{"id":643,"date":"2017-07-03T05:35:45","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T05:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?p=643"},"modified":"2017-09-25T20:18:06","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T14:48:06","slug":"upon-meeting-my-grandfather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/upon-meeting-my-grandfather\/","title":{"rendered":"Upon meeting my grandfather"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEXT BY\u00a0ARJUN GULERIA<\/strong><\/span>
\nPHOTOS BY AANCHAL MALHOTRA
\n<\/strong>New Delhi, India
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/span>My story actually begins with a painting that adorns the wall in my grandmother\u2019s living room \u2013 a recently commissioned portrait of my grandfather in his memory; a strikingly stately image of him poised in uniform. My grandfather, Brigadier Prem Singh, was born in 1916. From my father I\u2019ve known that he was strict yet loving, and did all that he could to put family first. Even as an officer, he was known for his positive approach and unruffled manner which was a perennial source of inspiration for cadets and officers. He died a year into retirement, before I was born. And as a result, I never really paid attention to the painting, nor knew anything about him beyond the fact that he was once an officer in the army. Nothing extraordinary thus far in the narrative of a family that has followed a great tradition with the armed forces; my generation being one of the few exceptions to that rule.<\/p>\n

However, technology and this age of social media ubiquitousness played an interesting role in rectifying that. A chance family photo posted online, with the painting of my grandfather in the backdrop, caught the eye of a friend. The regality of the painting struck her but more so the medals that decorated him in that frame. When she asked me about them, I found it odd that I didn\u2019t know much. Medals carry an honour reserved for bravery and courage, and using that as my strarting point, I embarked on a quest to unearth the story of a grandfather I knew so little about.<\/p>\n

\"Brigadier
Brigadier Prem Singh, b.1916<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brigadier Prem Singh\u2019s journey turned out to be particularly intriguing. He studied at the Government College, Lahore but soon ran away from home with a ‘toli’ of travellers headed to Patiala. He tried his luck with being in the King of Patiala\u2019s employ but left shortly thereafter to join the British army as a soldier. He got married around this time and subsequently was commissioned into the British Indian Army. He was the first officer from Mandi district to serve in this capacity, and to commemorate this, the King of Mandi rewarded him with a grant of land! In the Corps of Signals, my grandfather was responsible for military communication. His first posting was in Quetta where talk of war soon gained ground. His unit was deployed to Iraq to participate in the theatre of World War II, which had him serving across the Middle East including Palestine, Egypt and the Persian Gulf!<\/p>\n

Medals were awarded for his service in these countries and are a glimpse of that story – his travails and tribulations across the world. Now several years after his death, they live in a rectangular wooden box in my grandmother\u2019s house. The inside of the box is lined with beautfiful sky blue felt and the row of medals and further tucked within a square of white felt. There are five in total, their ribbons worn and dusty from age and wear, but the coins itself are as brilliant as ever. In the order in which they are placed:<\/p>\n