MY GOOD LUCK CHARM IS GONE

B.RAMAN

S.P.Chibber, who retired as a Director in the West Asia Division of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), on August 31,1994, passed away at his home near Gurgaon in Haryana on the morning of December 31, 2011. Chibber, who had been under treatment for cancer for some years, died in his sleep. He was 75.

2.Chibber joined the intelligence profession in a junior executive cadre and rose to the rank of Director by sheer hard work and excellent performance as a linguist, field operative and analyst in headquarters. He acquired excellent proficiency in Arabic and French and had served with distinction in West Asia and West Europe.

3. He used to assist the staff officers to the head of the R&AW and in that capacity was associated with me in some difficult and sensitive operations. We shared sharp operational instincts and a sixth or seventh sense which alerted us to operational dangers and traps.

4. He was a devoted colleague and a steadfast friend and we shared happy and gratifying memories of some difficult operations in which we were jointly involved. In the years of our retirement, we were both diagnosed with cancer---he three years before me. In our common fight against cancer ---as in our joint operations against Pakistan and terrorism---we held each other’s hand and sustained each other’s courage and morale. We were each other’s good luck charm.

5. My good luck charm is gone ( 5-1-12)

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com Twitter : @SORBONNE75 )