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Army life teaches one to value the times of togetherness, live life to the hilt and party hard when the going is good.
Life as an Army kid is pretty much that of a vagabond, never stationary, always on the move. We learn to take impermanence in our stride, and very early in life, we realize what going with the flow implies. Ungrudgingly, every two to three years, we uproot ourselves from our school and friend circle. Much later in time, we understand that what many youngsters may require counselling to cope with, we take it as a norm. A new school and environment, not just missing old friends, but also making new ones, is part of an Army kids genetic make-up.
Then there are those difficult times when the family is separated, and the father is posted to border areas. During these tough times, the family learns to fend for themselves. In those bygone times when there was no instant messaging, we looked forward to letters where much of it was blackened out by the Army censors. Our life was indeed unique; where other children would go to school in buses we would be enjoying a rather bumpy ride in a 3-Ton Army truck. There was nothing to complain, because the alternatives provided to us were more than adequately compensated, by the novelty of experience they provided. One summer vacation in Nagaland (India) is etched in my mind. The beauty was unbelievable and a visit to the Kohima war cemetery left an indelible impression on me. At the entrance of the cemetery is a board which reads, “When you go home tell them of us and say for their tomorrow, we gave our today.” The hard-hitting words brought the stark reality of a soldier’s life to mind.
I recall visiting my father in one such godforsaken place. He was living in a bunker and because his family was visiting he had asked his men to construct an adjoining bunker for us. The experience of living in a bunker lingers on in my memory to this day, as does the pitch darkness all around us in the evenings when our food used to be brought to our bunker by helpers carrying food laden trays with oil lanterns to guide them.
In today’s changing world the Army is not only expected to guard our borders but also sent out as peacekeeping forces wherever required in the world, rescue people from the havoc caused by natural calamities and fight against terrorists and terrorism, the new menace of our times. Army life teaches one to value the times of togetherness, live life to the hilt and party hard when the going is good. However when the calls of duty beckon to stand tall and strong and face what needs to be faced, fairly and squarely.
Image via Pixabay
A Writer, Poet and a former Teacher who is an avid painter, practices Reiki , is a Tarot card reader and an Angel therapist . She has published a book of poems titled..... "My He-man" which read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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