Have a good laugh at this story, composed around essential facts of our family days in Ambala and 9 Fd.
THE BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR GANG !!
THE YEAR - 1954
THE LOCATION - AMBALA
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
1. BRIGADIER YB GULATI -
C.ARTY
2. LT COL AJ DSOUZA - CO 9 FD REGT
3. HIS 8 YEAR OLD SON RAY D'SOUZA
4. THE CONVENT OF JESUS AND MARY AMBALA.
My father's immediate boss in Ambala was Brig YB Gulati, the C Arty. He was nicknamed by the COs, as Gul the Bull. He had a wife and five daughters.
To me, a mischievous 8 year old, a name like Gul The bull was a source of great merriment. I used to laughingly refer to the Gulati family, as Gul the Bull, his cow, and five calves !!
Then I used to say YB Gulati ?
And I would reply
myself, I don't know, ask him, and break out into peals of uncontrollable laughter.
My father disapproved of all these irreverent jokes by his 8 year old son about his superior officer. I was severely cautioned and the name Gulati disappeared from all dinner table conversation by my parents. I was now extremely careful about what I said in front of my father lest there was immediate retribution !!
But a new subject appeared in dinner table conversation between my parents. The started talking about BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR.
I was mystified but dared not ask. But I liked the sound of the phrase and decided to incorporate it into my vocabulary.
The next day when I went to school at the Convent of Jesus and Mary I decided to name my little gang of 2
girls and two other boys as the BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR Gang. But in our second standard classroom gangs were not permitted.
So we sat together and called ourselves the BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR group !!
Our second standard teacher, a young Anglo Indian lady called Miss Isaacs, also liked the melodious sound of a
our group name, and began to refer to us as that.
Then came a visit by the Inspectress of schools, and we had to prepare a poem to recite and impress her.
On the due date she arrived and came to the classroom accompanied by Mother Superior. Our teacher, Miss Isaacs, introduced us as the BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR Group. The inspectors of schools smiled and said it was a quaint name but she liked it. Mother Superior beamed !!
We then proceeded to recite a poem called " The Mouse And The Cake" (which I remember to this day) which went very well.
The Inspectress of schools, thanked the BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR group and left.
A few days later my mother visited the school, and my teacher told her about the exploits of her sons' BAKER ABLE LOVE LOVE SUGAR Group.
My mother was stunned and did not know what to say !! When she got home she called my father who was equally stunned. They both decided that silence was golden !!
A few days later I was unwell and was taken to see the Regiment doctor. Whilst waiting at his table, I chanced to see a document called Phonetic code. It said A for Able, B for Baker etc. I read it carefully and suddenly understood it's meaning and quickly digested it !!
That evening, at the dinner table, my 6 year old sister said something silly. I told her not to talk "Sugar Hunter Item Tango". There was a stunned silence at the dining table, and you could have heard a pin drop !!
There after use of Phonetics completely disappeared from the D'Souza household !!
The problem of explaining to the school however remained !!
Fortunately the school year ended in 2 days, and when I got back the next year there was a new teacher for the new class. All my gang members parents had been transferred and they had all left school.
So now nobody realised what had happened and therefore there was nothing left to explain!!
One final mystery remained.
Why did my parents talk about Baker Able Love Love Sugar at the dining table, about someone whom I always suspected was Brig Gulati.
This mystery was solved many years later, when I was grown up and asked my father. He rather sheepishly replied, that Brig Gulati frequently uttered Baker Able Love Love Sugar at the weekly COs conference. His PA , a prim and proper Anglo Indian spinster called Miss Alice, used to take minutes to the meeting. Whenever Brig Gulati would utter "Baker Able Love Love Sugar", she would dutifully record "C Arty did not agree with the proposal" !!