“And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.”
I won’t call myself highly knowledgeable about poetry, but I enjoy reading poems. Of all I’ve ever managed to read and understand, “Anthem for doomed youth” is one of my favourites. The last line of that poem, (quoted above) is one of those that has been haunting me ever since I’ve read it. I am not sure why, but I’ve always fancied anything that related to patriotism and pathos. Those two, in my opinion, are a good combination and a source of endless inspirations. Like many, I’ve also admired soldiers and battlers, still do, but, only that I’ve recently found out that they are being taken for granted. Maybe I’ve known it for some time, but it came crashing on me when I heard it from another.
A member of the armed forces is called a “servant of the nation”. Well, the name itself does not appeal to me, if I worked in the military I wouldn’t wan’t anyone calling me their ‘servant’. No way, certainly not. I need the respect I deserve and people would do better to realize that I have my own dignity and self pride. Then again, there are many who would say, that there is no other greater honour than dying for one’s country. (I thought Wilfred Owen made a point by calling that the ‘Old Lie’.)
India, our nation, is renowned for her corrupt leaders of the past and present who exploit our servicemen for their personal gain. They risk their existence to defend our nation from external forces, but what they get in return is repression from internal forces.
Indian servicemen are only portrayed as respected, but on the factual side, I think they are being ignored, deprived of their rightful joys and are being used for others’ needs.
Just because they don’t object to their superiors’ orders doesn’t mean they cant. They are only instructed to ‘follow orders’.
“Theirs not to make reply
Theirs not to reason why
Theirs but to do and die”
Sometimes I feel that some nations battle, only to lose some soldiers, whose cries go unheard. They walk into the hands of Death who embraces a crowd.
War, I can name, is the most futile creation of man. Once they are dead, they are said to have made great sacrifices, but they don’t get the proper respect they deserve.
What’s the use of having a military base and describing it as ‘second to none’ when we can’t even pay them properly and respect their sacrifices? The risks they take; the battles they fight; the deaths they die; all go to waste because while they are busy fighting enemies, they are being back-stabbed by the very people they die to defend. Shame, this.
The Chaos Within 