PUNE, Aug 13: About 32 years back, the renowned Artificial Limb Centre based in Pune, nursed the wounds of a young captain who had lost his right leg in the 1965 war. Today, this captain who has risen to the rank of a Lieutenant General in the Indian Army is a personification of steely grit and determination.

Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, presently the Army Commander of Army Training Command, Shimla, cycles vigorously everyday for 10 kms in half an hour time, plays golf and swims regularly to keep himself fit as a fiddle. He is one of the two army officers in the Indian Army who has risen to the enviable rank of a Lieutenant General despite losing his limb.

An officer with a pleasant disposition, he was in Pune recently on an official tour when he reminisced the events that led to the loss of his limb in an active combat. Says he, ``I was commissioned in the 1st Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry in June 1961. In 1964, our battalion moved to Ladakh..''

It was probably the August 28 of 1965 says the General who cannot remember the exact date but it was during a Small Unit Action that was being carried out after twilight in the famous Dachi Gam forest when the mishap took place.

It was after twilight and they were returning to their unit and had to enter the impregnable Dachi Gam forest. They were ambushed and the first shot fired by the enemy camp hit Oberoi's right leg. s.

What did he feel when a vital part of his body was snatched off by fate? ``Since the doctors took 10 odd days deciding the fate of my leg, I was well prepared,'' he answers .

He compares his wooden leg to a new shoe when he says most optimistically and inspiringly, ``It is like wearing a new shoe - initially it pinches you, it makes you uncomfortable but after that you settle in it.''.

And dame luck came in the form of the cupid arrow when Daulat Surve, daughter of a Major General, decided to tie the knot with this young captain. Says Daulat, ``I had known him earlier too and came very close to him when I was doing the rounds of the hospital with my mother, as a part of social service, when he was hospitalised.''

Says his petite wife Daulat, ``My husband is a personification of fortitude. He is able to withstand a lot of discomfort but I know how much pain he is going through.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.