Soldier mostly unknown & routinely forgotten!

Soldier mostly unknown & routinely forgotten!

Entrapment

The title may sound misleading but I am sure of attributing some meaning to it by the end of this piece of writing. I am not talking of a war hero or who died a hero's death in any action (be it against external enemy or internal insurgents) but of those who are alive and kicking, true in every sense of it!

Soldiers are solitary individuals (I won´t say souls because of negative connotations), lonely posts, mountains, forests, flowers, brooks, glaciers, deserts and all the areas without a whisper of human life appeal to him as his own. Those are the areas where one can truly be an "I am I".

Soldiers are simple beings happy to get basic facilities and joys of life. Their humble backgrounds keep them grounded close to reality always. They are alienated from many walks of life due to the long periods of separation from immediate family, friends and society. But with improvement in communication facilities they are not insulated from the changes in the society. Soldier misses many aspects of life which are taken for granted like, coming home each evening to share with dear wife & children, many social occasions, fashion changes, elections, and changing the course of things around by mere presence. The services do prepare a man for these rigorous by seasoning, conditioning, insulating or sometimes just keeping you busy. An interesting point is of `Rum & Cigarette Allowance´, it was introduced by the British at subsidised rates to keep the soldiers amused and away from the daily happenings around. It still is doing its bit!

Travel always teaches a man many things by providing opportunities of first-hand experience of many regions, cultures, languages, systems and builds tolerance thus making a man mature in his outlook of life. The profession of arms is a great equaliser; soldiers forget caste, language, colour, religion by intermingling and making thick friends for life. Uniform obliterates the importance given to individuals on acquired skills in the society, all are comrades first and specialists later.

Soldiers are mostly misunderstood by the civil society, there is a major misconception that there is no work unless there is war. Even family members cannot understand the real grind which he undergoes as part of routine. The concept of maintaining standing professional armies is as ancient as human history, but choosing soldiering as a long term career option is only as old as the nation state form of governance. It is a national requirement to have an army for peaceful progress of the nation without interruptions, be it voluntary or conscripted. Soldiers are coolly forgotten and remembered only during dire situations. No nation can progress without a strong army and routinely forgetting the contribution of soldiers. Army, Navy and Air force are all the same for the conditions of a soldier only with little difference in culture.

Soldiering is not an easy job; it involves apart from physical requirements various skills. He needs to always update his awareness about ever evolving military tactics and technical advancements, know well of the type of terrain of operations, implications of changing Geo-political scenarios, innovative ways of out-smarting the enemy. The change & adaptability is continuous in the life of soldiers with changing work place, environment, job nature, level of responsibility, operational demands by topping it all is understanding the demanding boss.  A soldier is a student for life his learning curve is up always, more so in case of preparing for and leading a well adjusted post-retirement life.

Soldiers retire relatively young compared to his civil counterparts with emerging responsibilities at the family front. All the skills of a soldier could be better utilised for progress of the nation with right kind of post-retirement avenues. The problems continue while in service also with the regular apathy of government officials and ever increasing red tape. He is taken for granted by all in not responding timely, being fully aware of his limited leave period.

The real sense of being a soldier is best understood by none other than the soldier himself. One has to be a soldier to understand one.

Once a soldier will remain a soldier for life, with all that openness, straightforwardness and yet a child at heart (Dil to batcha hai!). No one can understand the simple pleasures of life like a hot water bath after 90days, seeing lights after months of dark nights, a working mobile to speak home, the lovely letters from near ones and many more SIMPLE PLEASURES are only enjoyed by soldiers... one needs to maintain an immaculate image in the societal glare & temptations for the larger community of soldiers.

"In a play, everyone wants to be a soldier but reality shuns him as a lesser brother of fate!" - Gurucharan Singh Bais(Bhai). 

   

An Independent Nation under Seize!

An Independent Nation under Seize!

Independent and Seize mentality! don't get confused I am not referring to the Youngest Nation in the world, "South Sudan" which became Independent on July 9th 2001 but want to mention about the  present day "India" which became Independent 64 years back and celebrating it´s 65th Independence day today the 15th August of 2011.

We `The Independent Indians´ are very good at Scaring the Clown in all walks of our life. The days preceding the Independence Day are spent building-up the Tempo of the Nation in the form of preparations by Police, Armed Forces, Intelligence Agencies and Administration not in Nationalistic fervour but FEAR! yes fear and caution of many unwanted incidents of violence leading to creation of a Seize mentality among all. Think of all the negative effect it has on the minds of young children.

