YUMMIEST BREAKFAST

 YUMMIEST BREAKFAST

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

24/VII/2024

 

I am sure if someone asks you, what is the best breakfast you have ever had? Everyone would list out from ‘Doodh Jalebi’ to an endless list. Let me share my best breakfast with you. It is a very long story.

It was while I was on a Long Range Patrol (LRP) with the PINJAs near Pangong Tso in Ladakh. Those days (1990), our ‘Chinky’ friends were not all that aggressive. Being from ‘Muck Infantry’, the ‘Maroon Beret’ force people sent you on a wild goose chase on the first available opportunity.

It was a real LRP from Chushul which was our start point at the base of ‘Pankha Heights’ in the 114* Sector to Mahe in the 70* Sector those days. We had to traverse at least five passes in that High Altitude.

We were self contained for the duration of 21 days, with a Platoon of Pinjas, about twenty local ponies, the same number of porters and pony drivers plus five Yaks.

It reminded me of the Lashkars of the Moghul times and the way they used to move and camp. We were carrying everything under the sun.

It was somewhere when we were half way through on the tenth day that we had to unexpectedly halt on our way up a pass due to a very severe ‘snow storm’. The high wind speeds and zero visibility was not allowing us to move. Animals too were in distress.

How long would that blizzard last, was unclear. It could stop the very next moment or continue to pound us for the next few days was what the porters told us. It was tough for both man and beast. For me, it was my first high altitude experience and a harrowing one at that.

As a Patrol Leader it was my call to halt, though there was not much choice. With no experience of how to go about in such a snow storm, I consulted the ‘Company Leader’ (CL). A mature man with three decades of service. ‘Survival’ in such conditions was my first priority. The CL consulted the pony and yak handlers as the animals too needed a safe place to go through this ordeal.

They knew of a grazing ground a little ahead which would also shield us from the direct wind and sleet but in case reaching there was not possible, we would have to halt there itself. The storm would not let us stand on our legs. We were getting disbalanced and falling over each other.

Imagine, I was an outsider from the plains. Pinjas, porters, ponies and yaks were the ‘sons of the soil’.

With winds whistling in our ears, falling rocks and extremely heavy snowfall, I did not want casualties. Even an SOS for a helicopter was of no use. It wouldn’t have come till the weather would have cleared. ‘Halt till next morning’, were the orders passed.

It was with great difficulty that the team pitched an ‘Arctic tent’. A ’Pop tent’ was pitched for me. It was like a ‘bivouac’. Poor visibility and continuous snow were adding to the woes. The strong winds would just not allow the men to anchor the flaps.

The animals were ‘unsaddled’ and left free. The equipment and rations were covered with tentage and rocks were placed as weights to keep them safe on the ground. It was the toughest night in my complete service career.

Finally, once the patrol was reasonably settled, a Pinja led me to my pop tent. I got inside and tied the knot to its entrance. Though the wind was drumming on its sides like hell but now it was air tight. I had a sleeping bag and my pack 08 with me. Koi problem ho to ek dum batana, ‘Thoo chi chay’, I said ‘thank you’ to the Pinja in Tibetan.

The move next day was planned at 8 am after breakfast, hoping by then everything would have cleared up. I must have knocked myself into a deep slumber as I was tired like hell. I kept waiting for the morning tea which never came. My watch had gone cold and stopped, so I didn’t have any idea of the exact time. Besides it was still dark and the wind beating on the tent meant that the storm had still not subsided.

I shouted from inside “Pinja Cha Khishoo” Brother get me tea. I shouted a couple of times but got no response. All sorts of thoughts started passing my mind. I was getting uncomfortable for two reasons, one, to find out if all men and animals were safe. Second, my ‘potty pressure’ was now at its peak.

The fear to open the knot of the pop tent to let chilled air in was holding me to turn my cozy abode into a refrigerator. I could hold on no longer. Luckily, I found an old newspaper in my rucksack. Obviously, I had to use it to wipe my backside and wash it when we reached some water source.

Having done my ‘job’ about a few meters from my tent, moving back was a nightmare. Removing all the layers of clothing to ‘squat’ and later to wipe my backside was not easy. One could not even reach that place with the coat parka on. But then, I could. A thought passed my mind to use the snow which had piled up. But when my bottom was exposed to the super chilled atmosphere, it was about to suffer from chilblains. I quickly used the newspaper.

I got disoriented and could not see my tent. Falling snowflakes were adding to the misery. My heart thumped hard. It reminded me of getting lost in the desert sector once. That story later.

We were actually in a Nala. The rocks and stones were uneven, sharp, and loosely placed. A fall meant definite disaster.

