Acting stupid is good fun
US President Barack Obama sought to douse a misunderstanding with beer by inviting the aggrieved persons to the White House. Moral of the story is : Weigh your words before you speak. An arrow once shot from the bow, cannot be recalled.
ACTING STUPID is no one’s prerogative. Your position in politics or society does not grant you amnesty from such acts either. The president of the United States of America, the most powerful man on earth, acted stupidly by saying that a Sergeant of Cambridge, Mass, police had “acted stupidly” in a certain incident. The white sergeant had arrested a black Harvard professor for disorderly behaviour in front of his own house. The entire police department of Cambridge, Mass, was up in arms and their union asked the president to apologise. Indeed the professor had acted stupidly by arguing with the police officer and calling him a racist. The 'acting stupidly' episode was in the process of snow balling and exploding into a racial confrontation between blacks and whites when sanity prevailed on all concerned. President Barrack Obama invited both Gates and the white police sergeant to the White House for a beer. The two contending parties have accepted the invitation and the episode will likely settle. I'd like to make a suggestion on how to bury this controversy for good. Instead of burying the hatchet by drowning it in beer tankards, it would be a good idea to cremate the ghost of the unpleasant episode to prevent it from rising again.
A quarter of a century ago while preparing for a commentary on the Golden Jubilee Parade of the Indian Military Academy, I came across some interesting but little known facts and figures about well known generals who were Gentlemen Cadets in the first batch of the IMA in 1932. The distinguished assembly of spectators at the Chetwode drill square had enjoyed listening to it. It is a clear example of how one acts stupidly in youth. Here's how it goes - A young gentleman cadet overstayed his weekend leave in Mussoorie much against the advice of his mentors. This was at the very start of his career. But he over stayed regardless of the advice. He was suitably punished for infringement of rules but he earned a place in the book of records for being the first ever in the First Forty cadets of the first course to receive punishment for overstaying the sanctioned leave period. The gentleman cadet who acted stupidly was none other than the legendary Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. By the way, as a result of such repeated indiscretions, Sam could not remain a cadet for long and passed out in 1934 as a plain gentleman cadet. He went on to do very well later in his career and won a famous war against Pakistan in 1971.
In an interview to Akashvani in 1973 on his promotion to the rank of Field Marshal, he talked about his gallantry medal, Military Cross. As a young officer he acted stupidly by charging at the Japanese defences in utter disregard of the tactics taught at the Academy. He confessed that courage is a by-product of acting stupidly in battle. In that battle of Sittang bridge, the enemy was taken aback but fought bravely. So did his Sam. In the hand-to-hand fight, Sam succeeded in capturing the objective by dislodging the Japanese. In the heat of the battle, Sam received nine carbine bullets in his stomach. The divisional commander honoured Sam by pinning his own military Cross on Sam’s chest because no one thought he would survive his courageous act of stupidity. A Military Cross is awarded to a living soldier only and is not given posthumously.
In the 1971 war with Pakistan on the western front, the Charlie company of the Grenadiers sat cheek-by-jowl with the Charlie company of a regiment of the Pakistan army, for a whole night. It was pitch dark and they were under order to observe complete silence. Radio silence was also enforced. Both the Indians and Pakistanis knew by whisper that the Charlie company was lying in wait at the forming Up place to launch an attack at the crack of dawn. At first light, wisdom dawned on both C companies and hell broke loose. It was a perfect example of close-quarter battle, generated by acts of stupidity by the guides the previous night. The Indian Charlie company led by Major Hoshiar Singh carried the day and won laurels. Old Hoshiar was honoured with a Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award. So, acting stupidly also brings honours and awards.
Acting stupidly is not the sole prerogative of political persons or military men. There are people of that tribe in other walks of life too. Let us take a look at the media, especially the electronic media. An experienced senior commentator took pride in not attending rehearsals of any event, national or local. He just went by the script issued by the organisers. At the presentation of the president’s banner, an event was dropped but the script remained unaltered. The event comprised a mass PT with torches in the hands of performers. The ace commentator went ahead with his commentary on the non-existent item much to the chagrin of organisers and media managers. Here acting stupidly but did not bring laurels, only brickbats.
Look before you leap – that is the advice given to PT enthusiasts in the army who do acrobatics on the high horse. It is a kind of Trojan horse of wood. Many an aspiring fellow met his Waterloo there because in sheer misplaced enthusiasm of doing a perfect jump and equally perfect landing, the assessment of time and space goes haywire. Over enthusiasm with an eye on achieving a good grade may be termed as a stupidity. Of course, a gentleman cadet is discouraged by his seniors from thinking instead of acting. The moment a junior cadet comes up with an excuse for not completing a task and says “I thought....” he is sharply cut mid-sentence by an age-old admonishment “stop thoughting”. Cadets actually stop thinking thereafter – the question of stupidity or otherwise just does does not arise. And so the baton is passed on from generation to generation.
In an interview to Akashvani in 1973 on his promotion to the rank of Field Marshal, he talked about his gallantry medal, Military Cross. As a young officer he acted stupidly by charging at the Japanese defences in utter disregard of the tactics taught at the Academy. He confessed that courage is a by-product of acting stupidly in battle. In that battle of Sittang bridge, the enemy was taken aback but fought bravely. So did his Sam. In the hand-to-hand fight, Sam succeeded in capturing the objective by dislodging the Japanese. In the heat of the battle, Sam received nine carbine bullets in his stomach. The divisional commander honoured Sam by pinning his own military Cross on Sam’s chest because no one thought he would survive his courageous act of stupidity. A Military Cross is awarded to a living soldier only and is not given posthumously.
In the 1971 war with Pakistan on the western front, the Charlie company of the Grenadiers sat cheek-by-jowl with the Charlie company of a regiment of the Pakistan army, for a whole night. It was pitch dark and they were under order to observe complete silence. Radio silence was also enforced. Both the Indians and Pakistanis knew by whisper that the Charlie company was lying in wait at the forming Up place to launch an attack at the crack of dawn. At first light, wisdom dawned on both C companies and hell broke loose. It was a perfect example of close-quarter battle, generated by acts of stupidity by the guides the previous night. The Indian Charlie company led by Major Hoshiar Singh carried the day and won laurels. Old Hoshiar was honoured with a Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award. So, acting stupidly also brings honours and awards.
Acting stupidly is not the sole prerogative of political persons or military men. There are people of that tribe in other walks of life too. Let us take a look at the media, especially the electronic media. An experienced senior commentator took pride in not attending rehearsals of any event, national or local. He just went by the script issued by the organisers. At the presentation of the president’s banner, an event was dropped but the script remained unaltered. The event comprised a mass PT with torches in the hands of performers. The ace commentator went ahead with his commentary on the non-existent item much to the chagrin of organisers and media managers. Here acting stupidly but did not bring laurels, only brickbats.
Look before you leap – that is the advice given to PT enthusiasts in the army who do acrobatics on the high horse. It is a kind of Trojan horse of wood. Many an aspiring fellow met his Waterloo there because in sheer misplaced enthusiasm of doing a perfect jump and equally perfect landing, the assessment of time and space goes haywire. Over enthusiasm with an eye on achieving a good grade may be termed as a stupidity. Of course, a gentleman cadet is discouraged by his seniors from thinking instead of acting. The moment a junior cadet comes up with an excuse for not completing a task and says “I thought....” he is sharply cut mid-sentence by an age-old admonishment “stop thoughting”. Cadets actually stop thinking thereafter – the question of stupidity or otherwise just does does not arise. And so the baton is passed on from generation to generation.
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