Anecdotes

Korukonda tales!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brief background for uninitiated and saikorians who are wide eyed and open mouthed how and when this happened?

This was summer of 1985 in that minefield called sainik school in sleepy village of Korukonda. We are from class of ’81, armpit smelling bastards from 1981 batch.

We used to have this firing drill and competition back in school in class IX, the competition was at two levels with Junior commissioned officers (JCO) from Indian army who were are on deputation in sainik school to teach us they actually used to breath down our neck but it’s our arse which is on firing line all the time.

Two Levels:

• Application: where you are supposed to Fire in the bull’s eye 10 rounds from 303 rifle, bull’s eye would get a perfect 10 and the rest of points in that order-8,6,4 &2
• Grouping: as the name suggests you can Fire in any part of the target but the outcome should be a cluster of holes in the target as close as possible, if it is ¼ inch (or) less you are an ace in Fireing.

Firing positions:

Basic Firing Positions

1. Standing Position (Offhand)

• Fireer stands upright; rifle held at shoulder level.
• Least stable but quickest to adopt.

2. Kneeling Position

• Fireer drops to one knee, using the raised knee as support.
• Offers better balance and accuracy than standing.

3. Sitting Position

• Fireer sits cross-legged or with legs extended, elbows resting on knees.
• Very stable, commonly used in long-distance Fireing.

4. Prone Position

• Fireer lies flat on the stomach, elbows on the ground.
• Most stable position, excellent for accuracy and long-range fire.

Targets:

Paper / Cardboard Targets

• Bullseye Targets – Circular rings with scoring zones (commonly used for .22 rifles, pistols, and basic training).
• Figure / Silhouette Targets – Human outline (black figure 11, 12, or half-silhouette) used in military & police training.
• Grouping Sheets – Plain paper with central dot, used for checking accuracy and grouping of shots.

Ours was Paper targets……..

Now that you folks got heads up, lets jump straight into action.

Main characters:

• JCO’s from Indian army.
• Devender Rana (1865), Moghul House aka Bihari babu
• Gopi (1863), Gupta house, that’s me
• Siva Kumar (1779), Gajapathi aka Shani
• Paper Bull’s eye targets feature concentric circles to develop accuracy and track shot groupings
• 303 Bolt operated rifles complete the characters

Visualize saikorians Visualize……. with the help of the pictures all the main characters on the firing range.

Before we could fire the first bullet we went through the drill of knowing ever part and parts of the part of that legendary 303 rifle, it gave immense sense of power holding the rifle for the first time.

Each position practiced over and over again 100 times in a week till each position became muscle memory, leave firing we didn’t even sight the bullets, then one more week passed practicing the positions, left hand bent at 90 degrees at elbow, rifle butt jammed into right shoulder, close left eye , right eye popped wide open into the sight set through the Vee notch and a pin shaped front notch just above nozzle to target bull’s eye, right leg in line with right eye and left leg positioned in a V shape resting firmly on the ground.

Training so detailed and drilled down, am able to reproduce the instructions and positions even after 47 years.

Finally, the D Day came which we all waited for to draw the ammo of miserly 05 rounds each for Application and Grouping practice when we loaded pint sized rounds bolted it squeezed the trigger for the very first time is still mint fresh in memory.

I was doing well and Rana was my competition from Moghul house during practice sessions.

Then came competition day we all waited for, self and rana otherwise were partners in crime in all the adventures but this is different we were from competing houses, I was from gupta and rana from moghul, we were sizing up each other in this event who will come on top.

Time to deliver all the goods of practice, sweat, toil and kicks from JCO sore at ankles, elbows & muscle memory built and the honour of the respective houses at stake.

It was Prone position competition

Prone Position

• Fireer lies flat on the stomach, elbows on the ground.
• Most stable position, excellent for accuracy and long-range fire.

What followed was a series of disastrous outcomes which was hilarious to say the least, so brace up!!!!

On the lineup Rana (1865), Moghul house Intense & emotionally charged guy he was with shani aka siva kumar(1779), Gajapathi Who belongs to the opposite end of spectrum to that of rana, I went up to rana supressing the glee within me to wish him good luck and he was muttering obscenities under his breath for getting shani as company in the lineup.

We took our positions I was 5^th in the lineup shani aka siva was first in the lineup to the right followed by rana in second position, what we noticed during practice sessions was extreme right flank & left flanks can be tricky with breeze depending on which direction it flows, you guessed it right breeze was flowing from the right on that fateful day with best of the aim & Fire, could go wrong,so it was advantage gopi that’s me, but rana was damn good rifleman.

For Application & Grouping rounds, there is clear set time with instructions barked at us by the JCO’s to complete

Load……….

