As mock drills were conducted throughout India on Wednesday, I vividly recall December 3, 1971 when war with Pakistan started. Dusk had already fallen on that winter day and I was doing my school homework here.
Sirens warning air raid sounded and my mother having lived through the 1965 conflict shouted at me and told be fetch essentials from the nearby grocery store. My father was away at work and responsibility of looking after the family fell on an 11-year old boy. I rushed to the kirana store and several anxious customers were already there pestering the store owner to take their orders. I was the youngest and smallest in height and thought I will not able to do the important chores. After about ten minutes, the shopkeeper, who knew my father, spotted me and handed over a bundle of black paper sheet, a box of candles and some other items. It invited some snide remarks from other eager customers.
I ran home and joined my mother in pasting the black sheets on all the windows to block out light as part of black out. No light made it difficult for the enemy aircraft to locate a target and release its arsenal. Though we were sure that light do not filter out of the black sheet covered windows, my mother as a precautionary measure, used to make sure the family has its dinner in candle light. I also recall the schools functioned normally and as part of first aid kit all students were made to carry a bottle of antiseptic spirit and wad of cotton. Moreover, home guards used to teach us survival techniques in case of a bomb attack. Trenches with a depth of six to eight feet were dug up in several parks and residential areas and people to take shelter in them in case of an air raid. Motorists were also asked to drive with their front lights covered half with black paint to avoid detection from air.
This drill continued for nearly a fortnight till Pakistan surrendered on December 16 and the war ended leading to creation of Bangladesh.
My mother, now in her late 80s, vividly remembered 1965 war with my younger sister, then only four or five years old, asking her to switch off lights when the siren sounded in late afternoon.
(Rahul Datta is Associate Editor, The Pioneer)