When I went to home this summer, I got an opportunity to meet Amrit Bhaiya, the eldest son of my Mom’s friend. He is on the post of Lieutenant and is currently posted in Lucknow. I have always been fascinated by Army people. They are such a great source of inspiration.
I had small chat with him and he showed me his Convocation pics, he was the Academy topper, then few videos of NDA Ball. Few of the videos in which he was being ragged by his seniors.
It was great to meet him
After that, when I was returning back to Guwahati this summer, I met few more Army officers in my railway compartment. They were not sitting beside me. We met only for a while during the whole journey but that small conversation was both an eye opener as well as good learning experience.
Here are few of the questions that I asked.
Q: Does someone skips Morning PT?
A: There is no reason why one should miss morning PT classes. When one can’t wake up and voluntarily go for Morning PT, how can he be expected to defend people in war situation?
Q: I've heard that army doesn't provide much benefit to family of the officers.
A: Parents, Wife and Children. These are the only family we know. These people are treated with utmost respect. Now if you’re talking about extended relatives, then, in that case, it’s like we do not know them.
Q: Can you help out some normal people. Are you allowed to do so?
A: Insaaniyat k naate toh aap help kr hi skte ho. (You can always help on humanitarian ground). We work on national front not on internal matters. We are not trained to fight Naxals or Ulfa. These are our people. We are here to protect our people. Our role and the role of Police are quite different.
Q: Do you keep weapons?
A: We carry weapons only when we are on Operation. We just don’t casually carry weapons or roam around flashing it. Plus, losing your weapon is a thing of utmost shame. When you can’t take care of your weapons, your only trusted friend in battle, how can people entrust their lives on you. We need to submit it before we come for holidays.
Q: When are your holidays?
Officers get 60 -70 days holidays in a year where as others get 90 days holidays.
Q: What if you take extra holidays other than the predefined ones?
A: We are paid on a daily basis and we have to pay back the money for extra holidays when we resign or retire. The amount that we are ought to return is according to the amount of the day of the retirement. So, in case a higher pay commission has been implemented in between your job, the money you've to return is higher than what you had been given. Something similar happens during the training period also, when a cadet drops out from the academy, he has to pay back the money for the days he stayed there which is roughly about 1500-1600 INR /day (during the training).
Q: Students like us welcome the College life wholeheartedly. We have plans ki College mein jakar ye krenge, wo krnege. Your life seems to be very different. How it is like to get transformed into a Man from a Boy at the Academy?
A: Our way of life is different. The sooner you accept it, the better it would be. Since, you’re talking about this whole transformation thing, see, you’re transformed from Boy to a Man once in your life. No matter how you get transformed, you’re not going to get another chance. What I’m trying to say is that you can’t compare things. People outside the academy have different lives and we have different lives. We don’t whine about the benefits and joys that people outside the walls are enjoying. We are happy in ourselves. This is our bread and butter. Aur aisa nahi hai ki we don’t enjoy our life. We have different notion of enjoyment. But yes, when it comes to training, we are very serious, unlike normal college students who don’t pay attention to their courses. It is because, when we make mistakes, lives of others are at stake. This is why we are very serious towards our work.
You don’t need to dishearten yourself thinking that you’re not doing anything and it is only the people in the army who are serving the nation.
No!
May be you as an Engineer or a Research Scholar can serve our nation in a much better way, may be in a way that I can never be. We are able to merge our identity with our nation easily because of the nature of our profession. You too can do the same and make the Nation proud.
Jai Hind !!
I had small chat with him and he showed me his Convocation pics, he was the Academy topper, then few videos of NDA Ball. Few of the videos in which he was being ragged by his seniors.
It was great to meet him
After that, when I was returning back to Guwahati this summer, I met few more Army officers in my railway compartment. They were not sitting beside me. We met only for a while during the whole journey but that small conversation was both an eye opener as well as good learning experience.
Here are few of the questions that I asked.
Q: Does someone skips Morning PT?
A: There is no reason why one should miss morning PT classes. When one can’t wake up and voluntarily go for Morning PT, how can he be expected to defend people in war situation?
Q: I've heard that army doesn't provide much benefit to family of the officers.
A: Parents, Wife and Children. These are the only family we know. These people are treated with utmost respect. Now if you’re talking about extended relatives, then, in that case, it’s like we do not know them.
Q: Can you help out some normal people. Are you allowed to do so?
A: Insaaniyat k naate toh aap help kr hi skte ho. (You can always help on humanitarian ground). We work on national front not on internal matters. We are not trained to fight Naxals or Ulfa. These are our people. We are here to protect our people. Our role and the role of Police are quite different.
Q: Do you keep weapons?
A: We carry weapons only when we are on Operation. We just don’t casually carry weapons or roam around flashing it. Plus, losing your weapon is a thing of utmost shame. When you can’t take care of your weapons, your only trusted friend in battle, how can people entrust their lives on you. We need to submit it before we come for holidays.
Q: When are your holidays?
Officers get 60 -70 days holidays in a year where as others get 90 days holidays.
Q: What if you take extra holidays other than the predefined ones?
A: We are paid on a daily basis and we have to pay back the money for extra holidays when we resign or retire. The amount that we are ought to return is according to the amount of the day of the retirement. So, in case a higher pay commission has been implemented in between your job, the money you've to return is higher than what you had been given. Something similar happens during the training period also, when a cadet drops out from the academy, he has to pay back the money for the days he stayed there which is roughly about 1500-1600 INR /day (during the training).
Q: Students like us welcome the College life wholeheartedly. We have plans ki College mein jakar ye krenge, wo krnege. Your life seems to be very different. How it is like to get transformed into a Man from a Boy at the Academy?
A: Our way of life is different. The sooner you accept it, the better it would be. Since, you’re talking about this whole transformation thing, see, you’re transformed from Boy to a Man once in your life. No matter how you get transformed, you’re not going to get another chance. What I’m trying to say is that you can’t compare things. People outside the academy have different lives and we have different lives. We don’t whine about the benefits and joys that people outside the walls are enjoying. We are happy in ourselves. This is our bread and butter. Aur aisa nahi hai ki we don’t enjoy our life. We have different notion of enjoyment. But yes, when it comes to training, we are very serious, unlike normal college students who don’t pay attention to their courses. It is because, when we make mistakes, lives of others are at stake. This is why we are very serious towards our work.
You don’t need to dishearten yourself thinking that you’re not doing anything and it is only the people in the army who are serving the nation.
No!
May be you as an Engineer or a Research Scholar can serve our nation in a much better way, may be in a way that I can never be. We are able to merge our identity with our nation easily because of the nature of our profession. You too can do the same and make the Nation proud.
Jai Hind !!
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