Gen Timmy's resignation letter; the anti climax.

One of the most admired army generals is General Thimaya.  A charming man with a solid background. However, despite his good intentions and brilliance as a soldier, his one act started the downslide of the standing of the army with the bureaucrats and politicians.

As army chief in 1962, he was regularly pushed around by the brash Defence minister, Krishna Menon. His entreaties of the lack of military preparedness and wrong governemnt  policies towards China went completely unheeded. Moreover, he was shown no respect by Krishna Menon. As a last resort to protect the interests of the service and his personal esteem, he tendered his resignation to Mr Nehru.

That was the make-or-break moment. Few hours later in the day, he withdrew his resignation since 'Nehru had requested and assured him'. That was the break moment for the Indian army. The resignation of the Chief of the army became such a tame and manageable affair.

In a flash, the bureaucracy realized how easy it was to push the army and its Chief. All one needed to do was to feed the old General the old wine i.e. that soldiers were loyal sons of the motherland and simply can not let it down. The old geezer was sure to fall for the heady stuff. After that, you can kick the swine again tomorrow.
We all set a price on ourselves. The Chief put it too low. The rest of us followed the role model.

There has been no recovery since the fateful withdrawal of Timmy resignation letter.

' Ishq ke pehle kadam mein hi sambhal jaye to accha hain,
Paon fisla, to fisalta hi chala jata hain'

( It is best that the lurching step corrects itself in the first instance itself. Once it stumbles, it keeps on  stumbling.)