Most of us, who doesn’t belong to an armed forces family or those who don’t know any soldier in their immediate vicinity, have speculative views and opinions about them. Most of these views are remotely based on mainstream movies and social media that projects and perceives them as someone that they are not. Some old movies had already shown them in a comic manner where you will see an uptight “Colonel” or “Brigadier” acting silly even in the civilian surroundings, and sometimes marching in a funny way as if they are at the drill square. However, recent times had done quite some good work in terms of movies and shown them as humane as possible. Still, the majority of the population that don’t know armed forces personnel has perceptive views about them that are far from reality.
A recent survey tells us that Indian Armed Forces are the most trustable organisations in the entire nation and no one doubts upon their integrity or their methods to tackle issues pertaining to the security of the nation. Certainly, there are umpteen numbers of things that we misunderstand about our soldiers and their life while having our own perceptions that are projections of either rumours or hearsays.
Let’s look at some differences between reality and your perceptions.
Common People With Extraordinary Training
They aren’t superhumans who can kill multiple terrorists in one go and rather ordinary humans with some best training at hands who know how to work in a team and extract maximum productivity. They have a set of strengths and weaknesses. They don’t hide their weakness or mask them but they work upon them to have control over them in a continuous manner. The thing which makes them different from ordinary civilians is their attitude of remaining calm even in the wildest of the situations and to work their way out even if they are on the edge of breaking down.
We have set our conditional expectations by their life in forces that we begin to think that these guys don’t think beyond what they are tasked with and don’t know much about the social threadbare which we are acquitted to in a detailed manner. They live in an extraordinary manner beyond our daily routine and die valiantly. The recent heroism of Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Colonel Santosh Babu, Major Anuj Sood, Paratrooper Chhatrapal Singh Shekhawat and many more told us the ways in which these people put their duty in front of them even in the face of imminent death. That’s the difference between us and them.
Soldiers Should Not Talk About Politics
They have opinions of their own but since they are under an oath to follow the rules of armed forces, they aren’t free in their service period to publically express them but they do discuss them for sure in their spare time and during mess dinners. But under no conditions, this thing binds them post-retirement as they have now full freedom to pursue any kind of profession or express any kind of views which align with their thought process or political inclination. All the soldiers cross the political spectrum and believe me; they don’t think or believe in the same things at all. They had their own reasons to join the forces, and they stayed for their reasons and opted out for their own reasons.
They suffer in silence for their friends, family and nation and when they want to do something out of the league, accusations come flying and tell them to stay back as they shouldn’t join a political party or express their views as its hurting our tiny egos as we aren’t able to digest that they can have their own will and freedom of speech too. Recent political tweets about Galwan Valley issue from a lot of veterans may give you an idea about how diverse their political spectrum is and how they can think about a common goal but with different ideologies.
The Indian army is completely apolitical and has kept itself meticulously aloof from the political tussle and it has helped it to concentrate on its primary role. But civilian leadership decides the course of action and one bad decision can take back the army to 10 years. Some “eminent intellectuals” have expressed their anguish when current CDS expressed his concerns about the security of the nation as any political decision in an area like J&K and North East parts impacts the functioning of the army and being the chief of the army he has every right to express his views regarding the same as it’s the men under his wings who will face the brunt of the bullets.
Devoid Of Human Obligations
It’s so laughable that many people think emotions don’t affect the soldiers as they affect us and they get special training to suppress their emotions. We also think that they should work like a machine and shouldn’t ask for their rights or express their political views even post their retirements like their civilian counterparts do even when in their service. This isn’t democracy as it’s a fashion to demean soldiers, who have protected you all their life, under the freedom of speech and as being done by many on a routine basis. We don’t try to extend the helping hand when their families are in trouble and don’t try to uphold their honour when they give the supreme sacrifice. These people are fuller of life and josh then we can ever be as they have seen the worst and that’s why it takes them no time to adjust and adapt anywhere.
The Faulty Prism Of Officers And Men Relations
Officer-men relations often comes into the limelight when some journalists twist the stories to suit their own propaganda and make us believe that high injustice is being done upon the NCOs by their superior officers. Officer-men relations form a strong point in our army where mutual care and respect forms the foundation of a lifelong career in the regiment and afterwards too. In Indian Army, when officers are freshly out of their respective academies then they are put through the same routine which their men follows and live in the barracks with their men for some time for better understanding.
ACC entry is made for the sole purpose that each Jawan has the capability to take command in his own hands and he can get a commission if he is willing to take that sort of bug responsibility. The officers live, eat, work and play with their men and this could be called as acceptance phase of the new officer where he has to earn the respect of his men. Nothing comes easy in armed forces as you will have to work towards it. You may get commission after rigorous training in the academy but even then you will have to showcase your best performance each time in your regiment in front of your men to earn their respect. Officer-men relations are the foundation upon which the fighting efficiency of any unit rests and in turn of the whole Indian Army.
The life outside cant is mundane
People have the wrong notions that soldiers and officers have their life sorted out as all of their needs are looked over by the army. Of course, their housing, medical and education responsibilities for their families are handled by the in cantonment facilities but even then they have to pay for all of these from their own pockets. There is much more to the life of a soldier than just these basic essentialities. Sometimes they are worried about the ongoing case about their ancestral land with other people of the village like the news you must have come across this week, sometimes its family feud and sometimes their family is in immediate need of money or sometimes they become a victim of police brutality.
These kinds of things increase their responsibilities to many folds as these are beyond their control in certain manners. How good it will be when ordinary citizens will stand up to protect families of the soldiers from troubles by anti-social elements and government officials who are shamelessly asking for bribes and troubling them? It’s all good to show the solidarity from the internet but how many of us went out of our way to help their families when they are away on the borders?
You can prepare for defence entrance exams for officers’ as well as soldiers’ entry such as NDA, AFCAT, INET, CDS and ACC by taking Written Online courses as they will not only give you access to full-length quality lectures but will also provide the facility to take standardized mock tests for better study and strategic growth in the exam. You can take multiple quizzes after each lesson to ensure the full understanding of the subject along with creating your customized lesson plans. You can check out the course content along with other important specifics at SSBCrack exams.
You can also access them through the SSBCrack Exams app available in the google play store.
Jai Hind
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