Page 111 - Leadership in the Indian Army

colleagues, who began to treat him as an equal. He also did well in studies
and other games. Soon, he had a large circle of friends.
By the end of his first term, Thorat had gained enough confidence to go

on a long holiday. He toured Scotland, Ireland and England extensively,
rounding off his tour with a couple of weeks in London. This was in the
summer of 1925, and the London season was in full swing. As a Sandhurst
cadet, Thorat had no difficulty in being a part of the many social events
which took place almost everyday. Though Britain was then at the height of
her power, and prejudice against coloured people quite common, Thorat
found that his being Indian actually helped in opening doors. In those days,

only wealthy Indians, mostly from the princely class, could afford to visit
England, and they were treated with courtesy, not only in hotels and shops,
but also by Englishmen of the upper classes. Of course, to pass as a
gentleman, one always had to be suitably attired in a suit, along with a
bowler or a top hat, spats and a cane.
At the end of his second term, an incident occurred which left a deep

impression on Thorat. After a regatta, some boisterous cadets drowned all
the canoes in the college lake. The same evening, the Commandant, Major
General Cochran, asked the cadets who had played the prank to own up.
Without hesitation, every hand, including Thorat’s, went up. ‘Good’, said
the Commandant. ‘Now will you please run along and fish them out?’ It
was very cold, a thin crust of ice had settled on the lake. The guilty cadets
spent the better part of the night fishing out the canoes, their teeth

chattering. Next morning, the Commandant told them that he had known
the name of every cadet responsible for the incident. Had any of them not
owned up, he would have been rusticated not for drowning the boats, but
for not having the courage to admit that he had done so. He added:
‘Remember that when you are commissioned. You will be known not only
as officers, but as officers and gentlemen, and never you forget the

gentleman part of it. Remember also that a person who is afraid of telling
the truth is a moral coward, and no coward can become a successful
officer.’ Thorat never forgot these words. As a young officer, whenever he
was tempted to hide the truth in order get himself out of a spot, it was
Cochran’s advice that prevented him from doing so.
During his third and final term, a subcommitttee of the Skeen Committtee
appointed by the Government of India visited Sandhurst, to determine the

possibility of starting a similar college in India. It consisted of Mohammed