total timepass...

My father was in the Army in the Sikh Li regiment. As most of you would know, the Indian Army is the offspring of the British Indian Army which is part of our colonial history. So the old British officers who were part of the army in India and are now in UK have formed as association which meets yearly for a reunion lunch. When I heard about the association last year, I joined it and this year finally got a chance to attend the lunch in 2016. To be honest, in the beginning I was not so sure about how I would feel about it - the British ruled our country for so long, we don't really look at that part of our history with a lot of positivity. And then attending a lunch which in a way celebrates that history would be awkward. But surprisingly, it wasn't. The lunch this year was held at the Bombay Brasserie in Gloucester Road. There were only 3 officers attending who had actually served in India (apparently there had been a lot more 10 years ago but I did not know about the as...

There is one aspect of the Indian political and social systems which affects me everytime I read about it. Its how we forget our soldiers all the time. They are just there in the background, we remember them when there is a war, like the Kargil war but then they are forgotten and ignored again till the next time they are needed. Being from the defence background, it pains me more but even otherwise I think as a country its always important to remember those people who were willing to put down their life for as selfless a cause as their motherland... Related to this topic, there are a lot of articles being written currently, remembering the forgotten soldiers of the First World War. The thousands of Indian soldiers who fought miles away in foreign lands for a country which was their ruler. They did not fight for our country, but they fought as our countrymen. And we should remember them for their bravery and selfless acts, shouldn't we? One of the articles on these soldiers ...

Read this article on the Samba spy case sometime back and was shocked! Did not know what to say or think.. Justice is delayed and denied often in our country, but for something as serious as spying? And of course, one person falsely implicating 50 other army officers and for 35 years!! It just does not sound right.. feels very sad... Of course, we don't know the genuineness of this claim and there may be more to the story than what meets the eye. Still, its quite a big shocker.... And if its true, is terrible.. Falsely implicating possibly innocent army officers of being spies; of them having served rigorous sentences; of the ignominy they and their families would have suffered for years; and of the damage to the image of the army... Can we ever set it right?

Our soldiers are nowadays busy fighting not just the external aggressors but also internal enemies; the Naxalites. Its a tougher fight for them, as the enemy is not clearly distinguishable from our co-patriots; and the use of power can get the human rights activists up in arms; 'how can we be so barbaric to use force against our own citizens??!!'. The laughability of the situation is ironic. It does not matter how many innocent policemen and their families die due to Naxalite action; it does not matter how much loss to public propert they cause. But it is barbaric to harm them or their supporters!! I find it tough to even try to argue against such statements , it just seems so stupid... Anyways what prompted this article, was this newspaper piece . Don't really think can say much about it, it just hits you so hard, makes you numb and unable to even think of how our defence personnel are doing what they do!!