MONDAY, the 18th day of April of 2022, will be a golden letter day in the history of Nagpur. For, the historic city and the geographical centre of the country came to know of the most-awaited announcement that has made it extremely proud. City’s very own -- Lt Gen Manoj Pande -- has been confirmed to take over as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff. He is the first Indian Army officer from Nagpur to have risen to that peak.

 

Lt Gen Manoj Pande, currently Vice-Chief of Army Staff, hails from Nagpur. He grew up here, rode bicycle in the lanes and bylanes of the Orange City, got schooling in Kendriya Vidyalaya here, and later got married to a dentist from the city. He is the son of C G Pande, Consulting Psychotherapist and retired Head of the Department of Psychology, Nagpur University, and late Prema Pande, who was a popular announcer and host with All India Radio. A highly decorated officer, Lt Gen Manoj Pande stays away from media glare. His ailing father still lives in Nagpur.

In 2017, when Lt Gen Manoj Pande had taken over as Chief of Staff at Headquarters Southern Command of the Indian Army, his father C G Pande had shared with ‘The Hitavada’ some of the fond memories. A proud father, C G Pande had recalled that when a young Manoj was undergoing jungle training, he used to write inland letters to parents. “In jungle training, they do not get food or water and still they have to serve. In a letter, he had written about finding and cooking tubers, getting trained to catch, cook, and eat snake. Then, I used to read out his letters to his mother. But, considering her sensibility, we did not read out the ‘snake letter’ to her. Manoj has worked very hard and has earned great respect. He, too, is a sensitive person,” he had added.

 

At present, C G Pande is very aged and ailing. So, he could not speak to media on Monday when the proud news came that his son was confirmed as the new Chief of the Indian Army. Lt Gen Manoj Pande’s youngest brother Sanket is a retired Colonel. After serving with cab aggregator Ola and Nagpur’s city bus service, he had shifted to Bengaluru. Currently, he is in South Africa. “We are very proud of this achievement. He has risen up the ladder through sheer hard work and commitment. We are sure he will be able to contribute towards the well being of the Army and the nation,” Col Sanket Pande (Retd) told ‘The Hitavada’. Lt Gen Manoj Pande is married to Dr Archana, an alumnus of Government Dental College, Nagpur. When ‘The Hitavada’ contacted her brother Sunil Salpekar, he said that the entire family was very happy at the elevation of Lt Gen Manoj Pande. “We are all very happy. He has achieved the top position, with his hard work. He is an astute officer and a very good human being,” he said. Salpekar family sent congratulatory messages to Dr Archana on Monday evening. Lt Gen Manoj Pande and Dr Archana both had visited Nagpur last month only. He had then visited Kamptee.