“How can a man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his Gods”
These are the lines from the poem “horatius”, describes how Publius Horatius and two companions, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, held the Sublician bridge against the Etruscan army of Lars Porsena, King of Clusium
The profession of arms is one of the most oldest and respected professions of the human civilization. In many countries the profession of arms is looked upon with high esteem and respect. Their government gives them their due monetary benefits. In those countries the men and women are eager to serve their country for the highest cause.
In the Indian subcontinent, it is a different story all together. Nearly half the country does not have any clue regarding the three different services and it is often mixed up with the police. Army means only canteen facilities and cheap liquor. Army means only being posted in border. It is the least popular career option though it shouldn’t be treated as a career in the first place. Even youngsters choose to pursue an engineering degree from colleges consisting of 3 floors of 4 rooms than to join NDA, NAVAC etc. The worst part is the government’s apathy towards the organisation in terms of monetary benefits and lifestyle comforts for their families
So one can understand that those who opt for this path whether for a secured pay check, for a social status, for experiencing a different way of life or serving for a cause above self (the last option for joining the services is becoming as rare as a snow leopard) have something inside them which sets them beyond and apart from the easy life living crowd. These things make these men and women stand apart from the rest. But should that entitle them a larger than life status in the society. Sadly Respect can only be earned and not demanded. We civilians respect you for your stand but you cannot demand that treatment from us forcefully Remember however we are, we are human beings first and then comes our profession and way of life.
In the initial days of civilisation, fighting for one’s clan and tribe was meant for those men who wanted to rise above the commoner. Drawing blood under the colours of owns clan were chosen by the very few. In feudal ages young men mostly from the affluent families and lineage took up to soldering as a means to satisfy their calling beyond the realm. It continued till the late 19th and early 20th century. In the erstwhile British India those Indian officers were from the cream of the society. Boys from the princely houses took pride in wearing the uniform. This trend continued till the 60s.
The world opened its doors for the intelligent and hardworking Indian. Those with dough and digs started opting for learning in beyond the seven seas and with the onset of globalisation this trend spiked. The majority of the men brought up in families with progressive and intellectual background, mostly from the metros and metropolises started moving o greener pastures abroad. The net result thej coat of arms became a sarkari naukri with a steady pay check and pension. The maximum of the officer’s cadre are coming from tier two and three cities. And those of them who are coming from those cities are coming for a steady paycheque; shift in the social status and for a high ranking ‘career’ in the services. By the way army is way of life not a career. When a way of life becomes a means of livelihood, the fear of the job comes and many others follow in hand in hand. However the Organisation has prevailed over the fall in the quality of officers. This is where the story of our girl starts.
Like many a young woman of her age she too wanted a knight in shining armour instead of prince charming as I had mentioned there is a supposed quality of service before self which sets them apart from the rest. So she started befriending them on social networking sites so that she can find her ideal match. The men sensed her naivety. I had mentioned before the majority of the officers are coming from third and second tier cities. The lookout of that society and families regarding women, progressive and outward thinking, freedom of choice is regressive.
They get the girls educated, just educated so that the world can’t question them why are their girls are not so. The girl and the boy grow up in an environment where they see the man earning the bread and the women cooking the curry. The girl is not encouraged to have a career as she sees after some time she will end up beside the gas stove. Some of the luckier ones are allowed to work only till marriage. And few of them are working after marriage just to support their husband financially that has nothing to d with having a dream.
Marriage, it has become a sham. I really hate Uddalaka Aruni, such a great sage who fell under the pressure of his misogynistic son Shevtaketu. From a fruit of desire and passion it has become a legal document and . And somehow majority of Indians parents especially from the fore said localities has made marriage as a yardstick of social success. Every girl whether she has turned the world upside down or flew to the moon has to get married. By the most of you must go through that story of shvetaketu, it will be an eye opener for the so called guardians of ‘sanskar’.
The Indian society especially of the second and third tier cities are strictly against pre-marital sex. The men in order to bite the forbidden fruit of coitus, force themselves into relationships and once they are done with a few they settle down with a woman chosen by his folks. I mean did he take his parents concern while he was screwing another woman in relationship. And worst of all majority of these men even including the knights in shining armour prefer a wife who has no past, many times even virgins. Insecurity and hypocrisy at its abyss. A girl with more than two to three relationships is looked down upon and labelled as a slut. Why can’t a woman have her choice, why can’t she do anything without getting type casted?
Coming to the story of our girl, many knights in vain efforts to boost their frail ego and frailer ego, sweet talked the girl into relationship and few of them bedded her. And after that slowly like those slimy creatures in the gutter slipped away. Those jelly spine knights didn’t stop at that, in order to boast themselves off in front of their compatriots they created a story where the girls image was abated. Moreover in a gesture to help knights with similar sliminess, they spread the word that she is loose in terms of society.
Initially our girl wasn’t aware of this twisted manifestations, so she kept her search on and felt happy as many knights started her requests through a popular social media. Again she was bedded by one or two. Then our girl started noticing a pattern about their behaviour and became cautious about these slime balls who didn’t have the balls to say that they just want to fuck or screw. So she didn’t refuse their friendship but maintained her distance. And soon she had scores of friend’s from the forces.
Then even through all this our girl started awareness in her city/state inspiring youth to join the armed services and defending the country’s honour. And in course of she came in touch with various retired veterans some of them having commanded various formations in the services. She organised many tours and field trips where she took people from various backgrounds to the areas where our soldier’s fought.
Everything was going great.
Again a newly christened knight in order to get coitus maximus went into relationship. Hoping for a real committed relationship our girl agreed. The new knight played along well hoping to get a screw,( why Indian men are so desperate?) played along. Our girl kept her word that coitus will happen post nuptial ties. The new knight being very meagre on patience, tried various attempts to force his wish but he failed. The girl knew this relationship was past its expiry date, so she requested a meeting with his parents to assess his genuineness. The frustrated knight having no intention to man up in front of his parents went in a fix. Then another knight who was a mentor to the young one in the same unit came into the picture. The older knight had earlier tried to slime ball to our girl but he failed. Incensed by the thought that the woman who had turned him down in the first place was now trying to be the better half of his protégée. Hail almighty the frail ego of male, so frail that it deflates once it goes in a woman.
The elder knight poisoned the younger one saying that she has been with too many. What will his peers, subordinates and seniors will think if they see her as his better half? The young slime ball was equally gullible as he swallowed the myth. Then these two hatched a rumour accusing her as an espionage and undercover operative from the nation’s western adversary.
The rumour spread like feigned fire, unstoppable and damaging the girls entire image, reputation and credibility. Almost everyone accused her, fanned the fire in every unit, every association of knights. But take note, I said almost everyone that means there were few, there were exceptions who are true to their salt of being a knight. These handful of them fought the fire along with her and doused it. True gentlemen are as common as dodos.
The girl has now lost her dreams of being betrothed to a knight and moreover that respect has diminished very much. By the way she has taken the entire responsibility of being naïve to the functioning of a male dominated society and the profession. Why the Indian man(includes even the majority of knights) has lost the spunks and the charm to woo a woman and tell her that it’s just for the fuck. Why he has to lie and fgorce himself into a relationship for a fuck? And why he can’t take a simple “No” for an answer? The house is now open for opinion
© Mitsu Chavda
