The Life and Death of a Family and Nation
“People join the Army and Police to die and are paid to die…” said the self-assured Bihar minister as millions of TV viewers watched aghast at the insensitivity and brazenness of an arrogant politician. The hue and cry raised over the issue frankly left me untouched and unmoved as do many of the concerns raised by the media and the so called political parties. Why you may ask am I not angry at the rant of this callous man who feels that people act and behave in a particular way only because they are paid for it? That’s because I have heard it before…from not one, not two but many people who feel that the people employed in the Armed Forces are a blessed lot who party and drink with great gusto and then….well that is all that they do. According to most people (civilians as they are referred to), the job involves ‘free rations, Canteen facilities, cheap and good liquor and subsidised accommodation.’ As an Air Force daughter (21 years) and...