An officer and a gentleman

Opinions are strictly personal.

I was born, raised and transferred, son to a dedicated infantry soldier, who had bashed on regardless for three decades, shed blood, lost dear ones, learned the “lessons of life” the harder way. A soldier who knew his trade to the T. Grandchild to a veteran of three wars, the old man who at 85 still oils his old war time gun, kept away impeccably neat, in a quite quaint corner of his house. Nephew to a dedicated, soft spoke, and always jovial Colonel Saab who I know now and remember always as the unchanged chachu for the entirety of my life.

I am not a hero, I wasn’t born to difficulties, but sometimes, when my mind wanders to the silent waters, I can still somehow feel the smell of the metal, of my crashed aircraft and the lingering hospital cleaning solution all around me.

Among the rest, I agree to having been born privileged, to a family of soldiers, son to an officer in the Indian Army, bereft of the worldly facts and struggles, provided with whatever the best my parents could, and I am nothing today, but grateful to life. This though does not mean, I was born with a silver spoon, but the life or I say experiences the army gave us as a family , made us what we are. Mentally robust, flexible to life, and whatever it may throw at us. We have been through the regular troubles of any middle class Indian family, but more. A young mother with two young boys, staying all by herself, while the husband, a young man himself, keeping vigil for months in frozen battered places like Siachen, combatting rainy jungles of north east for half a decade,

The only shiny thing I lay my eyes upon as a kid was the stars on my dad’s shoulders , the regimental buckle in the centre of his shiny belt. The most familiar smell to me was brasso and multiple sets of freshly washed uniforms. There was absolute glee in my eyes when I saw him leave for office, and sadness when he wouldn’t come home for months.

Fast forward a few years, and I never wanted to be anything else than follow my family tradition of selfless service to the county, the flag and the regiment. Life took its own course , and I am serving the country, the flag , albeit in a different coloured uniform, with a different weapon and style. I did hear from others like me, who followed in their fathers steps, that the glory and shine , will fade a little when you see in from the other side. But between boyish behaviour and carelessness, who chooses reality over their dreams. I chose the same.

Here I am a decade later, ironing my whites and greens, flying over the blue waters, into bluer skies, but reflecting upon my decisions sometimes, reflecting upon what I wanted, and what I got.

With time and technology, phone calls are faster , communication is easier, distances are smaller, and life everywhere in each aspect is different. I had read somewhere, “ strong men create comfortable situations, comfortable situations create weak men, weak men create difficult situations..” and the cycle goes on. Are we becoming the weaker part of this algorithm. Will our further generations struggle like our forefathers did. Yes. Has this seeped into our daily lives, YES. Has this seeped into our military lives, YES!

Gone are the days of Manekshaw and Patton. Putting it politely, paper tigers rule the world, the real ones made of scars and blood, are hidden behind the backdrops after they are done being utilized. It’s not that they don’t know it, it’s just that they are the silent workers, and do 5 and tell you 1. They are the go to guys, who will get the job done. They will never show how much they really are doing. Then there are the guys who rise and rule. They have done 1, said they did 5, claimed to have done 10 by the next week. They know where to show up , right after the grunt work is over. They know which drapes do well with which wallpaper, while that man with the tan, the scars, is working hard in the background, receiving recognition, maybe once, or maybe never, But he surely will make no attempt to claim his fame.

Am I cribbing, maybe. Am I trying to bring out the growing fallacies, which may already be, or are soon going to be truer than ever, DEFINITELY YES. I have seen men of sound mind capable of doing unimaginable things. Also seen undermined underdoggs achieve beyond expectations. But what are we seeing now?! Men of sound minds doing the bare minimum and mediocrity ruling the day, for no good reason. Perfection is strived for, but what was mundane or miscellaneous as a measure of performance is now the prime criterion for judgement. Every day a two-days-out-of-college boy is releasing a work-life balance organiser on Amazon or the App Store. But the “white haired” professionals are ignoring their own and their subordinates personal or professional aspirations and commitments to step on their backs and climb a ladder to “superficial” success. The result, the growing fatigue and dejection in the younger professionals, who have maybe truly or in a media influenced frenzy, developed aspirations, to attain a work-life balance.

Let’s peek upon the dilution of the same in the uniformed professionals. 20 year olds wear the uniform to commit themselves to selfless service, with energy and commitment, nothing short of that of an Olympic athlete warming up for that 100 meter sprint, BUT, as life and time progresses, he sees his uniform and energy fade, with falsely “glorified” duties, mostly nothing close to the level of tasks that he his mentally and physically capable of executing. The mundane mounts into the regular and if the boy turning into a man isn’t careful enough, he is a part of the system. Reading what the system wants, behaving the way is acceptable, losing the original him, the part of him that is that go-getter, the system wanted at time he was teenager, appearing for this selection boards, with the Stars and Stripes in his eyes. Those few mavericks, try to find solace in becoming paratroopers, aviators, mountain climbers, marathon runners, trying to not settle. There is no dearth of the spirit in all these 20 year olds, but the system makes an all out effort to take it all out of them. Make them a conforming part. Those who will not question, just be there, and do what is asked. I did not say the mavericks won’t work, heck NO! they do whatever is wanted of them, but their self does not allow them to be mediocre. They will make better presentations, if that’s the only way they can get their energy out. Presentations that will blow your offing minds out. The world, and this system sadly hates these mavericks.

Hard to say where we are headed, but doesn’t seem to be a beautiful path ahead. The bosses up top are ready to make you as subservient as possible. Gone are the days Sam would walk upto the PM and fight for the army, the day Joshi would for the Navy. Seen examples close enough about a decade back, and yes there are some examples today too, but you really need to keep your eyes and ears open. You will see them, the zeal and fight still in them, keeping their cool, twirling the ice in their scotch, standing in the corner, observing the rest of the world suck it up.

Here’s to the boys, who grew into men, but didn’t give up to the system. Stood out, NO MATTER WHAT! Cheers