- 3 months ago
Krishna Thapa is a former Special Air Service troop leader, Gurkha, and record-breaking mountaineer.
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00:00I'm a Krishna Thapamogar. I'm an ex-Kharka mountainer and served almost 20 years with the SAS.
00:07And this is everything I authorize to tell you. The SAS stands for Special Air Service. Over my
00:16career, I managed to work with Delta Force Hill team and, you know, around the world, you know,
00:23Norwegian, Canadian, Australian. But, you know, SAS, we are the only unit in the world who
00:29can operate from desert, to jungle, to mountain, and the, you know, sky or water.
00:44The motto of SAS is who dares win. It embodies the courage, commitment, and dedication. So my,
00:53my, you know, SAS career began from 2003. This is where the moment, actually, I wanted to dedicate it
01:01to my, you know, officer. So he called me one day and Chris, we're going to send the first
01:07Gorkha trials from the Royal Gorkha Rifles for the SAS selection, then you are one of them. And we've
01:14been sent maybe about 30 or 40 of us. From there, two of us managed to pass in the first time.
01:22The stages is what we call is the aptitude selection. The, you know, basic test of your mental and your
01:32basic navigation. And once you have that aptitude and document everything past, then this is where
01:38the real selection start is the, what we call is the hill face or, you know, the first four weeks of
01:48mainly focusing on physical and navigation. Normally in wider army, we work in a team,
01:54we work in a purely channel command and someone told you, someone guide you.
01:58But this is the first time you have on your own, you start with the eight miler and tomorrow is nine
02:07mile every day, longer distance, longer route. Last test is, which is 16 kilometer, but you have the full
02:17kit about 20, 25 kg with the weapon. In my time in 04, when it started in January, 375 applicant
02:27and only 80 were past. When I going through, we call the very famous, uh, VW Valley in the break. And
02:35you go down and you go up and down. And maybe second week, what happened was my, uh, a knee crack. And
02:43so like, the next thing you feel your leg is heavy and still you don't, it's like, you know, it don't
02:49stop. It keep going. And in the morning I wake up and then I couldn't straighten my leg. My leg is
02:56frozen, like, like this. And I, I got 20 minutes. I need to, I can't move. So I have to like rub
03:04around. And I started speaking with the, you know, like colleagues, like, and they were like,
03:08now Chris, you need to go to the medic. You know, it's my, you're going to lost your leg now. You know,
03:12it's all this, your mind is going crazy. And like, oh my, I'm representing the girl cause I'm here cause
03:18I'm my officer or my commander told me, you know, I, I don't want it to let down, you know, and I'm
03:23like, okay, let's, I will go to the anyway. Somehow I'll, you know, like limping, but still like 16 miles
03:29with the, you know, like 20 kg and weapon in certain time. It's not, it's complete. You have to complete in
03:36time. But the problem is, I don't know how, am I going to lose my leg or am I going to be okay?
03:44All right. It's formerly damaged. Then I, uh, try to move physically lifting with the hands one up
03:53and then keep going and look around. No one's there. I dropped my backpack and then you, you know,
03:59like sat down, look up and it was like, is this it? You know, is that what is your legacy of Gurkhas
04:05and dream? You feel the fresh breeze and you see the cloud and you, you, you, I must have felt,
04:12you know, like flat out of sleep. And I see the vision of my death grandmother. I see my grandmother
04:20looking at me and then I open my eyes and I'm like, oh my God. And I just wake up, grab my
04:28backpack and then run again, run and still manage to get in the finishing line. It's probably the first
04:35time I'm sharing this story. There you go.
04:45From there, what we call second is the, uh, um, jungle. We flew to the Burneo and then this is
04:53about four to five weeks. And this is where they looking at the, uh, survival skill in jungle
05:01and hot and humid. And also we focus on the, you know, safety on the weapon system, how under the high
05:10pressure, under the high demanding environment in the jungle, can we put our focus and attention,
05:18what is need to be done. To be honest, this is where one of the profound moments for me in my selection,
05:24because I was born in jungle and I'm from pretty much hilly region. And being a girl, because we're
05:31renowned for the, you know, like jungle soldier or the warriors, you know, who can live outside,
05:36nomadic way. I say like, okay, but I go to jungle and trees, then I'll be fine. That was the biggest mistake.
