Burma by plane and then had to walk. There were no motor vehicles. In central Burma we joined our regiment. The commanding officer, in consultation with the subedar major, regrouped the force. The newly arrived contingent numbered 35 and the regiment was divided into four companies. I was placed in the fourth regiment and 9th platoon. The enemy force was atop the hill. Our A and B companies were at the bottom and C company was above those two. We had taken our positions surrounding the headquarters.
We had only 90,000 personnel in Burma, nobody knows how many of them were killed. When there is non-stop firing from the enemy side, the soldiers lie down. When the order "Off" is given, we had to get up and rush forward. We could not turn back and run. If we did, our own troops would open fire on the fleeing soldiers. I had taken the position on the hillock above and B company were position below. If shots were fired from a particular position, everyone fired in that direction. In case of the slightest mistake one could be hit by friendly fire. The enemy hid and fired at us, sometimes from trees.
On the 12 May I was seriously wounded by a bomb in Tardu, central Burma. I had no idea where it came from. It hit a tree behind me and when it exploded, shrapnel flew everywhere. I lost the sight in one eye and had a few teeth knocked out. My right hand was hanging to the rest of my arm by a small piece of flesh. I only realised the seriousness of my injuries when the dressing was removed at Comilla. I did not feel any pain immediately after I was hit and kept firing with my left hand. There was a stock of bullets, so I put the butt of the rifle on my shoulder and kept on firing. I assume it was 3 to 5 rounds. Anyway, I fulfilled the oath I had taken.
Later, I could not walk a single step. I felt dizzy, like I was under the influence of alcohol. At my third attempt I could, with difficulty, raise my head. The firing stopped for a short while. There was no sense in continuing firing as the enemy had stopped shooting. Then I got up from the bunker and jumped towards the sergeant and the corporal who were behind me. They ordered me to go back to headquarters but I did not heed their advice. Orders were issued to collect all the bandages available and my wound was bandaged and a yellow ointment applied to the bullet wound. The wound did not heal with medicine and doctors had to amputate me three times. That is why my hand is shorter. Out of 12 others who were wounded, four died. They were from other units. No one from our unit was killed.
The day I was hurt, for a full day and night I remained there as because we were surrounded by the enemy. Only on the third day was the cordon broken and there was quiet. Those who were fit went to fight. The colonel was with me and said, "You are badly hurt so you better go back," and he put me on a stretcher. Four attendants had been told to carry me. It is not easy to walk up the hill as I had to be carried on stretcher through a difficult route.
They put me inside the aircraft and shut the door. I braced myself for a bumpy ride as the engine started. But the ride was incredibly smooth, I raised my head and looked out of the window only to see the land far below. I was on a plane. It was a tiny plane they used for mail and it accommodated only one person besides the pilot. The helicopters in use these days are far more spacious. I was in a state of delirium. Since I had been hit, I had nothing but water. There was little food. I went without food for three days, like everybody else. We put a lot of water in some rice and had gruel. (To be continued next week)
