Although a rarity in these days of
sensationalism, there do surface occasional stories extolling the virtues of
the Indian Armed Forces. These stories are usually timed to coincide with some
calamity wherein the armed forces have to intervene and rescue some of their
countrymen from a situation that should probably have been solved by government
servants not in uniform. Makes sense, totally in tune with human nature. After
all, no one finishes a meal of 'Maa' ki daal with a vote of thanks to the
divine powers-that-be. But 5 minutes in a Haryana Roadways bus on a foggy,
January morning, and every single deity is thanked. To put it simply, दुःख
में सिमरन सब करें, सुख में करे न कोई।
Now, I am in no way comparing God to
faujis (despite fighter pilots being prone to such thoughts). No way, you could
never summon God to Uttrakhand or Srinagar or any borewell with just a phone
call. I was just trying to amplify our 'Out of sight, out of mind' kind of
mentality. I have experienced it firsthand often enough, on those long distance
high altitude solo flights, when I couldn't see any of you land lubbers (or
water lubbers). Incidentally, quite a few of these flights have been in planes
that some of our journalists have dubbed as flying coffins. Obviously, they
have learnt something I didn't after 20 years among these magnificent flying
machines.
But coming back to these wonderful,
rare articles, they often ascribe almost saintly qualities to every member of
the armed forces. Now, this makes me very uncomfortable. Call me a cynic, but
my experience is that people put you on a pedestal only to see you fall. Or you
call someone too good when you want to avoid him/her. 'You are too good for me'
is how many a pretty lass turned down my overtures a couple of decades back. 'Sir,
you won't like it here' is how many a corporate honchos are turning down my job
applications today as I try to re-attire into civvy street.
One task the armed forces are most
often credited with is Upholding Democracy. The phrase conjures in my mind a
picture of tanks and fighter jets (ok, and marine commandoes is all the naval
component I can fit in here) surrounding the Parliament, mowing down hordes of
Dictatorial Zombies that want to tear down this symbol of democracy. Come on
guys, we uphold democracy just as much as Atlas holds up this earth - in your minds. We
just follow orders. Upholding democracy or any other form of governance would
imply political interference. That would make us like all other armed forces in
our neighborhood where the chief fauji occupies the presidential suite to
Uphold the political system.
And, more importantly, where is this
threat to democracy from? None of our neighours wants to rule us. They may want
our land, our markets, our movies even, but none of them want to replace our
Government. Had they really wanted to do that, 13 Dec 2001 would have been a
much more important date than it is now. These guys spent more time, effort and
money on attacking a hotel full of tourists than this 'Pillar' of democracy.
The armed forces have a charter of
duties, and they perform them, perform them well (mostly). It is fashionable to
say they serve the nation, but anybody who is performing his duties -
professional or civic - is serving the nation. It is fashionable to call them
adventorous. Believe me, very few of these people go on adventure trips in
their vacations. The few vacations that they do get are spent with their
families, catching up on sleep or other household chores.
It is also fashionable to comment on
the declining moral fiber of the average fauji. Well, believe it or not, we do
not grow our faujis in a special petri dish. They come from the same society as
you do. Whatever ails our society as a whole, will affect the man in uniform
too. Its just that life in the barracks is designed to minimize these effects.
After all, if the armed forces were like any other civil functionary, who would
pull young Prince out of the borewell? And if every civil functionary was like
a fauji, where would Prince get the open borewell to tumble into? (BTW, Shilpa Shetty kissing the kid got more press coverage than any of the faujis involved in pulling him out.)
Today, as public fascination for heroes
subsides, we have aware leaders and members of the press corps enlightening us on
the truth about the armed forces. One declares all those who join the armed
forces do so to die. Another opposes the move for a war memorial since our
armed forces are manned by volunteers. Most mothers bear their children
voluntarily, but when they remind their sons of this sacrifice, he dare not
turn around and say that she asked for it. Volunteering for a cause should not
be a disqualification for credit. If volunteering for a cause is selfish, what
is noble - court sentenced hard labour? Do they think compulsory military
service is a better way to guard their borders?
If you still feel the
faujis are doing a great job (and I hope you do), please treat them as anybody
else. Don't begrudge them their evening tipple in a country where a bottle is
the price of jumping a red light. Don't begrudge them a war memorial after
spending crores on statues of elephants and their winsome mistress. Don't
dehumanise them by clubbing them all in a class of their own.
And please, please, don't
put them on a pedestal so high that you can no longer see them, and hence
forget them. For a faujis favorite refrain to his countrymen is,
'I'll lead if you want to
be led,
I'll follow if you want to
be followed.
But what I want is to walk
beside you
And be your friend'
P.S. Dedicated to Mr Gautam
Bhatia, column writer par excellence with ToI, Mr Bhim Singh, enlightened
visionary, and all the brave survivors of the 13 Dec attack.
