ANAND BAKSHI AND THE CORPS OF SIGNALS

ANAND BAKSHI AND THE CORPS OF SIGNALS

 REUNION OF 1970

I think you can have it all. You just have to work really hard, because great things don’t come easily.

~ Katy Perry

Shri Anand Bakshi, now a famous lyricist & Composer of Bollywood, was born in Rawalpindi on 21 July 1930. When he was hardly into his teens, he left his schooling to join the Indian Navy as a post boy in 1944. The main reason for joining the Navy was that he was a prolific writer of Hindi poems. He was keen to join the film industry in Bombay and thus he joined the Navy in the hope that he could go over to Bombay. However due the Naval mutiny, which took, place a little later he was discharged from the Navy. He then joined the Corps of Signals at Jabalpur as a wireless operator.

 

Whilst in the Army, Anand Bakshi entertained the rest of soldiers by singing his own compositions.  His singing was so good, that his colleagues encouraged him and egged him to try his luck in the film world in Bombay.  Thanks to the political rumblings and the talks of partition, his family relocated to Lucknow. August 1947 heralded the beginning of a new Independent India. By 1956, Anand Bakshi obtained his discharged from the Army and moved over to Bombay and got down to seriously follow his passion of entering the film music world. 

 To stop the flow of music would be like stopping time itself, incredible and inconceivable.

~ Aaron Copland

Meanwhile his poems started appearing in the Sainik Samachar, which was a purely Armed Forces magazines published by the Ministry of Defence. This was the trigger that made him pursue his dreams. He worked harder and by the end of 1956 he got the well-deserved break and was chosen to write the lyrics for the Hindi film 'Bhala Aadmi’. That was the beginning of his film musical lyrical career, wherein he excelled. As the saying goes, success begets success and he later on also sang a variety of numbers with the great singers of that era, which included the redoubtable Lata Mangeshkar.

Let me move over to 1969.

I was serving in a unit, which was commanded by Maj Gen Mahesh C Rawat, AVSM, who at that time was a lieutenant colonel.  Col Rawat was a connoisseur of music and his wife Usha and daughter Mahima were also good singers. While commanding the Unit, he also used to arrange a number of cultural shows where the famous ghazal singer Begum Akhthar   and others performed. 

Within the Unit, one of the persons he was very fond of was Jaya Subramanyam, my dear wife who was a trained vocalist in Carnatic classical music.

Towards the later half of 1969, he moved over to HQ 1 Signal Training Centre  (STC) as Deputy Commandant. One of his principle tasks was to organize the next Corps Reunion, which was to take place in February 1970.

If you want something done, do it yourself; otherwise it’ll never get done.      ~ Alicia Figgs

During those days, almost everything had to be done in-house. The concept of “out sourcing” was unknown. Whether it was the food or entertainment, one had no option but to encourage and use talent locally available. Thus (then) Lt Col Rawat decided the entertainment programme would be started off with a number by Jaya – sentimentally, he felt that when the performance started off with a song by her, it was always a resounding success.  Another artist that was finalized was Anand Bakshi, who was requested to grace the function and give a song or two.  He looked into his busy schedule and agreed to come over for a day and entertain us.

In a manner of speaking that resulted in  “setting the cat amongst the pigeons.”

Please do remember that the Army is an old hierarchical structure. Disturbing the same is well nigh impossible. Anand Bakshi was a mere Signalman at the time of his discharge – meaning he was at the bottom of the hierarchical ladder. However by 1970 he was a well-known prominent film lyricist, who was well sought after by the film world. He was quite used to five star comforts and often stayed in luxurious locales where he penned his scripts, which were liked universally.

The Law of Win/Win says, ”Let’s not do it your way or my way; let’s do it the best way”       --- Greg Anderson

At Jabalpur, there were no ‘star’ hotels. As per the Army norms, having left the services as a signalman, at such functions, he would be accommodated with ex servicemen (ESM) who had retired with that same rank. There was a feeling amongst the organisers, that in such an eventuality, he may find it both embarrassing and inconvenient to come over and participate in the celebrations. As an honoured guest, Anand Bakshi would have to be looked after in a manner befitting his present status! Nonetheless, the senior Subedar Major and other ESM of similar status demurred stating that it may set a inappropriate precedent for the future. After innumerable discussions it was decided that a couple of unoccupied accommodation within the campus would be allotted for the use of Shri Anand Bakshi and few others who were still to be housed. We – in the organizing committee had our fingers crossed and prayed that everything should go off without a hitch.

Apparently our prayers were heard and at the last minute, Shri Anand Bakshiji  cancelled his trip to Jabalpur.

A letter personally signed by the Commandant was sent to the lyricist thanking him for his interest in the Corps and also expressing disappointment at the change in programme. 

All of us heaved a sigh of relief – for there were mixed feelings – one of sorrow for not being able to listen and interact with one of finest lyricists of that time, and of joy and happiness, as hierarchical structure had not been disturbed! In the words of Shakespeare, one could happily say: “All’s well that ends Well.”

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