Kargil ,more on my experience
Across the stream , there was a small village , village was small because there were few houses , but houses were not small in fact they were well built houses which flaunted the wealth of the owner. Now you must know this that we are in a very remote place in very hard mountains. From Leh we are about 8hours by road , and then again another two hours on rouh road and then a walk about half an hour by foot on rough terrain .
So what is the source of income here? Of course the fruit orchards are one ,but main source of income here is donkeys and mules which work for Army .A donkey 's wages are rs.120 per day , Mule would be 200 rs., and a porter would be 250 per day .
On an average a family earns about 50,000rs to a lakh per month besides their agriculture income. Rough terrain is every day life for them , so it is money at door -step.
Something for us to think about ?????
Well, lets turn to the jawans and officers now every single one of them is home sick , most of them are very young either newly married or with little babies . They long to be with their families .The talk all the time about the chutti that they will get .
The vastness of the region makes you feel all the more isolated in this region , you are like a spec of small pebble on path .
I am in the bunker now , if you photograph it ,it is like your bedroom in Mumbai , a comfortable bed , a table and chair, a TV with all attachments and a library .,the difference is there is no window and when you come out your in a tunnel .
White wall is all that you see all the time , imagine staying in it for three months continue sly and your whole day goes watching over to enemy over a vast terrain ,trying to look at the specs to see whether they move. It is frustrating .
And then there is this other side when the officers come down they have a party where they have best of music played by the unit jawans , who are excellent with musical instruments .All then dance to the tunes . It is magical and unreal , it is an attempt to forget your day . And I think it is so very sad that we do not have political will to straighten our boundaries and live peacefully as neighbours something needs to be done .
Who will hear this and carry it to the ears of politicians????
thanx for sharing
thanx for sharing such rare information…………this is frustrating and annoying also………..thanx again…….
Dear Friend, i just have been to the place, i agree to every single thing you have written. The javan’’s have a really difficult time there. It sunks my heart that they are doing so much, sacrificing so much and still we are doing nothing to develop that area.
It’’s really frustrating these areas have been part of independent india since 1950′’s and we has done nothing for these people. We are developing and wasting crores of rupees on useless things and havn”t spent a penny for them. I feel speechless if someone asks what has indian society done for them.
Thank you for the awareness which we are rarely exposed too. The problem of settling boundaries can never happen, as millions are at stake which exchange hands, and it is the interest of the politicians and some army heads that the problem is kept alive. Needless to mention the millions through drug trade across the borders.
Noanee this is a big drama and I agree with shweta.All this nationalism is but a hyped emotive opium.Do you know that eveery govt servant spends half of his working day discussing leaves,allowances,schemes,taxes benefits etc.Obviously the same happens to the jawans.The real frustration is that the action if any is unlike they show in the movies.Only the lucky will see a hand to hand combat.Normally it is one sided with one party outdoing the other due to their mere size nd resources.But I must agree that it is a training and an important one .But there are many undercurrents to the valour and war and sometimes the least said about it is better.Or else we will become cynics.
Well that is expecting too much out of the politicians as it is this very reason that they would never let the problem be solved. Otherwise people would look into their resources and income in place of thinking of how to fight a war or keep worrying as to when who would attack. All this is only politically motivated on both the fronts. Myself being from forces can see it all clearly as it ain”t very difficult to reach peaceful solutions as well.
But then when we do have people no more they are not related to these political figures. Are they? So how does that matter to them anyways???