I believe...

I believe in the word of mouth, a fight, a battle, a bloody bout, For a just, and noble cause, In a land with its well governed laws.

I believe in the wisdom of words, Spoken by Shepherds of so many herds, Not too long ago in time, When we still had reason in rhyme, When so many would lend a hand, While you were stuck in the burning sand.

I believe in a wishing star, Somewhere in space so far, Where wishes come true, Hopes and aspirations are nothing new, Where one can see the morning dew, Settle down on some lucky few.

I believe in the joy of spring, So full of life, every little thing, Result of some labour of love, Showered from somewhere up above.

I believe that the summer is near, as it will appear like every year, Drought, famine an epidemic fear, shifting our machinery to a lower gear.

 
I believe this too shall pass, Before the leaves of autumn amass, Before the chilly winter sets in, And the rains come in to wash our sins.

I believe it will be over then... No more thoughts to write with my pen, The cycle of life will start afresh, Not bound down by some wire mesh.

 
As I write from my lonely post, Guarding the country I love the most, Could some of you find the time, to believe with me and draw a line, And stop this world from going wrong, Show it a path now so forlorn,

Let me stop as its nearing eve, Try it and you'll believe, Like I believe...

 

Letter to my lil Girl

My little girl, 

As you step in to a new life and face your first real examination, study wise, I wanted to share something with you. 

I never knew I was capable of even passing when I went and sat for the 12 th board....Seriously, ask my parents.. they were so worried... and for some strange reason, it didn’t bother me. I was just... “get it done with”

Times have changed and today, you face many more challenges as a young teenager. So this is to just let you know that, it’s all right to be tense and worried and stressed. Just Don’t let it get to you. Think of your dad who never gave a rats ass ever for an exam. So why should you. It only gets tougher as you grow in life and take in more responsibility in life.... and this adds pressure... and suddenly a rats ass sounds and seems bigger... funny na ..😊

No pressure.... You have none on you. So if you feel something, just relax and chill. My love for you will not change and mum is one step ahead. She will move earth and heaven to see that you are always rocking. She has that effect on us na. She has stood by you in all your triumphs and tribulations, making up for the absence of a father in all my long solo escapades with life. She is the rock of our lives. Always there... one call, shout, gasp away. So while you have worked hard and tirelessly put in hours and hours of work... just hang in there. Just approach the exams as a small step that you have to take as you move forward in life. It’s not a competition... you will never use 90 percent of all that this test will ask you. So don’t let it bother you. Just be calm... absolutely calm and believe in your self and your hard work. No body else matters. No one. They never do bitiya. Only you matter ..

Great things are waiting for you ... just relax and take it in... absorb and be aware. Don’t let any tag like “boards” etc get to you. Your father and mother never even imagined that they would have such a spirited child, outspoken, yet such a gentle being in their lives. You have already surpassed are highest expectations. The love that we see in your eyes each day for lil things, your passion for life, surpassed only by your compassion for others, is a reflection of the pride you have to be part of the family.

So go and do what you are destined to do. All else is secondary. Just as the paper is being handed out ... think of one thought ..

“This is for me.... Aanya. No one else. 

Let me be calm and let god guide me in keeping calm and have a wholistic approach.”

You were willed by us... god is part of your bigger plan so he won’t desert you in your life. We are passé... go break free and live it up. I miss you as I prepare for my tests here ... hoping I get to spend more time with the you. The little time ...till my baby flies away... I miss you my baby. Remember to always be humble on good days and on bad days ...We secretly polish the diamond in the shadows. 

Keep the powder dry..fire when it matters, till then keep absolutely still and trust in yourself. You are your greatest strength. Mum and I just happen to be around. Her high standards have rubbed of on you and that makes me so proud of your upbringing. The way you are, the lil things. So go fly sweetheart...

You know ..I have always flown with passion because I couldn’t have dreamt of another life. So go choose, seek and give your dreams a chance to come true. We will always be right there  behind you. 

Hit that ground running...

Turn and engage the adversary...

