Eight Clues to happiness-Khushwant Singh : Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Clues to happiness - Khushwant Singh

One of the most convincing pieces on happiness.
Khushwant Singh at his best.
The rationale applied to each preference is absolutely
top class.

EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS
By- KHUSHWANT SINGH

Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over
what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I
drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for
the readers' appraisal.
1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy
good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however
trivial, will deduct from your happiness.
2. Second, a HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run
into crores(millions) but should be enough to provide for
creature comforts and something to spare for recreation,
like eating out, going to the pictures, traveling or going
on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money
can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is
demeaning and lowers one in one's own eyes.
3. Third, a HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can
never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for
keeps that a home provides: if it has a garden space, all
the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow
and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
4. Fourth, an UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your
spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings,
they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be
divorced than to bicker all the time.
5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better
than you in life; risen higher, made more money, or earned
more fame. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you
for gup-shup(Gossip). By the time you get rid of them, you
will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you
a sense of fulfillment, such as gardening, reading, writing,
painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or
parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal
waste of time.
8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes
to INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be
spent on stilling the mind and then five in listing things
you have to do that day. In the evening, five minutes to
still the mind again, and ten to go over what you had
undertaken to do.
Nathaniel Cotton (1721-1788) summed up my views on
the subject in one verse:

If solid happiness we prize
Within our breast this jewel lies

And they are fools who roam
The world has nothing to bestow

From our own selves our joys must flow
And that dear hut, our home.

" What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regarding issuance of notification for modified Parity in Pension:Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Dear Veterans,
Regards. Find below the letter faxed today to the authorities
by this organisation.
Tel-fax 0175-5000896.
Dear veterans Mob. 098554-09128


Ex Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen
Association (Regd.)

3-Guru Ram Dass Nagar, Tripuri Road,
Patiala-147 004.,Punjab, India.




ESSAA/3/2010 Dt. 15 February,2010

To
Director (Pension/Policy),
Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare,
Ministry of Defence,
213-AWing,Sena Bhawan,
New Delhi.

Sub. Immediate issuance of notification regarding Modified
Parity in Pension for Pre-2006 JCOs. and below.

Dear Sir,
It is in reference to the announcement made by you as well as by Lt. Gen V.K. Chaturvedi, Director General (MP&PS),General Branch, Army Hq. New Delhi regarding the grant of Modified Parity in Pension by the Govt. of India in lieu OROP being asked by some organizations.
It is not out of place to mention that Her Excellency, the President of India, Hon,ble Prime Minister of India, and Finance Minister of India were, at some stage, misinformed about the term ‘OROP’ and the announcement regarding the grant ‘OROP’ to Personnel Below the Officer Rank (PBOR) was, erroneously, made by each of them which created a lot of hue and cry among the Commissioned Officers. Finally Defence Minister had to announce in the Lok Sabha that same would, also, given to the officers which gave much solace to the,so called, aggrieved officers who have been hankering for ‘OROP’ for a long time.
Now when the Govt. has made it clear and agreed to grant Modified Parity in Pension to ‘PBOR’ and this, underprivileged, section of ex-services community has, willingly, accepted this, the delay in issuance of notification to this effect, is causing much frustration among them and also creating the feeling that, perhaps, this is being done, knowingly, by some one only to frustrate the ex-servicemen who have no shoulder to lean upon. This agony, among the veterans, will certainly lead to a catastrophic situation if no remedial measure is taken at the earliest.
As such, we, humbly, request you to issue the notification without further delay lest the allocation, made in this regard, in the last budget may lapse leading to much harassment to the recipients.
This also refers to our letter no.ESSAA/1/2010 dt. 19.1.2010.
Thinking you,
Yours Sincerely,

Sd/-
(Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.)
President.
Copy to. 1.Hon’ble Prime Minister of India…..
2.Hon’ble Defence Minister of India…
3.Hon’ble Finance Minister of India…
…all for information and, deemed, necessary
action, please.
Sd/-
(Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.)
President.