05:45What makes the hardest thing is when you land about, uh, four, five AM in the morning, flew from here
05:53overnight. There'll be no brief. They will give you timing. That's it. When we land, about three or
05:59four of our guys already hands up, like it's 40 degree whoops. And then everyone's like, oh, never been here.
06:05It's hard to breathe. And four guys are like, oh, it's not for me. Then we land and like, okay,
06:12drop your bag. You got two hours, put your pretty gear and an outside in the beach. You got 40 people
06:20here running on the group session. And we are keep running, you know, like, remember, we have not
06:27slept. And suddenly, you know, one or two people drop, you know, cause it's too heat. And then the
06:33DS will stand up and goes and like, how many, how many fingers? That's like two. It's like,
06:39oh, he's fine. He's still alive. Then we start lifting our leg with our own hand. And this is
06:45where I realized, you know, if you can run, run, if you can't start run, still walk, still you can walk.
06:51And if you can still walk, you can crawl. A lot of us will give up, but the, the willpower has to be
06:59there. But the, the, then when you come to the finishing line, and we never know whose path we
07:05fell. But the important is the DS, they never shout at you. You know, that's probably one of the
07:11misconceptions we see on the, you know, TV and videos. They will say middle and, and this group
07:19will go this side, this group in this side. It's not the line you are looking for. It's the willpower,
07:24the, you know, like the courage, the bravery within you. I came with my own ego. Everything collapsed
07:33on day one. I think 80 of us went from 375. And then out of, uh, 80, I think it's about, uh, 30 pass,
07:45make through the final line. But out of 30, 20, 20 of them pass. When you come to UK,
07:52they will call to the room and they will say, okay, you pass or you make it to the next stage
07:58or not. There is a lot of character building. There is a lot of psychology, a lot of, you know,
08:03the observation behind the scene. They have the cameras everywhere. They have the, you know,
08:08day and night observation. Based on that, they constantly absorbing behind the scene. They will
08:14give you, oh, one minor mistake. You haven't done your legs properly. You haven't put the camera
08:20cream on properly. And you haven't hold the weapon properly. So all the time, one of the basic
08:27fundamentals is our hands has to, both hands has to be on the weapon throughout. But the measure is
08:34both hands off. If there's no hand on the weapon, that's measure you fail. One measure you fail. And
08:41then there's one hand mistakenly come off if they see or just found out there's a minor. So all this,
08:47you know, over the, because it's over the weeks and you know roughly, oh, I'm in the 10, 11 minor,
08:54you know, I did one, you know, like then in your mind is already, you know, what I mean is you already,
09:00when they say, oh, on the final day, even though you completed the comeback and you didn't make it.
09:05And because A, B, C, D, E, and then you like, yeah, I got it.