...my chota fighter pilot ❤️

Love

Dad

Promises

Its past ten and most of the chairs and sofas on the elevated deck at the Novotel are occupied by revellers, who after a hard day at life, are making promises to some one they want to make promises with or with someone who they know they can’t. 

Either way, the place is swollen with promises. I can predict the length of the relationship and it’s honesty by the distance between the people. 

Those here on a date are, comfortably seated at arms length, some are closer... to hide discreetly, what’s never going to be... 

...some have just found love and are clinging to each other for dear life, while others are different husbands and different wives. 

I see this couple, the moment they step in and the lady looks at me and looks away... telling me ... that tonight she is taken... the man saunters of ahead, with a bulge in his pocket, telling me and the crowd, he is not going to spend legal money here. He looks for a place, where there is none, to make promises. 

After a futile attempt at scouring the deck, he looks at the bar... where I am seated with six other bar stools for company... walks to the bar man and asks for a place to take his woman. 

The bar man... who has seen it all and knows it’s so pointless, yet offers to find a place so promises can be made. 

I interrupt the melle to tell him to place his behind and that of his woman,  in a bar stool, ...now so forlorn, for no one comes asking for it anymore. Everyone wants a sofa and chair, since that’s where promises are traditionally made and broken 

He reluctantly sits next to a stool next to me and indicates to his muse for the evening to sit alongside. 

I order two of what I am drinking and then realise, he had probably planned to make promises over champagne. From the look of it, she is already regretting the promise she made to come out with him and he,  the fact that he doesn’t have a sofa or a chair to make his list of promises..

Tomorrow morning, it will all be gone .. the people, the bar stools, the sofas and the chairs... and the promises made over champagne. The spirit would continue to linger till its twilight again and another me,  comes along to look at people on chairs and tables ... making promises that won’t see the light of day. 

Another night at Gadda Da Vida is looking promising ..

Shoot Don’t Talk

“Shoot, Dont Talk”

“So Commander Saab… where is that Mountain Strike korps (Corps) you told us about a few years ago? Asked my civilian friend. “Aren’t they going to strike…and Sir have they ever struck anything. Aur woh multirole Sukhoi fighter”? Where is that.. the one that roles to either side, every time on Republic Day... woh Kahan hai ? Sirji…that statement you made about Hollywood picture.. THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY..When you want to shoot..shoot..don’t talk!!  

You said that after the surgery in Balakot. But the next day, they came with 27 aircraft and and performed open heart surgery sir....once it was over ... all we wanted was our pilot back with all our hearts. Somewhere we lost the plot. Array stop, I said! You idiot” what are you saying? That was Pakistan and LOC. This is China and LAC. You don’t know your geography ..you bloody rascal.  But he continued.. Sirji, but why are the two Light Combat Aircraft squadrons stationed in Sulur. Is it because they are lightly armed and spares are less, so we can only use them for Limited Combat like against Sri Lanka,...but that conflict has ended. Sirji...you said the aircraft is good and we celebrated its birthday, IOC, FOC, induction, flypast. If all this is true and it’s a formidable fighter, then why is it in our backsides and not guarding are front!!!. Why are we talking about boycotting Chinese fireworks and lights during Deepawali, but burning our hands the rest of the 12 months”. “We are a peaceful nation, we are going to protest and the Defence Minister will do Kadi Ninda”, I replied.

 

I got up from bed with a jolt. It was six in the morning. The previous evenings news was still fresh in my head and I was hurting. I like many others, was angry. The morning headlines in the Times, informed me that the Col had spoken to his father the day before… Is this headlines?? Why this weak emotional meaningless headline. You guys…please write on how he fought valiantly and was martyred doing his duty for ‘izzat’, ‘namak and ‘nishan’. Then the reporters had reached the grieving families and then they played out the funerals and the works. The twitterati had been busy through the night. The eggs had hatched and the “Experts” had been born. Initially no news and only conjecture, then tit-bits and comical discussions, up until the free loaders joined in, and the evening fish fest rapidly graduated to a street side scuffle with the choicest of abuses. Sadly, this is the usual level most of our intellectual discussions reach, till it’s time to sleep. The social part of Social Media, is a misnomer... we usually aren’t. 

