An Army veteran, who has crossed a century, defies the age with his sprightly demeanour, keeping his family members hooked with all eyes and ears wide open to hear about his feat. It is the reiteration they all are aware of, but still, the respect for the veteran, holds them in rapt attention, who are quick to help him at times to connect the dots.

M. K. Veeraraj Urs, aged 101 years, is living a life of content along with his nonagenarian wife B. Nagarathna, aged 91, at the LIG house he was allotted by City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) which later came to be known as Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), near Ganapathi temple at Kuvempunagar in the city.

At the outset, the name board hung outside his house sans his military role, makes him a ‘common man’ living next door among the row of houses, but when any inquisitive visitor steps in and the topic is about his career in Mysore Lancers and later 61st Cavalry Regiment, nothing can stop him.

By B. Sreekantswamy

When Star of Mysore Correspondent stepped in, ahead of the visit of Commandant Col. Rohit Dagar of 61st Cavalry Regiment, a voice was heard from the room. It was M.K. Veeraraj Urs, equally curious about the visitor and enquired whether it was Dagar or anybody else. When his family members told him, it’s a journalist, he came out to greet with a smile and walked towards the chair, that was arranged for the occasion, with the help of a walker.

In a mix of Kannada and Hindi languages, Urs goes on to recall how his tryst with Cavalry that happened by chance, in September 1940. The Second World War was on and there was an announcement calling for anybody interested to join Mysore Lancers, the Cavalry Regiment  of Princely Mysore State.

“I was in the prime of youth and about 50 of us volunteered and 20 among them including myself were selected on the basis of our physique,” recalls Veeraraj Urs.

‘A Chief Officer of Mysore Lancers by name Wagal was very strict and disciplined and instructed his sub-ordinates to send those selected to a doctor for medical test.  There was another officer named Ghouse Baig, who knew only a smattering of Kannada, who informed us about a doctor coming from Bengaluru to conduct medical test,’ goes on to add Veeraraj Urs recalling the procedures in place then (which are in practice till date) without missing anything in details.

“We were later taken to barracks, where we were told about the timings of khana (food) provided at 8 pm, followed by roll call at 9 pm and whistle daily at 5 am to wake up from the bed. There were two cooks — Balaji Singh and Narayan Singh — who gave us (new recruits) ground nuts and jaggery to eat along with egg. Being a vegetarian, I was caught in a fix over egg, as Narayan Singh insisted all saying peeyo (drink), but I waited till the cooks exited, only to throw the egg behind, without letting others know,” says Urs with a child-like smile.

“Balwan Singh was our instructor then and we — (myself), Naz Singh, Vittal Rao Pawar, Mohammed Hussain and Haneef — were obeying his orders without a miss. Likewise, we underwent physical training for three months along with horse riding at Mysore Horse Training Troop, under the tutelage of one Ramaraje Urs. We were also imparted training in handling sword, lancer, before we were shifted to Mysore Lancers Bangalore (now Bengaluru). The new recruits were split between squadrons namely A, B, C and D,” he adds.

But, Urs’ talent came to notice when Mysore Lancers was amalgamated along with other State lancers into a single regiment in the year 1953 (which was redesignated as 61st Cavalry Regiment in 1954). Urs was posted to Jaipur in Rajasthan, where he worked as horse riding instructor. His job took him to several places like Pune in Maharashtra, Ambala in Haryana, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Jamnagar, Porbandar and Rajkot in Gujarat to name a few, where he trained many Army recruits and Cadet officers in horse riding.

During his stint in Jaipur, Urs got a rare opportunity to train Maharani Satya Premakumari (wife of last Maharaja of Mysore Jayachamaraja Wadiyar) in horse riding, which Veeraraj Urs mentions with a great deal of respect.

However, unlike his peers who retired after completing 20 years of service, Urs had to continue for two more years at the insistence of his Commandant Col. Bhopal Singh. When he called it off as Duffedar after serving for 22 years on Aug.15, 1962, Urs heaved a sigh of relief, as he wanted to spend the rest of his life with his family, and settled in Mysuru since then, where he continues to live.

He has to his credit Pakistan War Medal conferred by British at Kasauli in 1946, Independence War Medal in 1947-48, Best Conduct Service Medal at Jaipur in 1956 and Best Riding Award (Knee Rider Award) at Meerut and first prize in Air Force Horse Show Competition held at Bharatpur.

Urs’ eldest son M.V. Nagaraj says, “My father is such a disciplinarian and man of self-respect that he wishes to spend rest of his life in the house he was allotted in recognition of his services to the Army.  We (children) all have houses, but he insists on staying here only, without moving to our houses.”