The Soldier...

On the 12th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas...here is a very touching poem about a soldier and his thoughts...of how the country and the countrymen have forgotten his contribution to the country...(btw I haven't written this poem...) and it is a repost...

"
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at Seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made "men out of boys"
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my 'civilian' friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called "College Days"
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came,
I'd be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition, that when the time came to give me my due,
You'd just say," What is so great that you do?

"Long back you promised a well to do life;
And when I'm away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you'll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know...
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?

You still know I'll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that's just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at Twenty Four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made,
Seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you'll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?

I heard you tell the world "India is shining"
I told my men, that's a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it's the souls of your own men you betray.

Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you'll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…

Oh India …. Why do I still serve you?"
-Anonymous

Google Baba ki jai

I tried out Google Analytics, which analyzes the traffic to any web page. I had applied it to my blog and it has given out a list of keywords that people searched to land on my blog. Here are some of those keywords.

(The Analytics page)

A few of them were okay and I could make out which post had they must have landed on...

(The ones which had something to do with BITS...)
-www.monginis.net
-bitsian status+blog / gtalk status available busy status (The GTALK post)
-pilani
-dean nattu
-www.bits exam for higher degree.com
-the acknowleagement
-bits pilani
-blogs related to bits pilani dlpd exams / bits dlpd exams papers / typical pass marks for bits -"dlpd" (thanks to the Invigilation of the DLPD exam that I had gone for)

And some of them which were not about BITS

-holika dehen time in delhi 2009
(Holi 2008)

-a blind man would be happy to see it / blind man
(The post about the BLIND MAN)


-are padma awards worthwhile
(Padmashree awards)

-quote good mornings / good morning quotes / lion and gazelle quote
(Good Morning Quotes)

-"kissa kursi ka" /
(Campus Elections)

-bas bhi karo
(On the tough life of EEE'ites at Goa )

-siachan
-reasons for leh air crash / air force crash leh
-khardungla pass in leh / army post in khardungla
(On the detailed LEH trip)

dsp assignment / assignment for dsp / dsp + assignment
(On THE DSP ASSIGNMENT)

captain anuj nayyar family / touching poem for a soldier
(On posts related to the Indian Army and Kargil)

delhi earth hour
(Self explainatory, the Earth Hour 2009 post)

dwarka fly overs acidents
(The accidents on the Dwarka Flyover in Delhi)


(One of most searched post has to be this- the post on my journey and Indian Railway)
side upper berths netravati express
rac ticket should confirm or not / can we cancel rac ticket / can we sit with a rac ticket
non confirmed tatkal ticket cancellation
how much do i get back it i cancel a tatkal ticket on wl
how much percentage these rac tickets are confirmed?
cancellation of tatkal reserved tickets / cancellation of tatkal tickets
coach krzyzewski "being on the train"
garib rath cancellation refund


However some keywords that I can't say much about...

-shashank tandon / boxer blog "life as i see it" / naya blog
-shashank aasan (No comments...)
-"shashank somanchi"(This has to be Somanchi..iske paas PS mein kuchh kaam nahi tha thode dino pehle tak to...According to him he has read about "Everything from Non Aligned movement to Origami")
-rajesh bhasin+bits (Yeh bhi Bhasin ne khud hi dhoonda hoge baith ke Google par)
-what did foodking sharath study in iim-a (For once, even I'd like to know the answer..)
-st microelectronics campus exam / st microelectronics + recession
-prabal sharma stanford
-bits goa site:blogspot.com
-utha timeline
-neeraj gadgil
-ravemzdin andhra/ravemzdin+blog/ravemzdin
-hot andhra chics bits pilani (yeh to Shubham ko hi dhoondte hue aaye honge :P)
-google analytics bitsaa.org
-my life line assignment
-ek choti si kahani (Simply NO COMMENTS...)

The motto of IMA

" The safety honour and welfare of your country
come first always and every time.
The honour welfare and comfort of the men
you command come next.
Your own ease comfort and safety
come last always and every time "

I don't have any more words after this...

Battle we must when the enemy is in sight...

I received this mail today and I really felt that you should all read it at least once...