09:15One of the last is what we call is the escape and evasion, which is an E and E. But that's where we
09:24test sleep deprivation and also the physically fatigue, you know, whole night. One of the examples
09:30is they will put you into the sandbag and, you know, tractor come grab you in the January deep
09:37into the cold water, not knowing how long when that for freezing cold come out. And then they
09:43will put into the stress high stress intensity position wall whole night. Then that create this
09:51special environment. For example, you know, monotonous, put the lights on, put the candle on,
09:58is a sieve ring, not knowing what's going on. One of the guys and girl come up and try to threaten you,
10:05you know, with, with, with the life. And, but obviously we've been given information what can be
10:12shared on that note. So this is what, you know, one of the key information we can give your name, rank,
10:20number and, you know, specific mission. So if you, if anything more than that, we fail. So that is the
10:30criteria we've been already brief. And then the, the test or the examination is to come create the
10:38environment smooth and very abnormal. And then, and then they come with aggressive way or passive way
10:45or active way. So this is one of the trick they do. And other one is the, what they create is the,
10:52you are hungry, you are thrive and, you know, like wait and they put you inside, drag you inside this,
11:00you know, room and come to the beautiful hotel, you know, like five standard, you know, like swimming
11:06pool and coffee and biscuits, and then beautiful, you know, woman come and then like, oh, do you want
11:14coffee? Do you want biscuits? And then, you know, you are in dilemma and not able to sleep, not able
11:19to eat last couple of days, as long as you are not saying and changing any or signing any document,
11:25you will find that you keep eating. Then there's like, oh, do you need all this beautiful food fruits
11:30you're eating? And suddenly they'll ask a question. And so basically test is that the, how awareness still
11:38you are. One of these, uh, tricky is that they will come with the genuine, you know, the, uh, genuine
11:46solicitor or genuine people that they will go through your paperwork and it's like, oh,
11:52you are about to move your house. We know you're going to buy a house. And actually, oh yeah,
11:56you know, you are, you are, you are in your real life and how the hell they know anyway, they will
12:01find out. And there's like, oh, it's a genuine, you know, it's your solicitor from the Sheffield,
12:06you know, come here, you are looking to buy this house. Look at this. And then they were like,
12:11what is, you have to sign this one so that your family will start getting into whatever business
12:17or house or whatever, or day to day, you know, medical, whatever that could be. Actually, I think one or
12:23two guys have failed in this one because they signed the document and unfortunately they have
12:29to go back again and, and start. So whole process next time. Did you pass on the first go? Yes,
12:36yes, I was. Yeah. The bottom line is, uh, they will not want to reduce the standard. You know,
12:41they will just maintain cause it's been going for, you know, like almost hundred years and then they
12:46will just maintain. I think that's the standard is the truly character building, character choosing,
12:53joining the Gurkha from Nepal is the most happiest. And also I realized that I have made my parents
13:01happy. But I think passing the SAS selection is truly, that is where the moment I realize,
13:10find my own path, you know, I able to evolve from my parents dream to my ancestor dream,
13:17then I'm living my own dream.
13:24I am from obviously lap of the Himalayas and from a nearby mountain called Annapurna,
13:31which is far west of Nepal, uh, geographically. And, uh, historically my grandfather was a Gurkha.
13:39My father was a failed Gurkha and they had a dream for me to join before I even born to be the Gurkha.
13:47I was leaving my parents dream when I was actually joining the Gurkha. And that was in, uh, 1995,
13:56I tried the first time I felt I have to back my back and walk back to the mountain and almost
14:03devastating. And I couldn't able to achieve my ancestral dream. In Annapurna, I realized I'm
14:09gonna prepare more so that I'm gonna guaranteed pass next time, which is in 1996. Nepal is one country
14:16in the world. Still the 90% population goes towards the temple, goes towards the worship. As a first
14:23son from the, my family, I was born into this carry-on ritual, carry-on the traditional, and then I
14:31became a leader of the whole of my tribe from my areas, like 100 people. Gurkhas are from Himalayas of
14:38Nepal. Gurkha is a Sanskrit word, and the go is a sense, and Kha is a protect, protector. Those who
14:48protect whatever information come from outside and able to master from within ourselves is Gurkha.
14:57There was one or two Gurkhas before me from other, other Gurkhas you need maybe less than 20, 30 years
15:04now Gurkhas. Now Gurkhas are, start coming to the SS, SF selection. So quite a lot interest from young
15:12generation to, and if they are especially, you know, have a little bit established education and system,
15:20and then because they're already quite fit in terms of physically, but just have the mental ability and
15:26then education, you know, intellectual education to adopt the information and pass through. That's what the
15:33hardest part. Firstly, when I, oh, I said I joined the Gurkhas in 1996, my parents and everyone, even my,
15:41my grandmother, you know, you know, everyone is like so happy and joy, and then, you know, in 04,
15:51when I said I joined the SS, and my, they are in Nepal, in Annapurna, I called them and they said like,
15:56they said like, why you go to the, why we, why you went to the SS, go back to Gurkhas. And it's just
16:03because, you know, that's probably, that's what I said, you know, if you don't know, you don't know,
16:07you know, they have no idea about the SS, you know, they live in the mountain, they only knew
16:12where the Gurkhas is the best from where they are, and that's their valued. But then that's what I
16:19realized, you know what, this is a time to find my own dream. And this is a, this is the time to make
16:26our own path. But hardest thing for me is compared to that is passing the selection and move from the
16:32community, the Gurkhas and Nepalese culture, the brotherhood to completely shift to the new place.
