The eyes of 74- year- old Guman Singh Hada of Deoli Hulla village in Pali district of Rajasthan were found glistening in unshed tears when he proudly placed epaulettes of officer on the young shoulders of his grandson Praveen Singh Hada. For Guman Singh, the moment was special as he had trained many youngsters like Praveen in his younger days as an Instructor of the Indian Military Academy (IMA). “I was an instructor in the IMA from 1971 to 1974. Those days were different. Dehradun city has changed a lot since for the worse.
It has lost its previous serenity and charm as it is now a crowded city. But the IMA campus has remained unchanged amidst changes. It has retained its old glory,” he said. “I am overwhelmed with joy as I have just seen my grandson becoming a officer from the same place I once served,’’ said an elated Singh. Incidentally, the son of Guman Singh and father of young Praveen Singh, Bhanwar Singh Hada is also serving as Subedar in the Indian Army. Bhanwar Singh who is presently posted at Tawang border was also present on the occasion.
He said Praveen is the third generation army man from the family.
“Furthermore, he is the first officer from the village we hail from,” he said emotionally. Interestingly, Praveen left his highly paid job in a merchant ship without the least of dithering as he cleared the Combined Defence Services (CDS) examination. He said he had not dithered even for a moment while leaving the job he was doing. “The matter of keeping the family tradition of serving in the army alive was paramount. I was earning Rs 2.5 lakh per month, but it is nothing when it comes to the tradition the family has been proudly nurturing for generations,” he said with an iron resolve emanating from his otherwise placid face.