After Mumbai 26/11
I am familiar with what it is like to lose good friends with no forwarning, even though a politician had once quipped " these guys(Fauji's) are paid to give their lives"...... I don't know how to convey this but the vast majority of our countrymen/women are oblivious/unaware of these ghastly incidents...which is what worries me.... Our people are extremely self contained ( for want of a better word)... we live in our own pocket Burroughs....I will give you an example: Do you know how frequently these incidents happen in the north east of India or J & K ? J & K still gets coverage but the North East? very frequently......
An army guy* spends a full night in a culvert with his troops under heavy suppressive gunfire just a few inches above their heads.... does any one care, forget about caring that would happen if some one knows. Do people even know?
In the US a big deal is made about combat related trauma.... While we are right from the age of TWO reminded 'you are a boy, be strong'..... these* guys wake up in the middle of the night sweating reliving their fears day every day......The second thing which worries me is the speed with which we will forget this incident..... only to pay homage every year but forgetting the meat of the matter....this is how we are. I feel regret and anger not necessarily in the same order, at the way we go about our day to day life...at how cheap life is in our country....at how insensitive we are towards others (everything happening if not to themselves is entertaining)... A person hurt on the road will be ignored(whatever be the reason, it is criminal).... we enjoy breaking rules just for the heck of it. We get a kick out of it.
No one has problems with a guy who is speeding to get his pregnant wife to the hospital. It is the idiots who do it to get a thrill who are the real problem....every small rule we break we are hurting our natural spirit of togetherness.....I wish we could use this terrible incident to regroup and increase our resolve...but the cynical side of me cant see it happening..... Does any one care or even spend a moment to think about the brave faujis who fought in the Kargil conflict ? A conflict which has now been relegated to be a mere footnote in our annals of history.....Does any one know where they are and how they are now ? Specially the ones who carry physical scars of the conflict even now (I wont even dare to mention the mention scars)....no one knows and honestly no one cares.I have I guess more anger as I have become more cynical with age , our attitude towards everything except our own self is appalling
I am familiar with what it is like to lose good friends with no forwarning, even though a politician had once quipped " these guys(Fauji's) are paid to give their lives"...... I don't know how to convey this but the vast majority of our countrymen/women are oblivious/unaware of these ghastly incidents...which is what worries me.... Our people are extremely self contained ( for want of a better word)... we live in our own pocket Burroughs....I will give you an example: Do you know how frequently these incidents happen in the north east of India or J & K ? J & K still gets coverage but the North East? very frequently......
An army guy* spends a full night in a culvert with his troops under heavy suppressive gunfire just a few inches above their heads.... does any one care, forget about caring that would happen if some one knows. Do people even know?
In the US a big deal is made about combat related trauma.... While we are right from the age of TWO reminded 'you are a boy, be strong'..... these* guys wake up in the middle of the night sweating reliving their fears day every day......The second thing which worries me is the speed with which we will forget this incident..... only to pay homage every year but forgetting the meat of the matter....this is how we are. I feel regret and anger not necessarily in the same order, at the way we go about our day to day life...at how cheap life is in our country....at how insensitive we are towards others (everything happening if not to themselves is entertaining)... A person hurt on the road will be ignored(whatever be the reason, it is criminal).... we enjoy breaking rules just for the heck of it. We get a kick out of it.
No one has problems with a guy who is speeding to get his pregnant wife to the hospital. It is the idiots who do it to get a thrill who are the real problem....every small rule we break we are hurting our natural spirit of togetherness.....I wish we could use this terrible incident to regroup and increase our resolve...but the cynical side of me cant see it happening..... Does any one care or even spend a moment to think about the brave faujis who fought in the Kargil conflict ? A conflict which has now been relegated to be a mere footnote in our annals of history.....Does any one know where they are and how they are now ? Specially the ones who carry physical scars of the conflict even now (I wont even dare to mention the mention scars)....no one knows and honestly no one cares.I have I guess more anger as I have become more cynical with age , our attitude towards everything except our own self is appalling
3 comments:
Am glad you are posting it online. These are sentiments that most of us share, but don't know what to do with. Maybe a collective awareness needs to come about before anything can change.
Long time since you wrote a post. Waiting for the next one. Guess who else is blogging now? vardhan http://vinnivardhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/day-2.html
Beautifully put.These soldiers ,are our unsung heroes who don't even think twice before laying down their lives,dreams and hopes in harm's way if the need arise.Knowing very well that they will remain the true unsung heroes they truly are.
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