There’s much expectancy in the air with the new Army chief firmly on the saddle, corruption and malpractices would be put down very severely and that he would save his service from the morass of its disintegrating value system. It is fairly common knowledge that he was instrumental in bringing the ‘Sukhna land scam’ accused to book, during his previous tenure as Eastern Army Commander. The initial press profiling of the General, highlights the fact that he’s a teetotaler, absolutely clean in his financial dealings, a soldier’s General and has emphasized the fact that his thrust would be on honour and accountability within the Army.
Over the years, being an ex-NDA and a navy man, I’ve observed the army guys- nay, the pongoes- very objectively and have come to the startling conclusion that they were generally simpler in outlook towards life, compared to us. I’d attribute this fundamental difference in attitude mainly due to their extremely difficult assignments like the Siachen or on the LOC with our hostile neighbours or on internal security duties against terror. Compared to them, our commands and bases are generally in cosmopolitan cities and probably because of us being indate with the latest happenings and trends, make us snootier than our counterparts in the other two services. Anyways, because of the reasons cited above, one tended to overlook the idiosyncrasies of the pongoes. But the armed forces have a rich tradition of selfless work, a high sense of honour and a gentlemanly halo in everything they do and this ethos cannot be either diluted or wished away, however trying the times could be. And hence, I for one, would be a curious onlooker of the new chief’s policies and their implementation.
However, the skeptic that I am, I’ve two misgivings, which are:-
(a) In the services, one lived by the dictum of ‘work hard and play hard’. Towards
this end, one lets one’s hair down in the evenings in the mess nursing a drink or two
and the unwritten law is that anyone who doesn’t drink cannot be believed in toto.
(b) In this world of ours, merit does not get rewarded always and ascending the steep
ladder towards the higher ranks, needs qualities much beyond merit and hard work –
and to quote an earlier General, one must ‘boot lick one’s seniors, cut the throats of one’s peers and boot the juniors’.
I would like to believe that General VK Singh is an exception and has come up truly on merit and that his life will be emulated by the succeeding generations with pride!
Over the years, being an ex-NDA and a navy man, I’ve observed the army guys- nay, the pongoes- very objectively and have come to the startling conclusion that they were generally simpler in outlook towards life, compared to us. I’d attribute this fundamental difference in attitude mainly due to their extremely difficult assignments like the Siachen or on the LOC with our hostile neighbours or on internal security duties against terror. Compared to them, our commands and bases are generally in cosmopolitan cities and probably because of us being indate with the latest happenings and trends, make us snootier than our counterparts in the other two services. Anyways, because of the reasons cited above, one tended to overlook the idiosyncrasies of the pongoes. But the armed forces have a rich tradition of selfless work, a high sense of honour and a gentlemanly halo in everything they do and this ethos cannot be either diluted or wished away, however trying the times could be. And hence, I for one, would be a curious onlooker of the new chief’s policies and their implementation.
However, the skeptic that I am, I’ve two misgivings, which are:-
(a) In the services, one lived by the dictum of ‘work hard and play hard’. Towards
this end, one lets one’s hair down in the evenings in the mess nursing a drink or two
and the unwritten law is that anyone who doesn’t drink cannot be believed in toto.
(b) In this world of ours, merit does not get rewarded always and ascending the steep
ladder towards the higher ranks, needs qualities much beyond merit and hard work –
and to quote an earlier General, one must ‘boot lick one’s seniors, cut the throats of one’s peers and boot the juniors’.
I would like to believe that General VK Singh is an exception and has come up truly on merit and that his life will be emulated by the succeeding generations with pride!
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