Brig K.K.Chopra has been serving in the INDIAN ARMY for more than 30 years. He joined the ARMY at the age of 20. He did his M.Sc in Def Studies, M.Sc in resource Management from USA and Diploma in International Relations (USA). He has been the first person in the ARMY to be sent to USA as part of a training program. One can hear about his escapades even in the Kashmir Valley.
He has been a very warm and generous host. He has been fascinated with the ARMY since his childhood as the past 2 generations in his family have been in the army.
This is what his interview was like
How did you shape your career in the army from the beginning?
I was interested in the army from a very young age. I was fascinated and amazed by the uniform and glamour of the army. Being from a small village in Punjab which actually is on the border and as I was in the NCC I have seen the war of 1965 and 1971. Later when I joined the army I was always looking for an opportunity to join the army. I was fortunate that I have appeared for the exam and got selected. Then I went for the interview which is a very time tested process in the army. I have been in the army for the past 30 years..32 years and I have joined the army at the age of 20.
Was it your own interest or did someone help you in getting an interest in joining the army?
Nobody helped me actually in getting me interested in the army. You see the environment around you and meet people and make a role model like you make in your mind. My great grandfather was in the British army and my father was also in the army so I am the third generation. So that way I was motivated. Well my kids haven’t joined the army. They have decided to go for MBA and my elder son after completing his MBBS has joined the Indian institute of foreign trade and he has cracked the CAT this time also. My younger boy is into merchant navy. So both boys have not joined the army.
So how do you respond to that .. your children are not interested in army?
Today…I think it is my opinion that the younger ones want to make fast work outside and the pay packets are much higher when compared to other aspects. I think the young crowd is interested in the materialistic values than the other values. Isn’t it…till date I do not know what my pay is? Because the needs are met and one is so busy that one doesn’t realize what the pay packet is? But the army life gives you a lot of satisfaction .. in the sense that this is the only service where you actually do the man management and get very tangible results for it..the operations .. where the results are directly in front of you or your peace time where tangible results are in terms of your training which you are doing in terms of competition, sports..and the whole preparation of the man for the war and that goes on and which is a very dynamic process.. which half the people don’t know actually. They keep asking what do you keep doing? Now actually before you came I was looking at the study which I was doing of something .. which is a long process of education .
So many people have a dream to become like you are today..even while you joined there might have been a lot of people of the same age group who wanted to end up in your position. What has differentiated you from so many others. You have been able to achieve the position in what you are in today. Many have not been able to..what has differentiated you from them?
Like in every other field you have competition in the army also. Army on the other hand is like a pyramid. The base is very heavy and there can only be one chief. And as you keep growing only about 7 to 8% make it to my rank and the others…very less make general officers…like that…so what actually happens to answer your question is… you have to have the continous education process, your motivation level, your will to do well and selfless service. These are some of the attributes but what you have to do today is to keep abreast of the technological advancement and today army is no more that “you are all brawn and no brain.” There is a lot of brain even to the jawans as he has to fight today with precision guided weapon systems. So technology is so advance that today unless you have that mind to educate yourself continuously or you are out of the competition. So you have a large number of courses you have to do at each stage. You have to do well in those courses then you have a number of exams to be passed .Some are mandatory exams like when you have to become a captain from a major you must pass what they call the part b exam. It is a promotional exam. There after there is a comparative exam. For eg there is the staff college exam which is at Wellington in tamil nadu. Only about 180 officers were selected from the Indian army for the promotion from captain to major.
Even within the brigadiers there will be a competitive exam after completing 2 years from the national defence college. Even after that, selection criteria for being sent for training depends on what you have done,etc.
I have done my masters in the USA where I have done my MSc in resource management and also diploma in International relations which is a 14 month course.
Did you take a leave from the army to go there?
No, I did not take any leave. I was sent by the Indian army and so I could complete 2 courses there in the year 1997-98. So it is a continous education process to answer your question, which is like shifting the wheat from the chaff. Like any other organisation you have to work for it and slog for it.
Continously going through a lot of steps and procedures, I think you must be going through considerable amount of stress. So how do you deal with it?
I feel stress is directly proportional to the contentment process. I look at it like you only get stressed out if you are not satisfied with your job. I have never been stressed. I have been in combat… you see all these medals I got … 4 in the valley in Kashmir. One from the President of India and others from the Chief. One does get stressed out as you work for 16 .. 17 hrs in the war. In addition I look at it as in the morning I have a set regime of going through 45 min of yoga which I feel is very good. You all must adopt it. It is not a religious thing it is more to make your mind in peace. Then you do play games and physical exercises which will take out stress from your mind.
I have never felt the lack of sleep. I don’t have anything called depression, stress or anything.
Sir, generally stress etc is part of a human being?so..
Yes, but if you keep yourself physically occupied then you can overcome it. I get up at around 4:30 or 5:00am… Go through some physical exercise and then do some yoga. And I am at the office by 8:30. In the evening I play games…since I am old now I play golf otherwise I used to play ball etc.
In the course we were told to get up by 4:50 in the morning?
Right…get up…do some yoga or meditation…It helps you a lot in your type of job. Pranayama…it is a set of 5 exercises…that helps you a lot
What time do you generally sleep sir?