16:39It is a lot of shock in a way for being a boy from Nepal, coming to UK, and going to the SF,
16:46it's just a hub, extreme to the one, extreme to extreme. It is challenging, you know, including,
16:52or like, cultural shock to language to the food, and keep understanding everything like British sense
16:59of humor. No Nepalese food, no Nepalese speaking community, no culture. And when you come to the UK,
17:06first thing, you go to the cookhouse and, you know, you, you see the knife and knife and fork,
17:13and also bacon, beans and sausage and bread. And truly, I couldn't believe people live daily their
17:20life with the sausage and beans, you know. I asked my wife, like, how can I survive with this, you know,
17:27day one, week one. But the interesting thing is, now I can't live without it, you know. I think that's
17:33the story of our life, isn't it? I'm very fortunate. I had the best comrades and commander in the SAS.
17:41They recognized that, and they, they found that I have, I'm struggling, and they helped me, you know,
17:49to burden. And someone, one of my good friends from the regiment, they took me on their wings,
17:55and like, Chris, you need to go start drinking, go to the pub, you need to go to the gym. I said,
17:59like, oh, wow, never done that, never drunk before. By that time, commander who understood,
18:04and he told, rather than he telling me to adopt, he told the guys to go and hang around with me.
18:12And then that's how helped me to, you know, make them way as a teamwork and understanding more and
18:20create that space for me, rather than I create this space for them. I think that's what truly
18:25ingenuity. And I truly have the honor and serve with the space guys in the world who is able to sense
18:33the community and also the valued welcome in, in, in the, in the culture. Once you serve in the British
18:42Army so many years, I think then we are not entitled to get to the British citizenship until you retire.
18:49But once you retire, then you are, you can apply to be a British citizenship. Yeah.
19:00I'm not allowed to give any names, any specific mission name, and then a specific place or any,
19:08you know, uh, tactics or way of conducting drills legally. I'm, I'm, you know, I can't share that.
19:16One of the key, uh, you know, ritual, in a way, or the, we, we go through is what we call is the
19:23under sport, uh, debriefing, which is any, uh, tax or any mission. What we call is five minutes
19:32on the sport talking about the key pointing out the place and time that has to stick with the memories.
19:40Then we go back when you have a tea and coffee and rest, then we go through the process of the
19:47lesson learning and what could have gone. You know, I have been operated, you know, uh, uh, pretty much
19:53quite, you know, around the world over the years, definitely in the UK and then also Bosnia and also
19:59in, you know, central Asia. And one of them is in Italy. And then that was to teach again,
20:05the local and asset forces and, uh, and how to encounter the undercover, uh, terrorism and then
20:13how they influencing the, you know, uh, uh, locals community and, you know, business so that to cope
20:20with that. One of my first, uh, you know, mission is in, uh, Afghanistan and, and in, it was in 2004.
20:28So we call the threat specific mission and it has to be very experienced and knowledgeable what
20:34you are doing. But I was very young guy. However, I think I have had the ability to speak and to,
20:42you know, translate there, you know, because I used to speak nine, nine languages before.
20:47Obviously we were, you know, monitoring the, you know, like where the lot of, uh, weapon and ammunition
20:53were cross border from other side of the, uh, country to the, to Afghanistan. So one of these
20:59missions I've been, uh, I have to lead was the local, um, uh, NSF, which is Afghanistan special forces.
