NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   15/I/2025   Having been born in Punjab, chole-bhature was part of our staple diet. One was not aware of the cuisine which existed below the Tropic of Cancer. Even if there was a choice, one would stick to what the pallet was accustomed to.   Let me share an anecdote of Kapurthala. We had a few members from the Armed Forces part of our church congregation. Major Punnoswami was a very active member. He was an Army Doctor. His wife and two bonny boys soon gelled with us. Mam didn’t understand a word of Punjabi and same was the case with the Major. However, English was the common medium of communication and Dad used to be the translator.   One day, the family insisted that we all after the church service visit their home to enjoy ‘dosha’ not ‘dosa’ mind you. We all were super excited about it.   Mrs Punnoswami called the bunch of us to the table and served us a dosha each. I must be in class seventh or eighth. I looked at my brother and he...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   10/I/2025   Winter plants are in full bloom. If watering and manuring is controlled and monitored strictly, results would be beyond expectation.   With a few years of gardening experience, our tryst to grow flowers from seeds has not made much of headway. We have decided to keep trying and to also buy seasonal flowers from local nurseries.   The other day I was ‘pinching’ the petunia plants. Pinching is the best way to get flowers in clusters. Once we leave the flowers on the plant to seed, they mature fast. However, the pinching process gives rise to multiple shoots, thus multiple flowers. Spent flowers should be removed the soonest. It hurts to snip, but is essential, which one learns with experience.   As my habit goes, instead of throwing off the pinched stems, I bury them in the adjacent pot. In due course, it turns to manure and there is no waste generated from the garden.   The other day I was adding compost to the chrysant...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   08/I/2024   In 1990, having spent five years driving around the dunes of Ja-Sale-Mer, I got posted to another battalion near Tang-tse.   Two Pinjas picked me up in a Jonga. As a Mech officer, the shine of the paint and the purr of the finely tuned Nissan engine revealed a lot about things to come. However, I was in for a surprise as my job involved moving on two legs rather than on these four tyred vehicles.   Pinjas spoke Tibetan which I did not understand. It was an opportunity for me to learn a new language, imbibe a new culture, train with them and be part of them.   After acclimatisation it was time to see the actual High Altitude. Pinjas were at ease, for me, it was a challenge.   It was my first visit to the company lines and langar. Every barrack had a wire strung across for tying mosquito nets. They used it for a different purpose, i.e. drying and stringing freshly made sausages. Pinjas were meat lovers.   My eyes li...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/I/2025   New Year was celebrated on 2 nd  Jan at the Army Officer’s Institute. In the fauj, we look for occasions to celebrate life. Dates do not matter.   Before entering the arena, an NCO requested me to get my hand stamped with a fauji stamp. I felt a little embarrassed, but my daughter informed me that people buy one ticket and rotate the counterfoil to get more friends in.   This gesture of stamping took me 35 years back. It was November of 1980 when I had gone through a similar procedure of stamping.   Uncle was incharge of the loco shed of NE railway section in Pilibhit, UP. I was with my favourite Aunty ‘Golden’ and ‘Massey’ Uncle.   It happened to be my birthday. For this special occasion, Aunty got a new white shirt and trouser stitched for me. Those days ‘bell bottoms’ were in vogue. ‘Mori’, the size of the bell was more than my shoe size.   Outside the railway platform near the loco shed, there was a notic...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   02/I/2025   The other day we went for a picnic to a place close by from where we stayed. We were excited and happy to join the fun as a family and drove to the site.   On the way, there is a small lake. One sighted some demoiselles cranes and other water birds. As usual, I was armed with my weapon aka camera. Halting at that time would have delayed us from getting to the picnic site. One was sure that there would be an opportune moment when I would be able to catch them.   On a walk around the property, a group of Mynahs (Brahminy Starling) posed for me on the boundary wall. The ruckus they were creating was because their usual place had been occupied by the cooks & helpers in a makeshift kitchen. All the worms which they usually caught were now under the cooking utensils.   There was a ‘lull’ after lunch. People were feeling cold and I was feeling itchy to head to the lake.   The first thing that cau...

  The herd too moves into the New Year leaving behind all they went through, Cheers my friends, wish you all a great 2025