 Last week I mentioned about my visit to Nathula Pass which I visited while I had gone for election duty to Sikkim. At the very spot where a barbed wire divided India from China to my great joy I met the personnel of 'Madras Engineers'. In fact they were eagerly waiting for me. They had already read in the newspaper that one of the election observers was arriving from Tamil Nadu and would be visiting the pass and were expecting me since then. They were delighted to see me and gathered around me to speak in Tamil. There are 30 persons belonging to the 'Madras Engineers' at Nathulla. Madras Engineers are one of the oldest and the best 'Engineering Corps' in India. They are involved in construction activity at Nathula. On that day of my visit they were clearing some ground near the newly built conference hall. This conference hall is their greatest achievement and is the pride of the place. It is posh and beautiful and is made of local stone and wood.
According to Raju Mohan the Junior Commanding Officer of the Madras Engineers they have created some sort of world record by constructing the conference hall at the highest place in the world. What is noteworthy is that they built it in just six months. Raju got it opened for me and showed me around. It was a well designed hall with a beautiful wooden roof, a lovely conference table and velvet drapes. The army and regimental flags stood at the head of the table. This hall has been constructed for holding the meetings between the Indian and the Chinese Officers. A small conference hall, not as grand as this, exists on the Chinese side also. The first conference between the army officers of the two nations had taken had just taken place on the 15th of September 1999. Another was likely to take place on the 25th of September 1999 to discuss a proposal to install a telephone booth which could be operated both by a Chinese and an Indian telephone operator for the benefit of the tourists visiting the Nathula Pass.
I was really full of admiration for the Madras Engineers who are away from home in a very cold climate compared to that of Tamil Nadu and would continue to work there through the winter when the entire area will be under the snow for over six months in a year. They are brave and optimistic in spite of the fact that they are not able to get their type of food like Sambar, rasam, rice, etc. They are right now staying with the Battalion called 21 Punjab were they mostly have to live on chappatti and dal. Once in a while they cook for themselves and manage to eat some thing more homely. I also felt that they needed more woollens, long coats and jackets, boots, blankets, etc., to tide over the cold working conditions. The living conditions of the soldiers at the Nathula Pass has also to improve. Most of our soldiers are living in tin sheds and make shift accommodation. On the Chinese side one feels soldiers have better accommodation and better clothing. All the pathways on the Chinese side are in the shape of underground tunnels which protect them from the cold and snow, at the same time their movements also remain unseen by the Indian side. On our side also we need to undertake this type of improvements to provide a better deal to the soldiers who live and work in extreme weather conditions. The experience of Kargil should give us some insight to give top priority to our army personnel.
Raju's family lives in Coimbatore where his wife works as a school teacher. His house is at the foot hills of Mardhamalai temple He has not been home for a long time. I have promised Raju that I will try to look her up when I visit Coimbatore the next time.
(to be continued)
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