21:07So my job is to, uh, to guide, uh, navigation to bring, you know, with, with, uh, with the, uh,
21:16aeroplane and land in the safely and to help the local forces, how to, uh, capture, how to find information
21:25and how to, you know, bringing, uh, uh, and then make them, you know, detentions. The, my biggest
21:32moment is obviously submitting Everest and also submitting the K2 in Pakistan and also jumping in
21:41Arctic, you know, in the minus 40 degree in nighttime, not only jumping, but also we had to survive
21:50in nighttime, then everything is tactical. Tactical means no lights, no speaking, everything quiet,
21:57jumping out from plane in night, freezing. When you open the, uh, goggles, jumping out and all the
22:05eyelids are frozen and, and then you still, you know, close eyes and rub it off. And then in nighttime,
22:13no lights. And we have to find our backpack because all the rust and everything will be dropped by the
22:19parachute before. And we have to escape and evade in nighttime in the snow. Then we have to find the
22:25target. We have to establish the communication. And it's pretty tough. I think most dangerous
22:31situation for me is that the, you know, you know, I can answer in a couple of ways, but I think most
22:38profound ways when you see some, you know, your own friend colleagues, you know, in front of you
22:45dying, you know, that's probably the, you know, most profound moment of life and not about death,
22:53but realizing why them, why not me? I think those are the most, uh, life changing moment for me,
23:00but physically, you know, sensorily, I think maybe jumping in nighttime from airplane when we have been
23:07told that the, you have to land in a hundred meter in nighttime, pitch black from thousands of feet above
23:13the sky in piece black with the full gear. And then if you, uh, if you miss the landing zone by a hundred
23:21meter, then you'll be gone. In that moment in time, our own sensory will lie to us. We have to
23:29have, have a faith and a trust in the team where I have behind me. And also the love and compassion we
23:37left behind house in a closed door with our families. That's probably the, uh, I, I found very,
23:45you know, a moment of realization, what, what value us to be alive. You know, when you see your own
23:52colleagues and also the other people in front of you lying and gaffing for the last breath. And yet
23:59again, you need to stand off, dust off and then, you know, carry on duty as a responsibility, uh,
24:06that we carried a lot upon ourselves. I think those are the moment in time, uh, the reason has to be
24:14more deeper and darker and more profound than truly who we are. We have to accept we end of day,
24:23we are just living human. We are not superhuman, you know, we're still made up from the elements.
24:29So in SS is completely what we call a specific mission and implied mission. So what that means
24:40is you will be given the tax and it's, you, it's up to you, but you still have to show
24:48the plan and process and it's, it's, it's a deliberate movement. And also we have to come up
24:53with the minimum, uh, three to four course of action. And then we sit down on the team and what
24:59is the mission like? We, we, we sit down the round table and go through the mission and tax
25:05and responsibility and kit and equipment, what we need and how, you know, what are they. So it's
25:11actually decided by the whole team. But normally when we have a smaller team, let's say four men, six
25:17men team, then everyone has to involve, you know, regardless of that, you know, whatever you
25:23knowledge, you're not knowledge, regardless of your rank. I think that's what actually the great
25:29difference between the other unit and SS, SS unit, you have to share and you have to put input. So
25:36basically for me is over my 20 years career, pretty much we had the same team because we joined in the
25:42pretty much same time. We have the, what we call is a team skill communication or medical of, you know,
25:50like first aid on the ground, you should able to choose some language and you should, you should master
25:57the, you know, now the, you know, like cyber. So these are the side job. We, we have to, we have to choose.
26:06Everyone has to have an infill skill. Infill skill is you, you need to specify, demonstrate and test
26:15and practice both day and night, all condition, either skydiving, either the driving on the ground,
26:24deep diving. So we have to choose one of these specific skills when you pass. My infill skill is
26:32obviously mountain. The way I use and have been used is any area specific which involve the mountain and
26:40climbing and rope and height, including the, you know, like building or underground or the shopping
26:48center, anywhere we involve the rope, harness, helmet, or the mount, ice, snow. So that I, then I will be kind
26:57of, you know, in, in leading on this one. During the selection process, you got a choice. You can have
27:03a choice to which group and you can apply for, oh, I want to go to this group or mountain or the boat
27:11or skydive group, whatever you prefer, but it's not guaranteed you're going to get that. And for that
27:17is, it's the training, the repetitive training, training and training. You can put the blindfold.
