Diary of an Infantry Man

This is a ring-side view of India’s changing times in the first five decades after Independence, though the eyes of a military man. Ian da Costa’s story begins in Nagpur of the 1940s. In that Central Indian city, a community of Goans worked hard and smart to build their future. Those were times of ferment and tumultuous change. We encounter the military transitioning from a colonial British-run institution to one serving Independent India. From life in the Indian Military Academy, to serving in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1960s while attached to the 14th Kumaon Regiment, Brig da Costa’s story takes us along unexpected paths to the tough forward lines of the borders over two wars, to the Poonch-Jhalas base, Surankote, Naushera, the Battle of O.P. Hill, the Hajipur Sector, Madras, the raising of the Naga Regiment, the 1971 War in Bangladesh, and more. C o n t e n t s Foreword | Lt. General DD Saklani (Retd) 8 Acknowledgements 10 1 A Goan Family Away From Home 13 2 The Doctor and his Garden 21 3 A Goan Village… in Nagpur 29 4 Marriages… and School 42 5 On a Maiden Voyage 48 6 Beyond the Adolescent Years 53 7 The Best Days, at the NDA 56 8 Zojila Company, IMA 64 9 A Young Officer in JK 68 10 Starting Life with 14 Kumaon 72 11 First Major Skirmish 78 12 Two Steps Up 84 13 The 1965 War and the Battle for OP Hill 90 14 Getting Married… and Goa 115 15 Pathankot, Poonch and Thereabouts 121 16 Srinagar Then 124 17 End of an Era 131 18 Peace Station: Madras 135 19 Raising the Naga Regiment 138 20 1971 and Bangladesh 145 21 The Battle of Dharmadaha 149 22 At Wellington 164 23 Back to 14 Kumaon 168 24 The Mountain Brigade and a mad river 176 25 Life at Mhow 184 26 Low, Picturesque Clouds of Nagaland 190 27 …Desert, Moving Stealthily by Night 196 28 Mhow, Seat of Military Education 214 29 Life At Kumaon House 216 30 A Visit to Gangolihat 227 31 An Old Army Club 232 32 Of Holiday-Homes and Memorials 242 33 Calling it a Day 250 34 Setting Out, to the Plains 258 35 A Battle on Goa s Roads 263 36 The Evening of Life…