India, April 13 -- PM Narendra Modi's act last week to lay a wreath at the IPKF Memorial near Colombo has gone down well with veterans, who nurse a feeling of being caught on the wrong side of war history. But apart from that, Col RS Bhadauria (retd) has some wild memories of his IPKF tenure as a young officer of the 10 Para (SF).

Bhadauria also commanded fighting troops in North Kashmir in the 1990s and Batalik operations of Kargil as CO, 10 Para (SF). His stealth, stalk and kill commando instincts were shaped early by shikar expeditions of childhood. A jungle parable narrated by his father wisened the young lad early on and Bhadauria shaped out as a level-headed paratrooper and leader who revelled in commando missions.

"My father woul...