Page 220 - Leadership in the Indian Army

destined to become close relatives—25 years later, Ranjit Batra was to
marry their daughter Lalita, who was yet to be born.
Raj was affable and hospitable by nature, and soon his neighbours were

walking in and out of his house. He was sandwiched between two blue-
blooded American families. After he moved in, he invited them over for
dinner, only to discover that this was the first time the two families were
sitting down together! The Paintals often met visiting American generals
from Washington in Fort Monmouth. All of them had the highest regard for
‘that fantastic Indian General from Signals in Washington’. (In most armies,
brigadiers are called ‘Brigadier Generals’.) As for the ladies, most of them

cooed: ‘Oh, that darling General of yours.’ Given his charm and excellent
dancing skills, it is not surprising that he got more than his share of ‘passes’
from many of them, all of which he adroitly parried.
The four years that Raj spent in Washington provided him with an
extremely privileged world-view and enriched his personality. He had been
brought up and educated in a British colonial setting, and the environment

in America made for a refreshing change. He took his job seriously, closely
studying the organisation, functioning and latest developments in the US
Army and Navy, as well as those in other developed countries. Because of
his signals background, he paid special attention to developments in the
communications field. He did a two-week course at the US Army Signal
Corps School at Fort Monmouth. The excellent personal relationship he
shared with Major General Nelson, the American Chief of Signals, also

made it possible for him to visit several signal units and establishments.
This was to prove fortuitous when Raj returned to India, and took over the
reins of the Corps of Signals. There is little doubt that without the
advantage of this exposure in Washington for over four years, Plan AREN
would not have materalised when it did.
After four years and three months in Washington, Raj returned to India in

May 1961. At about the same time, Thimayya retired and Thapar took over
as COAS. While he was in Washington, Thimayya had indicated that Raj
would be given command of a brigade when he returned. At that time, there
were no separate promotion boards for induction into the ‘general cadre’,
and officers of Artillery, Engineers and Signals were given command of
infantry brigades based on their reports. Raj had been recommended for
command of a brigade by Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh, GOC-in-C

Western Command, in his confidential report initiated on 7 July 1956.