Our contingent was continuing to Democratic Republic of Congo and the outgoing employees gave us some helpful suggestions for our tenure within the war-torn nation. A very powerful suggestion was to deliver “sufficient quantity of duty-free scotch”, given its shortage and excessive value. Each passport permits you to purchase two bottles of liquor; we had sufficient numbers to top off for a whole yr.
Congo has been marred by unrest for a very long time. (AFP file)
Being the senior-most employees officer within the brigade headquarters, I used to be given the duty of managing this prized commodity and rationing it if required. Preparations had been made for its protected custody and solely the quarter guard of the brigade camp was higher secured than the ‘Scotch hut’, as we referred to as it. Our deputy commander, nevertheless, was all the time cautious of the unfastened generator wires offering electrical energy to the sector mess housed in tentage lodging.
Your ideas change into issues; manifest correctly, so goes the saying. Maybe the thought was mistaken; it manifested. There was a brief circuit one afternoon and the tents caught fireplace. Whereas everybody rushed to douse the hearth, a major quantity instinctively went to rescue the scotch. The phrases “Remove first in case of fire” is painted on all necessary almirahs within the military, on this case folks confirmed alacrity even within the absence of any such directions.
With utmost disregard for private security within the face of the raging fireplace, a great variety of liquor circumstances had been retrieved within the jiffy accessible. Sadly, many bottles had received disfigured with their lids having melted. The liquid inside, nevertheless, appeared tremendous; was our collective conviction. This inventory couldn’t be served to visitors given the looks, however we didn’t have the guts to throw it away. Our brigade commander, a practical man, ordered a board of officers to segregate the bottles ‘fit for human consumption’.
Given my good attendance within the barman’s register, I used to be appointed the presiding officer.
The board assembled to perform the assigned job with utmost sincerity over the following few evenings. We’d sip 10ml from each bottle, style it and report our findings after spitting it out. As we checked out bottle after bottle, the ‘spitting out’ turned much less frequent with some liquid getting pilfered within the bloodstream. Additionally, because the evenings progressed, the rejection charges would scale back considerably. Such are the perils of exhibiting due diligence. When self management turns into casualty, the guts overrules the pinnacle.
“I see a good number of damaged bottles fit for consumption,” the commander mentioned, shopping by the board proceedings. “Sir, we can auction them at reduced rates to anyone willing to risk his liver,” I mentioned. The commander’s grin was taken as his stamp of approval.
“Didn’t you guys come under flak from the hierarchy in Delhi for the fire accident that too in an international environment?” requested a pal once I narrated the incident years later. “I guess not. The deputy commander rose to command a strike corps and our commander, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff,” I replied with satisfaction. “And what about you?” he probed additional. “I just got ‘high’ in this selfless service,” I mentioned sulking, as he had a hearty giggle.