The peaceful days of celebrations are over! are they really over or we are becoming too over cautious as a society and nation? There would be reports of terrorist attacks at all places, important roads and places are closed for people, entry restricted to public places, people thoroughly searched for banned objects in the most expected manner, many travel plans amended or cancelled due to rescheduling, people avoiding markets & cinemas, even the security forces restrict their administrative movement thus reducing their footfalls in insurgent infested areas also, all this adds to a fearful peace and calm in the society rather than creating conducive atmosphere for joyous and pleasant Independence Day celebrations.

The crowds joining any flag hoisting ceremony be it at Delhi Red fort, schools, government offices, cantonments and even residents´welfare associations all across the country is either nominated, detailed and seldom enthusiastic & voluntary! People prefer to update a status message on social web sites and watch TV programmes than physically be part of the celebrations, we must do an introspection as to the reasons of this kind of disassociation to one of the important days of the country.

The reasons probably are.....I must mention at the cost of being cynical---------

• The life of a common man has not changed in all these years of Independence.  
• `Tryst with Destiny´ has remained just a zephyr.
• India is a developing country, or develoooooooooooooping  country till eternity. 
• 64 years are not less to change the course of things in a country. Countries ravaged in world wars, attacked with nuclear bombs, torn by historic differences and tsunamis are up and ahead of us in all terms.  
• The Fruits of Development & Open Economy are still to reach all levels of the society. 
• The policies of the state are yet to become INCLUSIVE in all true sense and sincerity.
• The governance does not recognise the need to have strong, well equipped, well paid, well integrated Armed forces which need to be put to use judiciously. National apathy in understanding the losses suffered by the service personnel and their family members.
• Existence of Big fat unresponsive Bureaucracy.
• Plan for extravagance of Nuclear weapons & Moon mission, when millions are still poor, illiterate and unemployed.
• Despots ruling under the garb of Democracy.
• Demonstrations and destruction both by ethical and petty causes.       
• Family dramas of first political family and Political dharmas of political parties.
• Insurgencies, statehood demands and external supports.
• Feudal societal system and VIP culture. 

Poor Common man still doesn't know why and what actual independence means.

  

True that we are Great Nation of Great People with undying spirit to move on with life, in the midst of Mythical Unity in Diversity!

Here we are celebrating the Independence Day to give an Independent Nation to the Children of Independence..... 

   

Musings of a Blogger

Oh! here I am at last QWERTYing away my first blog. I've although written comments on a few Blog posts earlier, this is my first publication. Let me start by dealing with the meaning of my title; "MUSINGS OF A BLOGGER"

Musings = A period of thinking carefully & of course deliberately too (Completed by telling people about it).

Blogger =  A person giving out record of his experience, opinion on a website through internet.

Here, I must ponder a little on why do people BLOG! It is the nature of humans to feel important, the need to be heard is the driving force for blogs. This may not be the only aim but it certainly is the basic and common trigger for blogs. It in someway is like maintaining a diary for few addicted bloggers. But the importance of blogging will certainly reduce with availability of other avenues for people to express, like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Google Buzz, Foursquare, good old Orkut etc., Every experience is unique in it's own way and reactions/feelings to any given situation with the given variables & circumstances are also one of their kind. People would like to share these in various forms, blogging is one of THOSE.

Now, let us see what are those "THOSE",

 - Sharing with a colleague at work place, provided the mental and personal wavelengths match!

 - Discuss with your friend, I mean close enough to talk any rubbish.

 - Just let ought a sign of sigh on Twitter, as the word limit doesn't allow you the lavish expression of thoughts.

 - Leave a post on the Facebook wall, with friend list including all (Family, Friends, Colleagues, Foes).

 - Join a political or social service organisation and vent out your ideas through various means on hapless and helpless civilians.

 - Write a letter(I miss that simple document these days) to a person who is willing to receive that crap and reply with equal patience.

 - Letter or email again to any newspaper column, not being sure of it's fate of publishing.

 - Print pamphlets, posters to distribute among people, very rare act of desperation to be heard!!!   

 - Publish or rather buy a whole page of a popular newspaper, not uncommon these days as many sponsored acts of shamelessness getting official support of political parties.

 - BLOGGING is one of THOSE... with the following advantages:-

    + We can type any lenght.

    + Publish it to prowl on hapless netizens instantaneously.

    + Write on what ever we want whenever & wherever we desire...

    + It's not charging you anything.

 - The list of THOSE(both the means to fulfill the need to be heard and advantages of blogging)  can continue limited to one's imagination only........

I, for my part too is writing this to get out of my boredom... or else what can explain this insomniac act of typing(QWERTYing) a silly blog at 4am in the morning in Africa!!!!

Having said that, it doesn't absolve the responsibility of the readers and my right to some decent return comments....