As we are waiting for the Army Day Parade and the pictures of the January 15 event to be published in this edition, it is also time for us to have a chat about some recent events, and our childhood days when a career in the armed forces was the first choice.
I wanted to be combat pilot while two of my cousins had joined the Army. By the time I was 13, I had developed myopia and in one shot, was out of my dreams. I thought I will get into the Army, but a family friend in the Services Selection Board told me I wouldn’t get either the Armoured Corps or Artillery, which like any boy my age I identified with.
As a Punjabi who had never seen the seas, I thought the Navy was for our good Madrasi brothers from the south, and there was an anecdote of one of my clan’s visit to Trivandrum. He went to the beach there, but scared of the huge sheet of water, got hold of a Mr Menon to fetch him a few buckets of water for Rs 10 each. Before returning, he was there again. It was low tide this time, and our clan member couldn’t help complimenting Mr Menon for being such a good salesman and selling soooo much water within a few days.
I actually understood Navy only when as a young reporter in 1978 I spent a month on board the Indian Navy’s new frigate INS Himgiri.
India Strategic has an excellent team coming from both the Civil and Military services, and we are proud to enjoy mutual goodwill across the board with the Army, Navy and Air Force. Our own effort, conveyed through our writings, is towards capability building so that our officers and soldiers have the edge to deter an enemy or delete him.
The Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh, said it rightly at his annual press conference: Modernisation and Motivation are the two key elements for the Indian Army.
Perfect. One couldn’t say it better.
He also indicated that Kamov Ka-226T helicopters from Russia and artillery guns were nearing the process of acquisition after much delay. Overall, he expressed full confidence in the officers and men, and hope for new systems to come in not too long a distance.
The Army has a new advertisement campaign, inviting young men To Live a Life Less Ordinary.
I am 60-plus, Sir. Proud of the Army and Inspired by the Army. I think I am Willing and Able, Young and Inspired. May I join your ranks!
Gulshan Rai Luthra
