Sarabjeet Singh, ‘Saberjet’ as he was called in Kilo squadron was a genuinely happy Khalsa full of josh and humour. “The Khalsa of 56 Killers” was not an athletic and physically agile Milkha “the Flying  Sikh”  we lost a few days back. But otherwise, this big-built fellow had an agility of mind that was obvious in later years as well.  All his squadron course mates had the advantage of being shielded by his frame, when faced with 'adversities' from the senior termers, especially before or after dinner fall-ins. The 'deceptive countenance' of our loving Khalsa was something which distracted 'unwanted attention' of our seniors, away from the bunch of other 33 rogues. He was perpetually happy about being such a 'Wall' for all of them and they were always cherishing memories of this wonderful Killer Khalsa, who had the most wonderful inner core of a good and kind nature. Sarabjeet was also a man who displayed rare courage in standing up to bullies. During the first term, and on one particularly nightmarish march from Killer Squadron to the Cadets Mess, one hefty senior (2nd termer), took great pleasure in boxing him repeatedly on his back. The rest is history; Sarabjeet turned around and gave his tormentor a solid right hook, thereby flattening his oppressor. Result, all first termers had a memorable night. None regretted his action. Even later on he was very active in and fit and would spend many an hour in the hockey field/squash court or on long runs.

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‘Yaaron ka Yaar‘ was the perfect sobriquet for him. Everyone in Kilo Squadron and Corps of Signals who spent some time with him was soon charmed by his warmth and love for life. His appetite was legendary and as bachelors, he made every lady sweat whenever we raided the married guys for a meal. He excelled professionally too, completing his MTech, coveted DSSC and HDMC with flying colours. He rose to the rank of a General officer with aplomb. He had some health challenges in the last stages of his career but he overcame everything with a smile. 

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Sudarshan Shrikhande recalls his happiness of meeting Sarabjeet twice after NDA. Once in Delhi in 1985 where he had come on leave and Sudarshan was doing a short Russian language course in DU to go for a PG to Leningrad. It was wonderful to catch up on old times. It was a reminder of his warmth, his great sense of humour and joy of life. Later, he ran into him in South block in 2009. It was unexpected encounter for them and he remembers some on the corridor smiling at the minor commotion of a naval and army uniform in a jhappie.   A great chap, a good buddy to have and his early passing after a rare illness stoically borne by all in the family is such a loss.

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Sarabjeet passed away peacefully in his sleep on 03 March 2020. He is survived by his wife Ashima and daughters Simran and Gunjan. Simran is a HR professional in Mumbai after completing her MBA & Gunjan is pursuing her masters in Psychology from Delhi University.

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Penned with inputs from LM, Katoch, Mahadevan and Shrikhande.

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🙏 May his soul rest in peace 🙏