27:23Everyone can try, in fact, you know, whatever you do in the daytime, put the blindfold and then try to
27:30operate the system how hard it's going to be. One thing I can guarantee is the, the guys who pass the
27:36selection, they are uber, you know, sensitive. If you, any of the guys walking the building,
27:43guarantee those who pass, they, they could detect single thing here. They can understand and perceive
27:50the situation very faster. I still got one of my best friends, you know, we still, I'm out. Some of
27:57them are still serving, you know, head of a department and, and they still, you know, are my closest friends.
28:03One of them I still regularly visit and share and the stories.
28:07I am one of, one of the highest non-commissioned warren officer, class two. My last post was head of the
28:21mountain warfare in, in, in, in the, in the, in the 22SS. When you join, regardless of whatever rank
28:28you are come from, uh, before in the British army or tri service, RAF, Marine, any rank, but when you
28:36joined the SAS, you became trooper. We call the trooper or the rifleman. You start from zero labor.
28:43The ranking system is, doesn't, uh, really work like a normal army, but it works on the experience
28:50and commitment and what post you got, you know, and normally that come from the judgment of the
28:56commander and leadership. I think that's the very beauty of, of the SAS unit is that a lot of people
29:03don't know. We specialize and hone in from the day one, week one. I was very lucky, if I honest with
29:09you, I've been promoted very, you know, in faster than a lot of them because I happened to be in the
29:15right place, right time, and I had the great support from my, uh, my commander. So basis on that, uh, then,
29:24you know, um, I was very fortunate and then I promoted to Lance Corporal only after two years
29:31and then, and then after the two, uh, after two years, then what we call is we do our, like I say,
29:37I'm mountain, you know, a specialist. I joined the mountain troop and then when you do the mountain
29:43course, when you do good, the, how the system work is you go outside the wall, walk as a civilian mountain,
29:51uh, um, um, guides around the wall. You gather the kind of knowledge and information how the
29:58environment, not only with the area and atmosphere, but also understanding the geologic geography and
30:05the way the rock and everything more detailed. And then second is obviously full corporal. Uh,
30:11full corporal is that we wear the two stripes, but in regiment, we don't wear any, uh, dress and
30:17insignia. And then we don't, we don't wear any rings. And normally we were, you know, like normal walk.
30:24We call the walking dress, but you know, fit for the purpose and, uh, mission and tax wherever we're
30:29going. And then normally if you do, you know, job well and no warning and no signing any, any difficulties,
30:39then every two, three years, you just promoting, you know, behind the scenes, but because no one wear it
30:45and no one, you know, we don't salute, we don't, we, we, we, we aware the responsibility. We go by what
30:53is, you know, who is what basically. We just go by the experience and knowledge, what they're going to
30:58give us. And that's what we respect for. Then that, uh, third one is the sergeant, uh, which is a three
31:05stripe and which is then from sergeant onwards, then you, you have pretty much given the responsibility of
31:13either second in command or some of the time you end up leading the smaller team. Then once you, uh,
31:20be aware of the staff sergeant, which is the warrant officer, which is the last rank, is, it has to be
31:26pretty much a dedicated position permanently more than two years so that you're going to get that job.
31:33And it comes with the huge responsibility, both, you know, like morale and understanding the mental
31:39healthiness, understanding the whole situation awareness, understanding the kit and equipment,
31:45and you are chief of the department. That is the highest rank you reach, uh, before, if you decided
31:51to commission officer. I was given to this role after that is to be head of the mountain troop in, in the
31:59whole, in the regiment. So that's, that's why I, I've been, you know, given this post. And that was my
32:06highest ranking. And that was my, I think, 13 or 14 years point.
32:16I have got these two, uh, we call mala in Sanskrit in, in Nepalese. And, uh, and obviously this is,
32:26uh, one is the, my own cultural signifies the Buddhist and Hindus or the, you know, ancient wisdom. And this
32:34one is what we call is, uh, given before we, when we join the soldier and then we need to have to have
32:43with us when we deploying, especially the war. And, uh, this, uh, we have two. When you are, have a biggest,
32:51uh, casualty of mass death in the battlefield, then one piece will stay with us on the ground
32:59with the body and other will come and given to the family or the headquarters. So that signifies
33:07a hundred percent that's you. Because what happens is when the chaos of the, you know, like bomb and
33:12bullet and mass casualty, messed up face, messed up body, it's hard to define and find the identified
33:20person. So that's the reason if they stay with you, then that's you. So it's, it's a proven.