A little courage and a prayer helped me. It was by sheer luck I banged against the anchoring rope which shook the pop tent and the snow got jerked off. I breathed a sigh of relief.

My hands and feet were cold as ice. The face couldn’t feel a thing. Breath from the nostrils had got frozen and hung in the moustache like droplets of ice in little blobs. It was a terrible feeling.

My concern for the Patrol members led me to think how they would have spent the night in one tent!  All of them would have huddled together. The animals had been set free was my other concern. They could have panicked. If they got lost and crossed over to the Chinese side! We would have hell to pay.

I entered my pop tent again as I could see nothing but white all around. Good sense prevailed. It was better to wait for an opportune time, than to venture out and get hurt. Instead of being the Patrol leader, one would have become a liability.

My tent acted as a windbreaker. The body warmth heated things up again. I could now feel my fingers and toes. I thanked God for that.

In that milieu, I must have dozed off again. Then I heard footsteps and rocks clanking. I breathed a sigh of relief. I heard the Pinja calling ‘Tashi Deleg’ as he was searching for me. I shouted back so that he could home on to my location and he did.

The moment I opened the pop tent entrance knot, a small thermos was thrust in my face. It had chai. What a relief!

We exchanged brief notes. The biggest relief was when he said men were fine. I specially asked him for our army radio operators who were like me. Vo theek hain, he said. Aur Janwar, I asked. Unka pata nahi. Now I was in a fix. If they had moved away, rounding them and re-loading them would be a herculean task. I would be ‘court martialled’ if we abandoned the stuff we were carrying.

Soon the wind eased out a bit. The Pinja had informed me that he had tied a ‘rock climbing rope’ from my pop tent to their tent for ease of movement.

I asked him, “time kya hua hai”. He looked at his radium dial watch and said “dus baj gaya hai”. We were supposed to move at 8, I grumbled to myself and good that we didn’t move. Pinja added that the company leader has told us that we may not be able to move for the next two days, “jab tab tak thora baraf nahi pighalta”. The animals too could not be saddled with wet backs.

I had to take his word. That is why they had given so many days to finish the patrol.

Now, my stomach was rumbling due to hunger. We were carrying ‘Meals Ready to Eat’ (MRE), but they were on the ponies. I could have eaten a whole tin of condensed milk right then.

A hot cup of tea was a morale booster. Soon, the drumming and humming of the wind subsided but there was this eerie silence.

I was still alone, a little afraid, but confident that this too shall pass. Time had stood still. More than two hours would have passed since the Pinja had visited last. Should I now venture out, was the dilemma?

What would be the troops thinking? I am sure they were worried about me too. Gathering all the courage, I decided to go and marry-up with them.

My Pop tent was sagging with laden snow. I decided to put on my dancing shoes called ‘snow boots’ and take a first-hand situational report.

The pop tent’s opening had got blocked due to accumulation of snow. I pushed myself out and caught hold of the rope the Pinja had indicated to make my way to their tent. Staying alone in such horrendous conditions doesn’t give you a good feeling.

I pushed myself in the treads of the Pinja tracks and reached the end of the rope which was tied to the arctic tent about 25-30 meters from my tent. When I saw the silhouette of the tent I broke into a smile. I heard no voices. Then I heard the blurring sound of a kerosine stove. This gave me an idea that the men would have been warm in the night. The men were well, which was the biggest consolation.

When I entered that tent, it smelt as if one had entered a ‘goats enclosure’. The local Ladakhi porters and pony drivers who were in their traditional attire emanated the smell of animals they handled.

I was offered a hot cup of Namkeen Chai, or a Tibetan chai with sweet shakkarparas. That was followed by anda bujia made from tinned egg powder which we were carrying in plenty.

The Pinjas then started dishing out some hot porridge like thing in mess tins. I asked the JCO as to why they were not serving that to me. “Aap nahi khata hai”, he said. “Arey, main sab khata hai”! “Indian Army Nahi khata”, he repeated. “What is it”? I asked again.

Reluctantly, he told me that it was porridge made with ‘Yak meat’ and ‘Bichoo Booty Saag’. The porters had been requested to bring fresh yak meat for which the Pinjas had contributed. I requested them to serve me a helping and to give this anda bhujia to someone else.

They handed over to me a mess tin full of that gooey stuff. With the first spoon in my mouth, my eyes closed. It was as if I was eating ‘Yakhni Pulav’, sitting on those icy heights.

It was the best and yummiest breakfast I had ever had in my life. I was accepted as a true Pinja that day onwards as I ate what they ate.

Can you guys share your best breakfast story? I wonder!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS