Page 54 - Leadership in the Indian Army

nationalism within him. While in Delhi, he also came into contact with the Nehru
family. After the age of 15, he began to take an interest in national affairs and
attended a few meetings of the All India Congress Committee. In 1915, he met
Jawaharlal Nehru for the first time and then his father, Motilal Nehru.
Nathu Singh’s background and heritage—he was from the Mairtia clan of
Rathore Rajputs who were renowned for their valour—naturally inclined him
towards a military profession. His guardian, the Maharawal, also wanted him to
follow the martial tradition of his forbears and join the army. Unfortunately, the
Maharawal died in 1918 when Nathu Singh was still in school. This left him alone
in the world, without a guide or friend. Soon after he returned from school in
1920, he had the first of his many rows with the British. The Political Officer in
Dungarpur was a diehard imperialist, who treated all Indians as subjects of the
British Crown. He asked Nathu Singh to follow certain orders that were contrary
to the wishes of the Rajmata (Queen Mother). Nathu Singh refused and there was
a fearful ruckus. However, the British Political Officer later developed a liking for
the young firebrand and advised the Rajmata to send him to the Royal Military
College in Sandhurst, which had just been opened to Indians. Nathu Singh wanted
to become a soldier, but not under the British. He would have preferred the army,
or even the police, in one of the princely states of Rajputana. But this was not to
be. He bowed to his guardian’s wishes and applied to the Royal Military College.
He had been an exceptionally bright student and this, coupled with his
background, enabled him to clear the written examination and the interviews with
the C-in-C and the Viceroy. He sailed for England in July 1921, along with Kumar
Shri Kishensinhji and Gurbachan Singh. They were later joined by Charles Ba
Thien from Burma.
Nathu Singh spent a year-and-a-half at Sandhurst. The only other cadet from
Rajputana, Kunwar Sheodutt Singh, who had joined six months earlier, became
his guide and close friend. Nathu Singh took the tough regimen in his stride, doing
well in all activities. His British instructors and colleagues, though impressed by
his intellect, were somewhat surprised at his boldness and lack of servility, which
they had generally come to expect from Indians. Nathu Singh disliked the British
and made no effort to conceal this. Unlike most other Indians of that time, he did
not suffer from an inferiority complex and considered himself the equal, if not the
better, of any Englishman. One can imagine the difficulties he must have
encountered at Sandhurst because of his views. In fact, his anti-British attitude,
which persisted throughout his service, frequently led him into trouble. The
British saw him as a rebel, while his Indian colleagues promptly christened him
Fauji Gandhi, a name which Nathu himself did not relish. By this time, Mahatma
Gandhi had begun his non-cooperation movement in India and Nathu seemed to
be following in his footsteps. However, much as he admired Gandhi for his