Musings from a Recliner

                                                Musings from a Recliner – ‘De-Anchored at the Anchor Bar’ – 0630 hrs 27 Oct 19 ~ Lally Virk. On the Lighter side of ‘Olive Green’ – This, That & Everything !! “De-Anchored at the Anchor Bar”. The incident dates back to the mid-eighties. I was posted in this wonderful crack outfit of the Rocketeers. We were based in Delhi. Whenever, we could take some time off from the hectic regimental activities, this youngster and good friend of mine, Sidhu, and I would take off for the ‘Anchor’ bar at the DSOI, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. I do not know about the present times, but in those days whenever one visited the ‘Anchor’ bar, one always came across this familiar bunch of very old, hardened, wizened Veterans, whom I would term as the ‘Chronic Regulars’ of the ‘Anchor’ bar. The ‘Anchor’ bar would be incomplete without them. Having found a vacant table for ourselves, I looked for this ever smiling wait

06 Oct 19 - 0600 hrs - Musings from a Recliner ~ Lally Virk 'Death & Beyond" With age catching up and seeing some people close to me, either suffering or ‘moving on’, my thoughts drifted towards ‘Death & beyond’ or ‘Afterlife’, if there is any such thing, or the concept of ‘immortality’, if at all there is any such thing !!? A few days back my course-mate and good friend, Gen Sachdeva lost his mother. Condolences starting pouring in from every quarter. I kept wondering at the kind, nature and the variety of the condolences. Some said, ‘sorrow fills my heart’, some ‘we pray for the departed’ some ‘God bless’ and some just plain ‘Condolences’, but most ended with ‘R.I.P’ and some with ‘Om Shanti’ or ‘Om Shanti Om Shanti’. Pondering over it, what came to my mind was, “Is there a correct form of a ‘parting salutation’ for a soul ‘moving on’ or is it that whatever comes from the heart is fine ?” These musings take off from there…… Curiosit