Incomparable Dare-devil

An ex Colonel’s saga of heroism

By Sheela Jaywant

Not all men in uniform lead such exciting lives. In fact, even out of the combat lot, a few get much more than their share of excitement. Col Ivan Crasto’s life has been more action-packed than much of the fiction one sees on TV. He’s the only Goan, quite possibly the only Indian, to have been honoured for exemplary courage by three Indian states, plus by the Indian Army. He was awarded the Kirti Chakra, the nation’s second highest gallantry award, for one sparkling incident (that happened in 1992, at Parwanoo, near Chandigarh) out of several lesser-known ones. This 42-yr-old has taken part in every operation of the Indian Army after 1971: in the North-East countering serious rebellion, with the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka (he opted to go there when his son was but five days old, because so many of his friends and colleagues were seriously injured or killed there and he just had  to be in the heat of the action), at the Golden Temple during Bluestar, and lately, he fought the war in Kargil. In fact, he commanded the 21 Para, which has the unique distinction of being the only unit deployed in every sector of Kargil. He has faced and survived fortunately without injury, bullets, mines and militants, and simultaneously looked after the administration and operations of his units. Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Goa, have honoured him for saving thirteen tourists (the incident noted above) that were stranded in a cable car at a height greater than that of a 100 storey building, 1300 ft above sea level, at a place known as Timber Trail, strung between mountain ranges, with no hope of survival should a single mistake be made. And he did that singlehandedly, “with the close support of the helicopter pilot who did an excellent job indeed.” He modestly adds, “It was the most satisfying thing I have ever done.”

He was on the cable-car, balanced crouched, on a large greasy tray-like platform, gripping the edges with his bare hands to prevent him from falling to a sure death, with not even a rope tying him to safety. The helicopter that had put him there created strong air currents. The cable swung like a pendulum, and the sharp, chilly breezes of a Himalayan October bit into his fingers. Each time he had to grhtml the metal cable to which he needed to attach a person, he was exposed to a sharp static electrical shock for which he had to brace himself. Worse, still, he opted to stay a freezing night in that cable car which was stinking with urine and excreta. Wrapped in the covering torn off the seats to keep themselves warm, the stranded tourists placed implicit trust in him as he chatted easily to keep their morale high. Crasto did this voluntarily, because he thought it was the correct thing to do. As a para-commando, and one who had been awarded the coveted “Dagger” for having stood first during his training, he didn’t (doesn’t, even today, he candidly confesses) know the meaning of fear, has rarely used the words ‘not possible’. What if he has to die in the bargain_ That may have crossed his mind, but he was confident of himself, else he wouldn’t have taken that tremendous overnight risk instead of being at home with his children. It was an act of unbelievable bravery, done only a month after his mother passed away, that was splashed all over the media in the autumn of 1992. He repeats, smiling kindly at my wonder, “I couldn’t have done without the outstanding support of the young chopper pilot who risked his life making those extremely difficult sorties.”

“Weren’t you ever frightened, ever_” I ask.

The pragmatic answer is: “That was my job. Besides, the senses are so alert that there is no time to be afraid. Of what use would all my training be if I weren’t there in the heat of the action_”

Several times, most notably in three ambushes, he has escaped death by the skin of his teeth. And what did he do when he wasn’t facing death_ He organized rescue operations for events as large and serious as the earthquakes in Garhwal and Latur, looked after all counter insurgency operations, or set up the security systems (he’s a pioneer in this) for high level terrorist targets like the Army Chiefs and their families. He quietly adds that he has also been awarded two Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards.

Ivan Crasto might have become a lawyer if his father, a naval officer himself, hadn’t coerced him into following his elder brother into the National Defence Academy. On 10 June ’78 he was commissioned into the 1 Para Commando Parachute Regiment. Besides standing first in the paracommando’s course, he was also the Best Young Officer of his time. And he has got A grades in all the professional courses that he has done. As a hobby, he took up sky-diving. He has done a specialised course in it in the USSR and participated in the National Sky-Driving Championships. In 1990, he took advantage of posting to Tanzania to ‘see the world’ and toured Africa, Europe, Canada and the USA After graduating from the Defence Services Staff College, he spent three and a quarter years in Delhi in the Military Operations Directorate where “there was never a dull moment.” Then in July, three years ago, he took over as the boss of what is accepted to be amongst the best team of soldiers in the world, the special force of the 21 Para.

After having served the country for over two decades, and lived a life of high advantage, Col Crasto decided to come and use his potential and talent on civvy street. He came to settle in Goa where his roots are, where his aged father longed to be, where he wanted his children to grow up. “It’s one of the very few places in India not in the news for violence. Of course, I think of myself as an Indian first and last, I really can’t think of myself as only Goan,” he says. He laments the fact that Goans don’t seem to know much about what is happening in the rest of the country, nor seem to care much. As a result, the attitude of the locals is like the proverbial frog in the well. “Because of lack of exposure, small things perturb them. It also means they don’t have the confidence to face competition. Good training and good attitudes could greatly benefit them and the State. A good foundation built on discipline, and very strong principles is what makes one competent anywhere in anything that one does. That the Army has given me a generous dose of,” he says. “We were trained to make things happen, not to wait and watch.” Col Crasto strongly believes every child should get a substantial measure of adventure sports and character building, because in the long run it is these, not mere text books, that help fulfil life’s dreams.

This ‘retired’ (a misnomer for one so active) officer is learning the ropes of working on civvy-street as the Personnel Manager of Cidade de Goa. Here he is involved in honing the skills and talents of young men and women in the hospitality industry. He is clear in his mind that whatever he does, he will succeed.