BY NOLAN PINTO
I have always looked up to them from a young age. Always been
fascinated with their life. Wanted to be one among them but fate took me
somewhere else. The armed forces till date triggers my imagination and
with the few websites giving up-to-date information on whats happening,
military enthusiasts like me have only that to feel a part of them.
Today, the armed forces are struggling to get the cream of the
youth to join them. With easy ways of making money without having to
struggle much and putting ones life at risk, why join the forces many
say. The government has tried a number of ways to make the forces
interesting for the youth but sadly has not been that successful. Of
late though, the number of vacancies in the officer cadre which was in
the thousands is slowly but surely being filled and thankfully. This is
in part to the increase in the pay scale of both officers and soldiers.
And also to the better ways of reaching out to the youth either through
advertisements in television channels and also in papers.
So, considering that not many want to join the forces because life
is tough and your always in danger of being killed, I believe we the
nation must always respect them. Respect their decision to serve the
country and give up their lives defending it always and anytime.
I had a conversation with a retired Wing Commander who served the
IAF for decades. It was simply a normal hello and how are you
conversation but it got me thinking when he narrated an incident that
took place decades ago in Southern France. This IAF officer along with
other officers were in France on some work and their French host was
showing them the place. They had to catch a high speed train and were
waiting in a queue.
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| Triumph at Kargil |
Not many people were present but their French host, a senior defence ministry official informed the
others that these are military personnel and need to get their tickets
soon. The few people in the queue immediately gave them way. Wing
Commander Rao who now lives in Bangalore informed the train ticket
issuer that they are not from the French military but the response he
got pleasantly surprised him and all the rest.
That lady told him that even if he is not from the French military,
he still served his country. What she did then and there was to in a
way respect this man who served the forces of his country thousands of
kilometers away.
When he told me this, I was stunned. In so many years, I have never
heard a retired or even serving armed forces personnel telling me of
any such or different incident in our own country.
Really folks, do we as a nation respect our armed forces personnel? His experience in a similar situation in India was different. While retuning
from a forward area (conflict zone) on leave he sent a requisition for
reserving a berth to the nearest rail
head. (These were the days before online reservations). On reaching the
station he was informed that there was no reservation. Repeated requests
to check if any telegram had been received and that he was travelling
home from a forward area on short
leave fell on deaf ears. He was curtly told that he was not doing
anybody a favour by being in the military and to leave the counter.
Yes, we all are equal in the civilian world and being an officer
does not mean that they can barge anywhere they want to and get what
they want to. But the response is what matters. We do not bother about
them simple. While some news channels do try to covers stories on the
forces, there are many more who look upon them as nothing but '0' TRP.
Unfortunately, had it been a politician or a film star,
people would have fallen over each other to make sure they were
comfortable. We forget that those are celebrities made by us, but the
forces let us lead the life of celebrities!