Darjeeling Land Scam :Veteran Prabhjot Singh PLS Retd.

Darjeeling Land Scam.
Have been singled out, alleges Lt Gen Rath
New Delhi, February 13. Lt Gen PK Rath, who is facing court
martial in the Sukna land scam case, has alleged in the
Delhi High Court that there was “mala fide” intention as the
Eastern Command hadinitiated action against him only
after he was designated the Deputy Chief of Army.
In his petition before the High Court here, Rath has contended
that he had been “singled out” in the case and the “offence”
against him had been “prejudged”.
The Eastern Command, headed by Army Chief-designate
Lt GenVK Singh, had initiated the Court of Inquiry against
him much after the Cabinet Committee of Appointments had
approved his elevation as Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Rath
said in his 24-page
petition filed on Thursday.He contended that the order to
attach him to the Kolkata-based headquarters, just before he
could take over as Deputy Chief of Army, was “highly
discriminatory, arbitrary and non-speaking order, hence bad
in law”. Casting aspersions on the role of Lt-Gen VK Singh, he
said, “The attachment order has been passed with a malafide
intention to stop the petitioner from joining the post as Deputy
Chief of Army Staff.”
Rath, along with former Military Secretary Lt-Gen Avadesh
Prakash, is facing court martial in the case that relates to
no-objection certificate given by the Army to a private
realtor to construct an educational institution over a
71-acre plot adjacent to Sukna military base in Darjeeling.
Rath said he had informed Lt Gen Singh within 15 days
about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed
in April lastyear with a private realtor and on the orders
of Lt-Gen Singh he also got the MOU cancelled.
“It is only after six months of cancellation of the MOU,
when the petitioner was transferred to post of Deputy
Chief of ArmyStaff, that the Eastern Command Headquarters
initiated the proceedings only to deny the petitioner from
being posted to the above post,” he said.— PTI

Avalanche turns grave for 17 Army men in J&K :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Avalanche turns grave for 17 Army
menin J&K.17 others hurt as tragedy strikes training
campin Gulmarg.Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 8.At least 17 Army personnel, including an
officer, were killed and 17 others injured in an avalanche at
Khilanmarg in the upper reaches of Gulmarg, about 50 km from
here, today. Fortysix others were rescued in a joint operation
launched by the Army, police and the State Tourism Department.
A defence spokesman said the avalanche struck the training area
at Khelan Marg, where 400 Army personnel were undergoing
training. Around 80 members of High Altitude Warfare School
(HAWS) were trapped under the avalanche. Prompt action by
the Army, duly assisted by the state administration, including
civilian doctors and the police, resulted in the rescue of Army
personnel. A Brigadier from the formation was overseeing the
rescue operations, the spokesman said.
The tragedy has happened when the entire Kashmir valley and
its upper reaches have been witnessing heavy rain and snowfall
for the past four days, disrupting traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu
National Highway.
Various areas of the valley, particularly in north Kashmir, have
been cut off from the rest of the state due to heavy accumulation
of snow in the upper reaches and high mountain areas. Gulmarg
and Khilanmarg areas are under three to five feet snow
accumulated during the past four days.
The Disaster Management, Kashmir, had only yesterday issued
avalanche warning for various areas across the Kashmir valley
in view of continued bad weather conditions. It warned of high
danger avalanches in areas around Sonmarg on the Srinagar-
Ladakh axis, and the medium danger avalanche warning in
Khilanmarg, Uri, Baaz, Razdan Top, Keran, Machchil, Sadhna
Top, Gurez and Chowkibal areas of north Kashmir. Aamir Ali,
OSD with the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, in charge of
the disaster management, here yesterday, quoting the SASE,
also warned of low danger avalanches on the two sides of the
Jawahar Tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
According to officials of the Tourism Department, which
conducts snow skiing events in the area, a team of skiing and
rescue experts headed by Tourist Officer GM Dar, equipped with
snow scooters and piston bullies, have joined the rescue operations.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.098554-09128,Tele-fax 0175-5000896.

