The 100th birth anniversary of the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was on April 3, 2013. In the early 1960s I had the privilege of meeting the then Major General Manekshaw at a private dinner given in his honor by my father-in-law Feroze Nallaseth at the Ashok Hotel in Delhi. My father-in-law was the first general manager of the Ashoka, the first five-star hotel of the Government of India at that time.
Sam Manekshaw with his beloved Gurkhas. He famously said: "If anyone tells you he is never afraid,
he is a liar or he is a Gurkha."
When I mentioned to Manekshaw that I was in Delhi to undergo a medical examination which would enable me to join the Indian Air Force, Flight Air Reserves, he showed great interest. He said that Parsi youth should consider a career in the armed forces to serve the country and wished me the best for the future.
Today, as an octogenarian, I still cherish the memory of that dinner encounter.
EDUL J. KANGA
ekanga@sympatico.ca
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