Page 237 - Leadership in the Indian Army

therefore its name, which was later shortened to Royal Indian Military
College.
Within a year of his mother’s death, his father remarried. Prem’s

stepmother, Sheila, was only 18 years old, less than half his father’s age.
Prem and his brothers treated her more like a friend than a mother, and
called her Aunty. In 1930, at the age of 12, he was sent to the RIMC to join
his two brothers. Prem’s course, or batch, was the tenth to join the RIMC,
which was run like a military school, with the students being called cadets,
instead of boys as in public schools. Instead of Houses, there were Sections,
named after Rawlinson, Roberts and Kitchener. Though it was called a

college, it was only a school whose primary purpose was to train
prospective candidates for entry into Sandhurst. As a youngster, Prem was
not very robust. He played all the games, but was good only at tennis and
swimming. He was reasonably good at studies, but did not excel in any
subject. On the other hand, Tony was exceptionally bright, while Tutu was
an outstanding sportsman. As a result, nobody thought that Prem would do

as well as his brothers. Many years later, when the award of the VC was
announced, everyone thought that it must be going to one of his brothers,
and were quite surprised when they discovered that it was Prem who had
won the decoration.
Prem joined the tenth course at the IMA in June 1937. His elder brother,
Tony, had joined the first course in 1932, which came to be known as ‘the
Pioneers’ and included three future Chiefs—Sam Manekshaw, Smith Dun

and Mohammed Musa. Tony passed out on 22 December 1934 with a gold
medal, having stood first in the order of merit, and was commissioned into
the Engineers. Tutu passed out two years later and was commissioned into
Signals. Prem performed creditably in all spheres, but did not excel in any.
He was awarded colours for tennis and squash, and captained both teams.
He also won his spurs in equitation, as well as his physical training (PT)

badge. But according to Prem, his most important achievement had been to
pass the ‘drill square’ test in three months on his first attempt. Passing this
test, which consisted of a series of drill movements carried out on the drill
square, or parade ground, entitled Prem to an ‘outpass’, and he could visit
Mussoorie on weekends. His father was building the family home, called
Bhagat Kot, at Mussoorie, and Prem often joined him at the Savoy, where
he was staying. Prem’s father died in Banaras (now Varanasi) in January

1938 due to an unfortunate riding accident. Prem was on vacation with him