Focus………

Aim…………

Fire……… were the crisp instructions for each round

Focus on the target from Vee notch and the blade shaped front sight notch (small pin) and bulls’ eye on target rifle butt firmly jammed into the right shoulder before U squeeze the trigger just the way U squeeze your first date.

Rana with all intensity was following the instructions to the “T” and squeezed the trigger in quick succession ten times like a Sharp Shooter.

our hero shani who got kicked between the legs by heavy shiny heavy leather boots of JCO who were training us to get the posture right and two more kicks for setting the sight right into the target

He was all focus just like Arjuna in Ramayana, screw me there are other classmates distracting me laughing at Siva getting kicked by havaldar Saabs, It’s Mahabharata

Shani was all focus on the eye of fiss(fish)

Havaldar barked his instructions- Load>> Focus>> Aim>>Fire, there is certain rhythm and timing between each round and we are supposed to complete all ten round within that time limit.

Shani aka Siva squeezed the trigger in quick succession for ten times with sore ankles and bum shouting obscenities in the midst of instructions from havaldar sahebs

Rana was distracted with all the commotion and obscenities from next door siva, I was in my zone did my round of 10 squeezing the trigger with ease and perfectly balanced.

APPLICATION completed…….,

Jawans removed the targets carefully marking the names and chest numbers on targets and setting aside and putting new targets for Grouping

Ditto like application round went the grouping round

Load……….

Focus………

Aim…………

Fire……… were the crisp instructions for each round- Ten Rounds in all

Grouping completed!!!!!!!!!!

Both rana & shani ran towards the target

One all muscular run and the other was similar to cat walk on the ramp of Miss india.

Visualize folks!!!!!!!!!

It’s the twenty rounds each of Application followed by Grouping which were fired between rana & shani

It’s awesome combination- Rana & shani

Its still a mystery whether it was by Design (or) Default (or) conspiracy they were paired on that eventful firing evening

Reach they did to the target

Guess what happened??

All the twenty rounds were on rana’s target in Application round and some 15 rounds in grouping target paper

Now it’s analysis time guys

We neither had big data capabilities nor advanced analytical tools bac then

So, we went back to our good old rudimentary ways count the shells on the tarpal

There we had 20 shells each on rana & shanti’s next to bolt operated 303 rifles neatly placed like how we used to fall in for guard of honour

Both havaldars went into a huddle for a small talk along with subedar digging into their 15-20 years domain experience & service of firing those weapons what could have happened?

They couldn’t figure out

Rana was all furious all his intensity has drawn a blank, when he is in rage, he would turn crimson red just like baboon monkey’s arse

Shani was like a squirrel monkey now running his imagination wild and his fate. His state was like “Caught between devil & deep sea”.

At one end he has to deal with Bihari babu rana with his repertoire of telugu obscenities in bihari ishtyle and at the other end of spectrum lies those havaldars with shiny leather boots

Becos only Shani aka Siva knew how it happened………

It so happened shani is supposed exercise all he practiced for over two weeks: right eye sight set through the Vee notch and a pin shaped front notch just above nozzle to target bull’s eye, right leg in line with right eye and left leg positioned in a V shape resting firmly on the ground fFollowed by the “pin” and the “target”

Strictly in that order we have gone through the drill…………..

Smart Alec shani skipped the “V” Vee notch as it was straining his eye just set the Front notch pin & target in the line and squeezed the trigger in quick succession 10 times like “hot knife slices through butter”

And voila!!!!!

there you have “Maggie’s drawers” That’s the term used for drawing blank on target paper back then during our times

And rana’s target was like helen’s rauncy number wardrobe holes at right places (or) should I say wrong places– 7 in bull’s eye, 4 in next ring and the rest all over the target.

If u guys recall We could get kicked on the gold spot by those havaldar sahibs if the bullet hit the mound of earth instead of the target

It was fun counting how many gold spots each invited by the standby folks while sivas of the world were firing away to glory, there were quite a few from each class would get plastered with gold spot kicks

Rana was disqualified, I got the firing honours

Application: 08 in Bull’s Eye 02 just outside the bull’s eye

Grouping: 1/4inch-10 rounds all nicely forming a cosy group

Quiz time:

How many goldspot kicks Shani aka Siva got after that firing misadventure???

Visualize again!!!!!

 rana all charged up and shani meekly squeezing that damn 303 bolt operated rifles into rana’s target

It’s was one helluva ride

Gajapathi house classmates gave Z security for a week to Siva aka Shani, 1779, to save him from the fury of Rana,1865, aka Bihari babu

Thus ends Guns, Giggles & Goof-ups.

Gajapathi house crowning glory Marching to the firing range, Missing the mark.

DID someone ask what is this Gold Spot??

That’s a Story board for another day hang in…………… there.

To be Continued……………. Another adventure in that Minefield called Sainik school korukonda.