33:25With the Gurkha, we have called the very special knife, which called the pride of the Gurkhas. Uh,
33:31it's been carried in Nepal. We call cookery. Cookery is bespoke design. Uh, we got, when you join the
33:38Gurkhas, we've given, given two, uh, different cookeries. One is the day-to-day working, uh, you know,
33:45cookeries, which is designed to chop and, you know, and then the cut and whatever day-to-day operation.
33:53Um, and then other one is what we call is the ceremony or the number two when dressed and then,
33:58you know, a specific dress and occasion. But it has got his immense value because of our ancestors
34:04from the first world war, second world war. Maybe a lot of people don't know, whenever we go to the
34:09operation, we do to give on the special knife, you know, uh, which is, you know, fundamentally,
34:15you know, it's part of our kit. It's a knife. Stay with you, but also not for the fight, but also
34:22survive, you know, you know, day-to-day life when you go survival situation. Uh, I think
34:27cookery will be great to have with us. That's the, you know, ancestral and DNA came with the Gurkhas
34:33thousand years. But however, I think in, in, into this modern world, you know, into this more techno
34:40savvies, you know, we need to have, uh, equally, you know, more demanding and more sophisticated
34:47weapon. And, but when I, when I was, uh, you know, in, in the SS, we got the M4 and then the Glock 17,
34:56which is the pistol and you got the shotgun and, and different shape and size of the body armor. And
35:03then, you know, also the, you know, vest and then the, you know, vest and, but also these everything
35:10including kit and communication in a helmet to the body armor, to the weapon, to the knee, to the,
35:16you know, hair and air protection that can be a shape and that can be designed as it, you know,
35:25specifically mission because whenever we go for, let's say urban or climbing in the urban building,
35:33uh, in multiple building or the cave or underground or the, you know, uh, uh, that, that has a specific,
35:43uh, needs of the kit and equipment, we, obviously we can't go on the full kit, you know, when you're
35:48doing a little bit technical and, you know, more, uh, you know, um, undercover stuff, but whenever you go
35:55full, you know, kind of assault or the full combat mode, then you go with the different
36:02setup. According to the threat and then the assessment, we can change the kit and equipment
36:09and the way we dress and the way we carry the, uh, kit and equipment as well. I think what is this
36:15important is, uh, uh, everything has a, every caliber has a different range and, and, you know, like
36:23smaller the caliber, smaller the range, but the whole aim is to, you have to still cover the certain
36:29distance, you know, from A to B, B to C and C to D. Commander will come up, I want this to be this
36:36many, the seven point or the, this weapon and I will, this, this weapon and, but, you know, then we'll
36:43sit down, then who's going to carry what? And some of them you might choose, oh, I'll carry this one.
36:49Often we carry the local, um, local, you know, weapon or, you know, whatever that place has the local,
36:57uh, weapon like AK-47 or the equivalent of, you know, any other oil which is used by the local,
37:06uh, local people and local force. And we, yeah, that is the, leave it all, but, you know, it's still,
37:12it's still the weapon. Yeah, I think the world is changing, ever evolving. I think to be honest,
37:18even, even my, my, my career over the more than decades, I have seen evolving so much, everything,
37:25from weaponry to kit and equipment to whole mission, you know, culture, everything. They have to learn
37:32and, and accept the, you know, cyber and what, you know, cyber and, you know, the AI, how to integrate
37:40with that, but also adaptability and the, you know, with the environment we, we, we are going through.
37:47And the, maybe a lot more working with the, you know, like kind of, uh, human, human-trained aids,
37:55and then the weather and climate change, and definitely, um, that is the future.
