Of Kapoor and Kayani

We are a nation of patriots. We vote our Indian soldier as our person of the year. We get all expressive and teary eyed watching the fauji movies and their stories of bravery and valor. But that’s about it. Something that has been irking me for a while is that while Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is ranked among the “50 Most Powerful People of the World” selected by Newsweek, a leading American weekly magazine our Chief of the Army Staff Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor is nowhere. The list, carried in the magazine’s January issue, is led by President-elect Barack Obama while Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan also make the list but Gen Kapoor doesn’t figure at all. Gen Kayani is placed at 20 on the list.

I checked up the older versions of the list and was amazed that none of our high ranking Defence Officers have ever been on any such list worldwide. I don’t know what a difference it would have made but then are we a breed of miserable hypocrites? An unwelcome irony of this is that because of our jingoistic false ‘patriotism,’ and things have become far too dangerous and despised for all our soldiers. As a true fauji wife one of my first lesson was to complain less, to smile more and to cherish what I have today! For the past so many years I have been doing exactly this. But now I want more, a lot more for all my soldiers………

My Dad is a Soldier

My five year old daughter Aayet has taken her father’s departure after a month’s long leave very badly. It’s been four days and she refuses to eat her dinner. She says she’ll have it only when Abba comes back. I have been trying and trying really hard to keep things as normal for her and for my son as I can. But at times I feel nothing seems to work, especially when she is really missing her Abba.
Yesterday she was sitting with one of his socks and crying. I guess being an army officer’s daughter it is just one of the sacrifices she would be making while Dad is away on field postings. I very strongly feel that we army families are some what a silent species. Most of the people just don’t comprehend the circumstances we exist in. Here, is a beautiful poem I came across and would like to share with you all.


My Dad Is A Soldier

My dad is a soldier. I can not lie

When he went it made me cry

It made me feel angry, alone, and afraid.

I find myself wishing that he could have stayed.
Im not sure I understand just why he had to go.

But I do understand that he could not say no.
I am so proud of my dad, for he's loyal, brave and true.

People say he's protecting my freedom and your freedom too.
The comforts of home, he must terribly miss.

He must feel so alone, with no one to hug and to kiss.
I want to hear the voice of my dad and feel the warmth of his arms.

When he wraps them around me, I feel protected from harm.
My dad is a soldier, I can not lie.When he returns home, it will make me cry.
by Michele

In countries like US they have full fledged inspirational programs for the children of deployed parents. There are numerous books for children as well as the mothers on how to cope with seperation. They even have a concept of Daddy Dolls. These dolls are the brainchild of two moms who are married to deployed marines. They wanted to make the separation easier for their children while "keeping their fathers close to their heart." The idea has been very well received and now you can get your own Daddy doll. All you have to do is to give them a three megapixel photo of dad in his uniform and they turn it into a cuddly 12- or 18-inch cotton doll.

I hope we Indians as a nation also wake up to the sacrifices made by our soldiers and take some meaningful action to make lives of our soldiers a bit better. Amen.