On the eve of this New Year, my 10 year old boy asked me what soldiers do during these times. For him and the millions who don't know, I thought I’d tell what men in uniform do. On the New Year, less than one in 15 soldiers will be at home with their families. To visualize that, think of a typical block in colonies which have about 150 families. Only 10 of those families will have the man of their house with them. The rest will have a bland New Year. All of the men in uniform, somewhere out there, will write to their families. Soldiers write a lot. Not enough, according to their families, but far more than any others do. They try to squeeze more sentences into inland letters. Forces wives get letters of several pages. Soldiers are probably the only people other than love-struck teenagers who write several pages of handwritten letters.
The wives will console their children and parents. They will be the ‘man’ of the house. They will call their husbands and tell him the names of all who are at home. Forces wives think a lot about their husbands and children. They have to do the thinking for both of them. They also care a lot about their husband’s career. Although without exception they claim they don't know much about the forces hierarchy - every one of them is fully aware of each rank, every promotion and its implications. Their lives depend on it. Their next posting, their children’s schooling, and how long they get to live as a family in the forces all depends on it.
The soldiers worry about their postings and families. They worry if they are good fathers and when they will see their children again. Sometimes they worry if they will see their children again. They worry who their commanding officers will be. Will they be kind or strict? Will they be lenient on stuff like leave or lighter duties or will they be strict and tough. Soldiers want tough commanders, but kind as well.
Commanders worry if they will be good leaders. Youngsters fresh out of the academy worry if they will command the respect of their men. Officers good in sports worry if they will be able to do well in academics and those good in the studies worry about their sporting prowess. Officers good in both, worry about their peers and competitors and officers good in neither – well, they don't worry too much.
Senior officers worry about setting good examples and working under severe constraints. Shortages of men, meaning shortage of leave. They worry about the increase of duties each year and the toll it takes on their men.
But on the New Year, officers and their men will celebrate wherever they are. Several hundred thousands of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsees, Jains etc. will celebrate together. Keralite officers will wish their Gurkha troops in fluent Gurkhali. Sikhs will sing in Tamil in the Madras regiment. Asamesse officers will swear in guttural Punjabi with their Sikh units. And Lakhs of soldiers will pray in Puja Ghars which houses the beliefs of all faiths.
Special Forces units, whichever god forsaken place they are in, will wish each other. Off duty submarine crews who are deep below the sea, may get a tot of rum tonight and the Indian airspace will crackle with radio transmission of fighter pilots who fly combat air patrols every second of the day.
Our troops at some borders will wish their counterparts. At even fewer borders the counterparts will wish back but in most, the mood will be sullen. In a few, the counterparts will actually increase hostilities during festivals but the Indian forces will never do this, because for them; every festival has equal sanctity. And of course, thousands of them would have their leaves cancelled because of the heightened security, as they would have during every festival or national celebration.
This will be the first New Year for many young officers. Many would be invited to some senior officer’s house for dinner. Most youngsters don't give a damn about getting invitations though. It is the privilege of all bachelor officers to be able to call on any married officer’s house for dinner at any time of the night. Married officers hate youngsters for this, but they forget about the time they were youngsters.
The youngsters will always be told by their seniors about how much of a ruckus they would create when they were young. They will also be told that things are much easier for youngsters these days. They lie.
With each passing decade, soldiers have had more hard postings than ever before. Each year, internal security requirements increase and troops are moved within the country incessantly, having to fight in different terrains all the time. Some of these troops will die before this year ends. A few will die before today ends. Their families will never forget this New Year’s eve or any New Year for that matter. But I hope their children will be told. What their fathers did…
This article was published on the New Years Eve and is a tribute to all men and women in uniform….
http://www.livemint.com/2010/12/29201428/The-things-that-soldiers-do.html
http://www.livemint.com/2010/12/29201428/The-things-that-soldiers-do.html
Capt Raghu Raman
