We salute you, O Indian Soldier!
April’2002
The incident that triggered of these lines was as simple as a well-wisher
asking me that if there is no war on why do you worry for your husband. That simple man, who was trying to perhaps give me solace, at the same time, made me wonder, if the general public is now taking the army for granted.
My thoughts go to the numerous officers and
soldiers who have laid down their lives for, as it now seems, a short lived glory. Do people think twice before they sit down for a meal together as a family that somewhere in the remote villages is a
little girl, who will never see her father again? Do they pause and think of the boy, who adorns a medal at the school Sports Day, whose eyes will forever scan the spectators for the only face he wants to see and never see him there?
Is the unforgiving act already forgotten, when the little boys and girls in a cantonment near Jammu, getting ready for another day were so brutally slaughtered. The irony of it all was, their father was away guarding the frontier, unaware that the enemy had already entered their camp.
Maybe, I feel more for our officers and soldiers because I was born and then married into the army. I feel for the soldiers who have to sit in the bunkers in the scorching heat for so long and face the freezing winter without much ado. I feel for the soldiers who don't see their families for months on ends. They, who miss their son's first step, they who yearn to listen to their little angel, babble her first word. They, who have left young brides home, they who have left and gone to guard their motherland's frontier without as much as a backward glance.
I remember the last two times, in the recent past; our country almost went for a war. I sat glued to the television set following the political developments and praying to God off all religions for my husband at Siachen Glacier, facing the blistering cold winds and the adverse freezing conditions. Do these so called decision makers of the nation ever think of the trauma the common people go through by their rash actions? Somewhere among their own people is a young bride, who will never be given away by her father. Somewhere is an old man, whose dreams died when the stray bullet pierced his darling son's chest. Pause and feel the agony of that father, stooping initially with age and now with the death sentence he has to live with.
We will only be able to feel for all these people if we open the window to our soul and look deep inside. And then ask ourselves, Do we really want to be pushed up against the wall and come face-to-face with any of these situations? I really wonder sometimes, how these leaders and political decision makers place land occupation before human lives. Have we become so emotionless that the sufferings of our own brethren seem out of focus? I cannot for a moment believe that we are devoid of feelings. We are all humans with warm blood pumping in our heart and veins. That same blood which unites us as human beings. How can that blood run cold? Feel that blood when you pick up a martyr's daughter and give her a reassuring hug. Reach out and hold the hand of a fatherless son and let him know that you care. Let the families of the brave sons of India know that you will be there for them.
Everybody in this world has his or her share of troubles. The people in their daily routine may or may not remember the hardships the armed forces are going through. Credit is not what these men crave for. They have voluntarily and knowingly plunged into this life. Praise is not what they need. What they thirst for is feeling and knowing that the people they are ready to die for, are behind them. Let's not take their dedication for granted. If they are ready to give up their life for you, lift up your hand and touch it to your forehead in a little salute the next time you come across a soldier and see the smile light up the day. I staunchly believe te still have human feelp within us. Let those feelings show and flaunt that you are a human being.