THE IMPROVISED BARGAIN

It is no secret that soldiers are adept in improvising and innovating in almost every aspects of necessity, be it their daily grind or operational requirement. Improvisations range from explosive devices to water crossing expedients to field stretchers to weapons slings to fantastic excuses to so on & so forth! These men in Olive Greens cheerfully meet every conundrum against all odds with an appropriate solution. Their expertise at improvising is simply amazing.

Our troops, “kappus” from the North East, are known for their epicurean tryst with the two legged, four legged & no legged creatures alike. One of their priorities after setting camp is gaining "intelligence" about the availability of prospective ingredients of the next Carte du jour in the near vicinity. No amount of caution during every roll call, proclaiming civil areas as "out-of-bounds" is going to deter this spirited kappu from venturing out for “intelligence gathering”.

In this quest, we often come across some really unbelievable piece of improvisations on their part.

As part of area familiarisation & domination, we were on patrol of a village adjoining our Company location one sultry morning. We were just a week into this new area of operation and our alertness was at its best. The patrol formation was as given in the Training Manual. Our movement, as taught on the training grounds. As a young officer, I was vigilance incarnated. Scenes & lessons of "Rambo" & "First Blood" still very fresh on my mind, I had ensured that complacency was kept miles away. We were reconnoitring the countryside when we noticed a group of people huddled under a coconut tree about 300 yards away.

Distinctly recognisable amongst them, where two men in olive greens…

Anticipating the taste of the first blood, we lost no time in cocking our weapons and performing the “dash” – “down” – “crawl” – “observe” drill. We put on hold the “fire” part of the drill although. Keeping the group within our aiming sights, we cautiously moved towards them.

The group seemed engrossed in a heated discussion, the subject having something to do on the sand. I conjured up an image of the militants in the final stages of plotting out a strike at our Company location and planning it out on a sand model. The most animated seemed to be the two men in army fatigues.

Must certainly be the militant leaders, I thought, my heart pounding with excitement.

Cautiously we approached the group. As we neared, to my utter surprise, I recognised the uniformed men to be two jawans of my Company. What was transpiring within the group was of even greater interest & certainly a new chapter in negotiating skills of our seemingly simple looking kappus.

These jawans had observed potential tandoori chicken foraging in the vicinity and ventured into the village in search of a good buy. Having picked their choice of birds, the two male species of chicken now lay on the sand at the centre of the group, their legs tied firmly by the strand of a coconut leaf (another Improvised Tying Device!) and their wings entwined. Other members of the group included the erstwhile master of these two birds and three of his neighbours, each enviously waiting for a deal to strike. What was in progress was a most typical negotiation I had ever come across.

Despite the fact that the language barrier of the native islanders and our nor'eastern restricted a clear comprehension of each other’s rates and the bargaining prowess, the two parties seemed to be the most unperturbed lot. For them the bargaining was simple. The owner would write down his selling price on the sand in Arabic numerals and look up to the soldiers who in turn would wipe off the figures and write down their offer.

This writing & erasing continued till a bargain was struck and the fate of the birds decided. Not to mention the bond that was created between the jawans & the coop owner. And then, they lived happily ever after…