Page 113 - Leadership in the Indian Army

other or the British. Blood feuds were common and were rarely settled,
being handed down from one generation to the next. However, Thorat found
that the Pathan could also be a staunch friend. Once, the Political Officer

arrested Malik Abdul Rehman, the headman of a small tribe, and handed
him over to Thorat’s battalion for safe custody. One day, Rehman requested
Thorat for permission to visit his wife, who was expecting their first child.
Thorat obtained the necessary parole and Rehman went off, swearing to
return the day his wife delivered. He was back in three days, with the news
that his wife had delivered a son. He told Thorat that his wife had asked
him to convey to the Sahib that henceforth, she would regard Thorat as her

brother. Almost eight years later, when Thorat was again posted to NWFP,
Rehman came to meet him, with his son, whom he introduced as ‘your
nephew’. He also carried a large basket, which he said was from ‘your
sister’. It contained dozens of hard boiled eggs, about 50 quail, and a whole
barra (the meat of an unborn lamb), which was considered a great delicacy.
Thorat was touched by another gift—a tawiz (charm to ward off evil)—

which his ‘sister’ had obtained from a holy man to protect him from harm.
After a year, in December 1928, the battalion was ordered to move to
Aurangabad, having completed its two-year tour of duty on the frontier. On
reaching Aurangabad, some more Indian officers joined the battalion.
Among them was Second Lieutenant Mohd Ayub Khan, who rose to be C-
in-C of Pakistan and also its President. Thorat remembers him as a
strikingly handsome officer with average professional abilities. He was able

to indulge in his passion for shikar, and shot his first panther, followed by a
tigress. He also bought his first car, a second-hand Ford, which cost him all
of Rs 450.
Thorat spent about three years on regimental duties before being posted to
Delhi in October 1931 as Adjutant of the Territorial Army Battalion of the
14th Punjab Regiment. Thorat decided to travel by road in his now third-

hand Ford. Accompanied only by his bearer, he left for Delhi in December
1931. The roads were metalled but not tarred, and full of potholes. There
were no facilities for getting punctures repaired, and petrol was sold in four-
gallon drums, that too only during certain hours. The fords were often deep
and frequently cars had to be pulled across by bullock carts. No wonder it
took him 11 days to cover the distance of 1,100 kilometres between
Aurangabad and Delhi.