Field Marshall Cariappa

Today is the birth anniversary of Kodagu’s greatest icon: Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa.

I was just a child the first and only time I saw him. He was probably already in his 90s and was carried in, sitting erect on a chair. Once at the dais, he stood and spoke briskly about things I don’t remember anymore. What left an impression were not his words but the way he carried himself.

Over the years, I’ve heard and read so many anecdotes about him. I’ve gone from deifying the man, to feeling proud that he was from Coorg, to a more detached sense of respect.

I think if he were alive, he’d have very little patience with people who are now clamouring he be awarded a posthumous Bharat Ratna. He led an extraordinary life and, I think, would have considered it reward enough.