I sleep pretty early…I sleep by 10:00pm sharp and get up by 4:30..about 7 hours of sleep…I don’t sleep in the afternoon.
Unless there is a party in the night I sleep late…if the party is in my area then I make sure that it finishes by 9:45 otherwise whatever time I have to come back.
Even if you sleep less there is nothing like lack of sleep. There is a good saying which says “Nobody ever dies of lack of sleep” so don’t worry of lack of sleep.
Sir…I used to do a lot of yoga before only for weight loss but I never knew that I would compensate sleep?
Pranayama is excellent… Even I never used to believe it until 3 years back when someone told me…even my wife was into it. It is an old Indian science…a lot of people have even done lots of research on it.
Sir…I don’t have much experience in yoga but I think it is really effective…now that I know as how it compensates sleep..then probably I will start again. Good…you know for eg there is this thing called YOGANIDRA…
It is a way of sleeping anywhere flat on the ground for 5 mins and it equals to about 2 hours of regular sleep. It is very effective and will help you a lot.
Do you believe in setting up of goals, if yes then how has it helped you in your career?
Every one has to set goals. What I call them as KRA’s Key Result Areas. I setup KRAs for every year and I see that they are not more than two or three. Because setting too many goals will not help us achieving all of them. Even if one and half are full filled then I am satisfied. It is about 70% that I would have achieved. But one has to set the goals. One has to be very focused and clear in their vision, what I call mission essentials. I see what my job is and I look at it. I have to command my subordinates so what should I do? I then achive by carrying out a job analysis. It’s a process from the evolution of strategies. For eg.. you wanted an appointment with me, So you came yesterday and took an appointment , then what time to start from the house , do we need a recorder, what questions to ask etc.. The important components of achievement are goal setting and analysis of goals.
What about your time management?
I look at time criticality as an important factor for the achievement of goals. I don’t give a vague order like do this , I generally say that I want this work done by so and so date and so and so time. If more time is needed they should come and inform me before so that I can accordingly adjust the other things.
Do you set a time limit for your goals?
Yes I do, I think it is very important for the fulfillment of the goals.
Sir as you were talking about Kashmir where there was war and you go into it without knowing whether you are going to come back or not. How do you deal with this mentally?
Honestly I am not bragging but I never had a thought that I will die. I always told my men I will comeback and I will be there with you and take care of you. Nevertheless it is a war I did have some losses. I lost my number 2 man and four of my men.
By keeping myself occupied I never let the thought of dying etc come into my mind.
It is also the training in the army that allows you to over come this. “The only difference between a brave and coward is one second”. A coward always goes down in the event of fire. But the brave goes down and gets up and fires again at the enemy.
Which quality of yours has been the most important factor in your life?
I feel my confidence is the main factor. I come from a small village in Punjab where I studied in a Punjabi medium school, where there was no exposure to English. But now I am very confident of it. Confidence is the key CONFIDENCE +KNOWLEDGE especially professional knowledge is the main thing.
Which moment in your life gives you maximum satisfaction?
It is commanding your own unit. Being the responsible head of your own unit.
Can you tell us the secret of your high confidence level?
It is your own motivation that helps you. It is the standards you set for your self. If you think of a job in an average manner then you always perform average. Professional knowledge is also another aspect. It is also the methodology of doing things. Personality development has to be holistic. I always tell my kids that you should not always be a book worm. You should have general knowledge, social awareness etc.. It should always be along with the prioritization of your work. It is multifaceted development.
Life is game with winning and losing how do you take losing?
There are two aspects of this. In my mind I always look at losing as a negative aspect of my personality. I am not a good loser. But overall development should be there, where one has to learn to lose also. But in my profession there is no such thing as losing. As in a war there are no runners up. That is why I am bad a loser. Another aspect is the balanced approach. One should always take losing in style.
It is common myth that army people have a lot of discipline and have very less time for their family. How do you balance it?
As you said it is really a myth. We are like normal people I am a father, I am husband, I am son just like anybody else. But things in the army are also changing. It is depending on how the society is changing. Ten years back I would not be able to speak to you like this but now I don’t have to inform any body to speak to you.
Nowadays in the army, even the family(mainly my wife) can join me where ever I am placed for camps. Other wise they have separate family stations for all the families which is always near to the place where we work on camps. Discipline has nothing to do with the family. It is not like in Hindi movies. I also have aspirations to see movies, to watch cricket etc.. Eg I was at the place in Rajasthan called Poonch and that time cricket match was going on at Sharjah. So I climbed up the hill for three hours and placed the antenna in one particular position to get the reception. One person was holding the antenna and I was watching the match on PTV from across the border as there was no reception of doordarshan.
We are equally like you. Yes in the army there is lot of discipline.
I have to make decisions keeping in mind the organizations interest.
Where do you see your self 10 years from now?
I see myself happily retired playing golf, doing some social work and probably writing a book by viewing army from a different perspective and even the society.
What is your advice to the generation next?
Be honest to yourself and set goals for yourself. Try and achieve with a complete purpose of honesty. Don’t try for shortcuts even if it comes for over time. I feel the new generation have a very clear idea of their goals. I am very impressed by them.