Sudhir’s reminiscences about his older brother, Baba

In this article, Maj Gen. SCN Jatar (Sudhir), writes about his relationship with his elder brother –  Brigadier Arvind Nilkanth Jatar, MVC, AVSM (1923-1991), who was known as “Baba” in the family.

Brig AN (Arvind) Jatar as a young man

My elder brother, Baba, as we all called him, was much more than an elder brother to me. Our relationship transformed over the years into one of mentor-mentee, especially after my father, Bhausaheb’s death in 1957, when I was only 25, and in the infant stages of my career.

My first remembrance of Baba is with his knee-length “half pant,” walking back at about 7 pm from Union Mission Tuberculosis Sanatorium to the house we were staying in Arogyavaram, Madanapalle, then in Madras Province and today, in Andhra Pradesh. This was on 4th May 1941.

The background to this is that my mother, Jiji, was diagnosed having TB sometime in late

How Brig Arvind Nilkanth Jatar got the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC)

                   Arvind Jatar as a young man

Brig Arvind Nilkanth Jatar, son of Bhausaheb, and grandson of Shriram Jatar, was a heroic figure and one that the Jatar family is very proud of. He won the Maha Vir Chakra, India’s second highest military honour, for his bravery. He was popularly known as “Baba” in the family.

Here is a link to his citation, from a government of India site and the details can be read in this PDF file (CITATION)

And this one from an official government site: List of Mahavir Chakra Awardees.

The list of MVC winners is also given here, in the Wikipedia.

Tall and with an almost pink complexion, Baba had wide dark eyes and curly hair. He was slim and remained so until the end of his life.