It was with a sad heart that I attended the funeral the former SO-in -C, IC 404 Lt Gen ID Verma. He was the Commandant of the then School of Signals, when I landed in Mhow as a YO in 1955. I cannot express my feelings for him any better than given in the extract from my book as given below.
Brig lakshman Singh (Retd)
Brig A C Iyappa the Director Signals on a visit with the Commandant Brig ID Verma.......We would rush to Indore on Sundays and holidays to partake of Dahi-Vadas in Indore Coffee-House, see a movie as also for a change from the sleepy Mhow. Certain protocol in dress and travelling by the train was required yet very seldom followed. On one of such outings, late in the night, while waiting for the train to steam out of the Indore station, without Ties, while strolling up and down the length of the train a shock awaited us; whom do we see! The Comdandant (Brig ID Verma) himself sitting next to the window in a first class compartment, making us beat a hasty retreat. All the fun and joy of the day spent in Indore quickly subsided with our spirits getting deflated fast.The journey back to Mhow and the sleepless night was spent with visions of being marched up to the Commandant the next day haunting me. Mercifully nothing happened possibly he had not seen us, rather improbable under the circumstances, or he must have remembered his own days as a YO and let it go with a smile to himself.
I am indebted to Lt Gen ID Verma, PVSM, the former SO-in-C for more reasons than one, not only for ignoring the peccadillo of the young YO back then when he was the Commandant of School of Signals but also for very kindly agreeing to preside over the function for the release of my book ‘Letters From The Border and Other Less Told Stories’.