I turned to my father, a veteran himself, and some one who has written a book on China way back in 2005. The front cover on the hard back, has this written.... “Coercion, and if that fails, resorting to use of military force have been the logical and natural steps in China’s strategy.” The skirmish at Galwan has shown that we lack the resolve to do anything meaningful, either tactically or strategically. He keeps taking two steps forward... one step back and we keep agreeing to his disagreements. That “Fist” in the unit “Nishaan”(emblem) is just that ... where all it goes... who knows. The moment is right, the iron is hot and we all dive in to cool it or tell the others Chill maar yaar. Don’t be emotional, don’t be senti... 

I am not a war monger, but once in a while the local gunda needs to be taught a lesson and given a bloody nose. I am sure 16 Bihar, must have given them that initial bloody nose… Proud of you chaps..Now what ? The brave CO must have been on the red line, because Delhi must have been asking for the latest updates, only from him, not his operator or adjutant or officer. But what do they do with all this information. I am reminded of many peacetime exercises and mock battles in Staff College, where theatre commanders are given updates in a war room scenario. Then the plan, enact their parts and takes decisions to achieve clear objectives within limited resources. The two sides blue and red fight the war in sand model rooms with neutral umpires ... well mostly neutral, deciding and giving  results on the paper offensive. After a week of fighting with presentations and plans, both sides debrief and lessons are learnt. The air element and naval bouys also flypast or surface on the last ten minutes of the discussion if the tea is yet to arrive. 

So while we wait for tea, and while we learn lessons and investigate to find someone to blame, let us also do something else. 

So what are we doing right now ..? 

Are we priming the Tactical weapons, Arming our Triad, passing codes for a launch or are we wondering what to show the country at the next fire power demonstration at Pokhran/Balasore. Has going “Nuclear” prevented our adversaries from playing their usual games on the borders. Has it acted as a deterrent. 

Come on guys .. Wake Up ... Are we moving forward with a collective resolve to sort out our issues or relying on PCK, previous course knowledge (a key military term) in defence colleges. This one acronym and it’s voluminous collection, gets one through the hallowed portals of higher learning these days. Every new commander quickly reads and learns the narrative ...and then tows the line. So no one, well ok ... almost no one, wants to upset the apple cart. So a tenure is basically to beautify the cantonments, add artifacts from yester-years like old tanks, aircraft and submersibles, have garden competitions, redo the VIP rooms for the upteenth time in the Officers’ Mess, wine and dine the “whos-who from the local administration, quickly get your name written on the honour board behind your desk with no end date, act like a territorial doggy, raising one leg and letting go to mark your temporary province, grab from here and there and be self reliant, self sufficient. Sad ... this is what it has come to. 

“Wake up Chaps” ...Let us not look or worry about the pecking order, the ranks, kabhi haan kabhi na... let’s start by doing the job the right way. Let’s put in practice what we have been taught by the likes of ... well ehh...our predecessors. Let’s do justice to the rank on our shoulder. Let us plain speak and if required, dissent. Let the grand finale of the annual manoeuvres/Exercises/War Games not align with past results. Let us be asymmetric. Let us work for the  Effect, (yes remember EBO!!!) and not suffer the consequences of procrastination. Let us work on Jugaad, and teach them a lesson. Let us synergise, be “aatmanirbhar” not because we finally have a Chief of Defence Staff, but because we can do well... inspite of it. Let the Army have a free hand and let them establish their footprint across their respective areas of responsibility, and that means the entire strech.... for victory is still measured on foot… and so let’s not shoot our foot off.

 

…And finally Commander Saab, if you don’t know Air Power and know nothing about the employment of maritime Power, have never bothered to see the Blue Water Navy in action... and find yourself at C... (Sea)

...then don’t learn, don’t adapt and don’t employ. 

Just let the “chaps..FLY PAST and zap” the enemy instead of Rajpath, let the “whites.. LIGHT UP the nights” in the South China Sea and not at the Gateway... and let the Army “Bajao some one’s Band in hand to hand” but for COVID sake, do something. 

 

Akshay Airborne (Retreaded)