"
We all have heard and seen the news and it has saddened us all. It has outraged me as it is no longer a terrorist attack but war. Pakistan has brought the war into our homes and we are still talking about a Hindu-Muslim divide.

I believe we are standing on the brink of devastation with blind politicians and an illiterate populace which will see what is shown....we need to see the writing on the wall. Pakistan is at war with us. And we do not seem to realise the gravity of the situation.

We send out our police to deal with a highly trained and brainwashed enemy...the three top cops just walked into bullets because they thought they were dealing with ordinary terrorists. Our lathi wielding, overweight police is no match . A case of letting the fox among chickens! What can the chickens do other than flutter and die amidst a lot of clucking!

Only our Armed Forces stand between us and disaster. And they are a taken for granted, an ill equipped, demoralised lot. Perhaps they question their importance too. But I know that what saves me and mine is that 24 yr old boy from Haryana who is more afraid of being laughed at than he is of catching a bullet, the tall lad from Punjab who will do what his saab tells him, the diminiutive Gorkha who is bravery personified and their young idealistic officers who lead from the front. Why I say idealistic is that the Army offers nothing other than honour and duty...and the ones who respond to the call are the true patriots. There was a time we held patriots dear and acknowledged our debt to them...now idealism is another name for foolishness.

I remember the Kargil war and the unbelievable acts of bravery and raw courage it threw up....who can forget Capt. Batra's laughing bearded face and that immortal line "YEH DIL MANGE MORE!" And a 19 yr old Yogendra Singh Yadav with 3 bullets in him, climbing up a gruelling 60 feet to reach and neutralize an enemy bunker and engage in combat…our only living PVC, Capt Vijayant Thapar whose farewell letter should be read by us aloud to our kids...."I have no regrets..if I become a human again, I will again join the Army and fight for my nation....if you can, please come and see where the Army fought for your tomorrow....never forget the sacrifice of these men...Papa, you should feel proud....Live Life King Size!" He was all of 22. Capt Anuj Nayyar, whose heroism fuelled a movie and numerous TV serials…this roll call of honour goes on and on. And it still brings forth tears from me…tears of pride and sorrow and personal loss. And a feeling that we cannot take these sacrifices for granted anymore.

The least we can do is learn from them…our enemy has a face…it is not Muslim…it is Pakistan ! Pakistanis do not see you and me as Hindu, Christian, Sikh, doctor, engineer, poet…we are their faceless enemy and to destroy us is the only gameplan. Why can't we see what they have made so plain?

I will go and donate blood and I will be vigilant in public places. I vow to take note of abandoned stuff and report it…and I will sit up all night when I see my country under attack and hold my head in my hands when I see the dead, the dying and the injured…is it enough?

We should take a leaf out of Israel 's book…I am no politician nor am I interested in political correctness..what I see is that the world fried and baked and grilled the Jews…millions of them and NO ONE spoke up…no one saw anything! While smoke was billowing from the crematoriums and the stench of human flesh was all pervading, no one saw or heard or smelt anything…they were the unseen dead. So they decided that they had to take care of themselves and that history would never repeat itself for them again. How many of us will have to be dismembered, to die anonymously in battle without knowing that they were the enemy….how much more will we take…how much is enough…is a 100 dead and 200 injured less…tomorrow when the tally is 500 dead and 1000 injured, is it enough? When do we get up and say that one dead Indian is one too many! How many more of these endless, bloody harvests do we have to witness and endure?

There are mails which proudly declare that India has never invaded any country in her entire history…when will we circulate mails stating that we gouge out the eyes that look at India sideways and tear out limbs that rise against us! And when will our war-cry be "ENOUGH"…

When will we reach out for our golden future which lies just around the corner? I KNOW it does exist…I can FEEL it! I can feel the throb of a mighty Indian awakening. There is so much of hope in me, Iam a believer!

The question is when! When will my brethren see in each other an Indian! When will India become our motherland and not a 'developing' country one must flee from! When will our national anthem bring tears of pride in our eyes! When will a Raj Thackeray never dare verbalise his stinking politics for fear of a public lynching from his very own 'marathi manoos'! When will the politician become a patriot and a leader! When will we find ourselves!

