Fairness and transparency were the hallmarks of the Nanavatty duo
Julio Ribeiro
WHEN and how did Lt Gen Rostum Kaikhushru Nanavatty learn to “shoot straight”? He imbibed that quality and other outstanding ones from his father, Kaikhushru Nanavatty.
The senior Nanavatty retired as the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Maharashtra. I was in my mid-thirties when I was appointed the last Superintendent of Police (SP) of the city of Poona (now Pune). Rostum’s father was the head of the state police then. There were no DGPs in the 1960s. That nomenclature became prevalent in the early 1980s.
Looking back, I realised that it must have been Rostum’s father who recommended me for an appointment that was till then the prerogative of officers much senior to me in service. I had absolutely no idea of being shifted from my place of posting, Sholapur. I only learnt about the shift when I opened the dak (mail) that was sent to me by my office while I was inspecting the rural police station of Akalkot on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border.
The senior Nanavatty was fair and transparent in his dealings. He had no likes or dislikes, judged officers fairly and judiciously, expected high standards of honesty and competence and led from the front. So, when I read the book Shooting Straight — A Military Biography of Lt Gen Rostum K Nanavatty, I was not a bit surprised to know about the sterling quality of leadership that my beloved ex-boss’ son displayed as a soldier throughout his career. Rostum retired as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Northern Command at Udhampur.
The senior Nanavatty served as the Maharashtra IG from 1963 to 1966. Gentleman Cadet Rostum had joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun in July 1961. He passed out six months earlier than intended because of the exigencies of the India-China war of 1962. He won the Sword of Honour in the 31st Regular Course and was commissioned in the 2/8 Gorkha Rifles.
In October 1954, the regular recruitment batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS), to which I belonged, after passing out from the National Police Academy, was sent on attachment to three Gorkha Regimental Centres at Dehradun. The 37 IPS probationers were divided between the 39th, 58th and 11th Regimental Centres. I, along with others, went to the 39th centre.
The 58th Centre was commanded by a feisty Colonel with a typical Maratha surname, Parab. His daughter married Shivajirao Baraokar, a junior of mine in the Maharashtra cadre of the IPS.
Another tidbit that comes to mind is that in October 1999, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as the Prime Minister for the third time, he asked me to take on the responsibility of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. I had promised my wife that my days of wandering away from our home in Mumbai were over. So, I declined. I remember that the Prime Minister himself told me that Army officers also wanted me in that role! The book made me wonder if the officers he spoke about included Rostum. But the latter became the GOC-in-C, Northern Command, with responsibility for counter-terrorist operations in J&K, only in February 2001.
Ever since I assumed charge as the Poona SP in June 1964, I have known the Nanavatty family. The values this family cherished were those that appealed to me also. The culture of a few Goan Christian families, whom the Portuguese depended on to administer Goa in colonial times, match those of Parsi families of the professional class. Hence, there was no problem of assimilation when one of my grand-daughters married a Parsi and another a part-Parsi.
Reading about Rostum in the book authored by Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (retd), a renowned military historian, I have to confess that this is the first account of the life of a military leader that I have ever read. It was handed over to me by Arnavaz (Erna), Rostum’s elder sister, whom I have known since her teens. Erna has always been very proud of her younger brother. After reading Shooting Straight, I know exactly why.
This book should be read by IPS probationers also. By a quirk of fate, Lt Gen Nanavatty commanded troops sent to take on terrorists in J&K and insurgents in Nagaland and Manipur. His experience in that role is invaluable. Police officers detailed for similar roles can learn a lot from him.
The Parsi community is dwindling. That is a great tragedy. It was and is a community that punches well above its weight. Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was a Parsi. The Navy had Admiral Jal Cursetji as its Chief and the Air Force had Air Chief Marshal Aspy Engineer and Fali Major. The Maharashtra Government had Chief Secretary Burjor Paymaster, a man with the same qualities of fair play and justice as ex-IG Nanavatty.
The Parsis have also excelled in the legal and medical professions. Dr Farokh Udwadia, Mumbai’s leading physician, and legal luminaries Nani Palkhivala and Fali Nariman are names that everyone in that city recognises. But it is not the pinnacle they have reached but the strong moral and ethical values of truth, honesty and justice that define this tiny community.
One of my two great-grandsons is just four years old. His father is a Parsi. My younger daughter had two children from her marriage to a Parsi. Her daughter married a Shah, a Gujarati Hindu whose own mother was a Parsi who died when her sons were tiny.
My two great-grandchildren (grandchildren of my younger daughter) are one-fourth Gujarati Hindu, one-fourth Goan Christian and two-fourths Parsi. It is the Parsi genes in my three great-grandchildren that I am counting on, added to the other genes they have inherited, to become good citizens of our country and, above all, good human beings.