Page 230 - Leadership in the Indian Army

Somaiya Organics. He joined the Delhi Golf Club and began to play golf
regularly. He had also bought a small farm on the Delhi–Haryana border
and tried his hand at being a farmer for some time. He built a small house

on the farm, where he and Priyo lived for a couple of years.
After about five years with Danfoss (India), Raj decided to retire
completely. He was now the head of the Batra clan, and continued to
nurture his family. His brothers, nephews and nieces often went to him for
advice and assistance. He kept in touch with every member of the family,
and did his best to keep them together by making sure that everyone
attended all family functions. Their eldest daughter, Preminda, had been

married in August 1981 to Sanjiv Langer, an Armoured Corps officer, and
the couple had a daughter and a son. Ranjit Batra had married Lalita, the
daughter of Bir and Mira Paintal, in April 1984, and they too had a son. The
youngest daughter, Preeti, born in 1958 while they were in Washington, had
become a teacher like her mother. She married Gurdeep Singh Ahluwalia in
1989, and they had a daughter and a son. Raj and Priyo tried to spend as

much time with their children and grandchildren as they could, sometimes
going abroad to visit them.
Raj and Priyo now decided to travel to places they had been unable to
visit earlier, and they went on a number of holidays. They both loved to
travel, and visiting Raj’s army associates was a source of great pleasure. In
December 1980, they decided to tour southern India, a trip on which they
had lunch with General K.M. Cariappa at his house, Roshanara, in

Madikeri. They also met Nina Thimayya and Lieutenant General A.C.
Iyappa in Bangalore. During his pre-Independence service Raj had
developed close ties with many British officers. In Washington too, he had
made numerous friends, not only with Americans but also with diplomats
from several other countries. Over the years, he had kept in touch with all
his friends, especially his comrades from the British Army. The Indian

Signals Association of Great Britain, which comprised British veterans who
had served in Indian Signals during World War II or earlier, played an
important role in helping him maintain these links.
In 1986 Raj and Priyo spent two months holidaying in the United
Kingdom, Spain and Kenya. In England, Raj was able to meet scores of his
old comrades, some after almost 40 years. In Almeira, Spain, they were
house guests of Major Dougan Elliot—who had been one of his company

commanders in Force 401 Signal Regiment in 1946—and his wife Betty.