38:06I left in, uh, uh, 2022. You know, I enjoyed every moment, but also I think what I realized is once you,
38:14uh, you know, pick the certain post and rank and you, you, your position is, you know, just, you know,
38:21sitting down and, you know, you know, you know, just like a desktop and managing and thing. And,
38:27but I think for me, I still wanted to go outside, you know, thrive outside the, outside the world.
38:33And also, uh, slowly I was involved in quite a lot with the climbing, with especially disabilities and the,
38:40and then, you know, the, uh, amputees and all the veterans. And that's what made me realize is I might
38:47able to keep more, you know, walking outside. And also the, you know, the more time with living time
38:53with the families, my parents in Nepal, my family's in Nepal. If I honest with you, about still 90% of
38:59those ex-regimen who veterans are still serving in this private sector. And there is a lot to,
39:07you know, share, you know, what you learn over the experience and leadership and how to deal with
39:13high threat, high stress. And yet again, uh, being able to see the danger or being able to assess the
39:22situation. I think they, they definitely got the special values and the, uh, experience on, on that
39:28situation. Last year involving Kualat, uh, military charity, especially helping the, uh, disabilities,
39:35uh, soldiers, and also the disadvantaged kids in Nepal. Some of the charities are pilgrim banded
39:41charities with limblets and climb to recovery and other veterans charities in climbing for all the
39:48veterans. Gork Hall Fair Trust, you know, Gorkham Museum, those are the very close to my heart.
39:54I ended up running the, you know, like a mindful retreat. Two place, one is in London,
39:59Suri Hill and other one is Lake District, uh, three to four days retreat. And once a year in Nepal,
40:06we go through the, you know, the, uh, psychology, the way of the, you know, life in Nepal,
40:12in Himalayas, the culture, and also the, you know, Gurkhas and mindset. In Nepal, the culture we grown up is
40:18every, whenever someone, parents died, the culture, the son has to go two weeks, uh, isolation.
40:27Then when we come back home, we are not allowed to touch our kids or the youngest children in our
40:34family. Before we come, then we have to touch these five elements. We have to connect with the fire,
40:41the water, or the, or the space and, or the some sort of natural elements. Then we go inside the house.
40:49Every time I come back home from overseas conflict and, you know, the deployment, I used to come home and I
40:55call, call my wife. I said like, oh, can you tell my daughter, because she is very young by that time,
41:03not to come to the door, Mexico, can you create that environment? Because I don't want it to
41:08hug or straight away because I come from the, you know, different energy, different over the month,
41:13sometime nine, one years of, you know, this energy and the blood with me. But this is once, uh, happened,
41:22I think I came back from a mission. I told her, but however, she's just a young kid. I think she's
41:29mostly two or three and, uh, opened the door. She charged through the inside the door, open her arms
41:36and I'm like, oh, daddy, welcome home. I said, oh, I can't hug her. You know, this is my culture.
41:42And I refused to hug her. And this moment has been, uh, in my heart for many years. Then I realized,
41:53when she became 16, I will ask to forgive. And last year, she became 16. I sat down on her sofa. I,
42:03sit down on the floor and I asked for forgiveness because when she was three, four years old, I
42:09couldn't hug her. And it's not, the reason is, it's not that I don't want it to, but reason is that to
42:16protect her. This is what the reason is our culture is teaching us. And to be honest, I think in hindsight,
42:23I probably the right thing, you know, because if I had have hugged her, I must have passed
42:29her some energy or some, you know, what I register with this, you know, fighting and then the energy
42:36are going through day-to-day survival, day-to-day survival, death and death and that. But my whole
42:42brain, my whole energy is in a defensive mode, whole my survival mode. I think that's what's important
42:49for us to take away is that sometimes we misunderstood, uh, whatever job or duty or to care, but actually
42:57this important is that everyone matter, you know, everyone matter and everyone is have the, uh, able to let
43:05it go and accept. And that's probably the biggest lesson I have learned. And maybe, you know, it
43:10could be helpful for people who are listening as well, you know, you know, it's the reason is not you
43:16or them, you know, it's just the situation we're going through.
43:19Hi, I'm a producer on Authorized Account. If you liked this episode, then you should check out our new
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