I will end with some of my favourite martial quotes:-

THE PAIN IS TEMPORARY, THE PRIDE IS FOREVER.

WHAT DOES'NT KILL YOU, STRENGTHENS YOU. And its inofficial continuation…WHAT KILLS YOU, STRENGTHENS YOUR MOTHER!

PERSISTENT DEFENCE, EFFECTIVE INTIMIDATION.

BATTLE WE MUST WHEN ENEMY IN SIGHT.

SARVATRA IZZAT O IQBAL (Everywhere, Honour and Glory)

BALIDANAM VEER LAKSHANAM

SHASTRA SE SHAKTI.

MY ISRAELI FAVOURITE..IN THE PLACE WHERE THE (TANK) TREADS STOP, THERE THE BORDER WILL BE DECIDED!

THE HARD WE DO TODAY, THE IMPOSSIBLE WE DO TOMORROW.

A PERSONAL FAVOURITE…AN ARMY BUILDS A NATION.

ONE WOUNDS ME WITH IMPUNITY.

HE WHO KNOWS WHEN HE CAN FIGHT AND WHEN HE CANNOT, WILL BE VICTORIOUS.

"

PS: I haven't written this mail, but we can still discuss what it says..

Here we go again

.
It has happened again, after Bangalore, Jaipur , Delhi and Assam, terrorists have struck at Mumbai..and that too in grand style...CST, Taj Mahal hotel and Oberoi, both posh hotels, infact 5 star hotels, ...but I am not angry at the terrorists, I am anguished by the media hype.

And before you start thinking that this guy is nuts and is unconcerned about the people inside, well thats definitely not what I am talking about..
The media people, interviewing everybody and anybody in sight in Mumbai...bt when a soldier is killed in Kashmir, its not even news now..because its just a common man dying in some remote part of the country, where death is now not a new phenomenon...the media ppl know that the "live" feeds from Mumbai will get them more TRP than the entire Army ever would be able to...

And aaj bhi when Indian forces went inside the hotel, it was the ATS,NSG and the Army that went in...went in to save the rich people( who are too important to die), people they never knew, people who wouldn't even recognize them if they meet these soldiers again.... and jab pay commission aata hai...to Army waalo ki salary badhane se hamari country suffer karti hai...( the basic pay for an officer joining the Army is Rs 8,500 pm, while according to the recent Pay commission, the pay for a normal MLA is nearly a couple of lakhs per month....and they say that military drains our country's budget...)

Well, I just wrote this post as I have always felt that soldiers and the Army have never been given the respect or money that they deserve....and media and Human rights Commision are the first people to question their motives when by mistake an innocent man is killed during an encounter with terrorists. And again when a soldier is killed, the media people don't even blink an eyelid now...leave alone coming forward to protect the dead soldier's human rights...

All we need to do is to send these media people to the border, let them see death up close there, maybe then they will realize the soldiers life, away from his family, standing guard at the dead of night at temperatures dipping below zero degrees and trying to protect his country against all threats- Domestic or foreign- from floods to riots to terrorists, they have fought off everything, sometimes at the cost of thier lives.

You can go to sleep in your comfortable bed in your centrally air-conditioned home, but do say a silent prayer for the unknown soldier who stands guard at the border the whole night so that nothing harms us..


I think my gtalk status does convey what I wanted to write in this post "Mumbai mein 5 star hotel mein ghuse..tab media waalon ko dikha...Jammu mein Army Camp mein ghuste hai tab media waale kaha mar jate hai???"
.

The Soldier...

Here is a very touching poem about a soldier and his thoughts...of how the country and the countrymen have forgotten his contribution to the country...(btw I haven't written this poem...)

"
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at Seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made "men out of boys"
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my 'civilian' friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called "College Days"
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came,
I'd be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition, that when the time came to give me my due,
You'd just say," What is so great that you do?

"Long back you promised a well to do life;
And when I'm away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you'll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know...
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?

You still know I'll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that's just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at Twenty Four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made,
Seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you'll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?

I heard you tell the world "India is shining"
I told my men, that's a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it's the souls of your own men you betray.

Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you'll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…

Oh India …. Why do I still serve you?
"
-Anonymous