Directory of Ex-Servicemen : Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Directory of Ex-Servicemen
Ludhiana, February6.In order to extend best services to
ex-servicemen, the District Sainik Welfare Office has
decided to compile a directory of all ex-servicemen residing
in the district to keep a record that will help the department.
Giving details, newly-joined District Sainik Welfare Officer
Col Harvinder Pal Singh said, “We expect that around
40,000 ex-servicemen are residing in Ludhiana alone. If we
have all record pertaining to these former defence servicemen,
we will be able to help them.”Urging all former defence officials
to give their present address and contact numbers to Office,
Ludhiana, Col Harvinder saidthe District Sainik Welfare ,
“The directory will be helpful in forming a network that could
beused at the time of crisis and whenever their experiences and
services are required.”The information could be conveyed at
94178-22874, 98769-71230 and 0161-2741066.The project will
also be available in a digital format and will help the department
have better interaction with ex-servicemen and their families.


Please Note: A good effort,indeed,being made by an officer who
left an everlasting impression in every veteran's mind during his
short stay a Patiala.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

After 55 years, WW-II veteran gets pension-Tribune News:Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

After 55 years, WW-II veteran gets pension.
Vijay Mohan-Tribune News Service.
Chandigarh- February 4.After struggling for 28 years, a veteran
of World War-II has been finally awarded pension for the
service he rendered over 55 years ago. Had it not been for
miscalculation by the Army authorities, he might have got his
pension years ago.Allowing a petition filed by Harbans Singh,
a resident of Kharar, the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed
Forces Tribunalalso directed that he should be paid three-year
arrears, commencing from the date of filing of petition till now.
Harbans Singh had served with the Rashtriya Indian ASCfrom
September 1940 to March 1946. He again enrolled onto the Army
in August 1951 and was discharged in March1955.In 1982, the
Central Government introduced a new policy under which break
in service was to be condoned and the period was to be counted
towards the qualifying period for fixing pension.Soon after, he
received a letter from ASC Records stating that he was eligible
for pension and should apply for thesame. He took up the
matter with the authoritiesconcerned, but in 1993, received a
communiqué fromthe Directorate General Supplies and
Transport that hisservice amounted to 14 years and two months.
The minimum qualifying period for pension is 15 years, but a
shortfall of six months can be condoned under law.As per the
letter, his service was short of over four months even after
condoning the grace period.Later perusal of records showed
that the date of his service period was wrongly mentioned. His
actual service periodwas over 14 years and six months, which
made him eligiblefor pension.As the matter lingered, he filed a
writ petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1998.
The matter wasadmitted and was later transferred to the
tribunal for further consideration.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.098554-09128,Tele-Fax 0175-5000896.

Hindustantimes

War-injured to get maximum pension?
HT Correspondent.
NEW DELHI: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has come to the help of war-injured soldiers and directed the government to consider a maximum of the pay scale for an officer while fixing his war injury pension.
The tribunal headed by Justice A.K. Mathur also advised the government not to differentiate between a short service commissioned officer and a permanent officer while granting death-cum-retirement gratuity (DCRG).
The tribunal accepted the plea of the petitioner Disabled War Veterans and held: "We strongly feel that it is a matter which requires a serious consideration of the Government that a person whose career has been sacrificed for safeguarding the Indian border and he is to be treated in such a poor way that he is being paid war pension on the basis of minimum of the scale of that rank. Therefore, looking yeoman service rendered by incumbent, he should be given a fair treatment."
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Aiswarya Bhatti criticised the present government practice and said a war injury cut short an officer's service, forcing him to retire permanently. Therefore, she said, it would be harsh and unfair to the soldier if his maximum pay scale were not considered for determining the amount of war injury pension.
Observing that the discrimination on the basis of an officer's service violated Article 14 of the Constitution, the tribunal added: "Once the Short Service Commission officers and the Permanent Service Commission officers fight on the border shoulder to shoulder, they form same class and no further distinction can be made... and if unfortunately both of them receive an injury and they are disabled then no distinction can be made in payment of DCRG."
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