by N. Niranjan Nikam, Senior Journalist
Kodagu, the Coffee Land of Karnataka,’ is the tableau from the State chosen for the 67th Republic Day Parade at Rajpath this year.
However, there is one more Kodagu connection which the Kodavas and the Kannadigas can be really proud of that will be on display at the RD Parade.
I was visiting a Kodava’s house here in the city recently. As I was about to leave, after chatting for quite some time with her and her friend, who had come from Ooty, the lady hesitatingly brought out two photographs. It was of a handsome young man in full military uniform standing tall in the Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and in another picture sitting on a horseback in army’s resplendent uniform.
Disguising her pride, she said in a very low voice that the person in the photographs was her nephew. She gave me his mobile number. I called him and immediately a soft, pleasant voice answered. After introducing myself, I asked him whether he was Colonel Bommanda Dhiraj Chengappa and he confirmed that indeed it was him.
He is the Commandant, President’s Bodyguard. “I am going to escort the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee on January 26th, the Republic Day, from the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan to the saluting dais on Rajpath,” said Col. Chengappa, who is the first Kodava to escort the President.
The Bodyguard consists of 46 Horsemen out of which 20 are ahead of the President’s Limousine and 20 in the rear. The Commandant (that is Chengappa) and the second in command will be on either side of the limousine in which the President travels. The trumpeter and the Regimental colours — party of four — will be behind the car, he said.
“On reaching the Saluting Dais, I will present the National Salute which initiates the unfurling of the National Flag, accompanied by the National Anthem and the 21 Gun Salute. The Parade commences thereafter,” explained Col. Chengappa in detail.
The President’s Bodyguard, all of 243-years-old, is the senior most unit in the Army, raised in 1773, on the lines of the Household Cavalry Regiment of the British Army. But to be eligible for this “most prestigious posting” in their careers, the men must meet exacting physical and mental standards. It is said that all of them are strikingly handsome too. During the British Raj, the English had de-abbreviated GGBG (then Governor General’s Bodyguard) as ‘God’s Gift to Beautiful Girls!
Early years: A graduate in Economics from Delhi University, Col. Chengappa’s early schooling was in Bangalore and then he studied in Jodhpur. His father Bommanda Muthanna Chengappa, now residing at Ammathi in Kodagu, joined the Indian Army in 1963 and thereafter was side stepped into BSF on its raising. He retired as the DIG. He was awarded the President’s medal for gallantry, meritorious and distinguished service.
Asked whether he was influenced by his father to join the Armed Forces, his reply, “I was not influenced by my father. I always liked the Army and I joined it in 1993 after my training in Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.”
He is married to Savera Chengappa and has a 12-year-old son Tapan Devaiah. “It is one of the proudest moments in my life to be part of the National Salute watched by the whole nation,” he signs off.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / Monday – January 25th, 2016
