Grass is greener on the other side.

Grass is greener on the other side.

The other day I was chatting with a friend who also happens to be a Major in the Indian army. It was more of a pep talk and agony aunt kind of conversation... he was really dejected with the way the army was treating him. He said that neither was the organization paying him at par with other industries, nor giving him a real posting in siachen but was making him do some exercises in some situation which he felt were not productive enough and on top of it the armed forces were being compared to the civil servants, paper pushers at the most.
That conversation made me very restless and i started thinking (one of the rarer phenomenons in this world) about why Major Saab thought the way he did. If the person responsible for my security has self doubts then I need to be very worried. And on top of that, I saw a story on Times Now that 25 out of every 32 army personnel are deserting the organization. Is this something to lose sleep over, coz i definitely did and am still disturbed. What is the solution for this?
It is a fact that the 6th pay commission has increased the pay packages of the armed forces by 33 percentage excluding allowances. Now lets play devils advocate with whatever little information that I have.

a) Armed forces get 60 days of leave as compared to the corporate sector which get around 30 days of leave per annum.
b) Armed forces get medical facilities for their entire family unlike the corporate sector.
c) Armed forces get subsidized FMCG products and liquor unlike their corporate counterparts.
d) Armed forces can easily avail loans than their corporate counterparts.
e) The kids of armed forces can get admitted in sainik schools unlike civilians who have to pay huge amounts of donations.
f) And to top it all, the armed forces are the least corrupt organization as compared to the civil sector
g) Last but not the least, the respect & charisma that the armed forces command in their uniform can be rivaled only by poster boys like John Abraham.

So why the dissatisfaction?? Is it something to do with the idle mind being the devil's workshop... earlier we had battles to fight and were busy, now with all the free time (yes there is a major counter insurgency operation and fire fighting against natural calamities which are increasing... but that is a separate story)

Or is it the media who is responsible for highlighting the achievements of the corporate sector with reports of starting salaries of IIM grads and/or the the exploits of the Ambani Brothers. It is bound to get in dissatisfaction.

At the same time, comparison with IAS officers who generally do not have threat to their lives (unless they are in some scam and run the risk of being lynched by the public, media or their counterparts) rankles a lot with the men in uniform.

The solution for this is two fold-- one explaining to these rough n tough guys that the grass is greener on the other side... yes it is... i would gladly risk being shot by Pakistani Soldiers than listen to mindless news stories of Naag-Nagin frolicking somewhere (I work for a news channel...hence listening to such stories is part of my job profile... I wish I could switch off the TV). The other solution albeit a bit ambitious is to get a petition and formally make an official protest/complaint against the authorities.

The thought of donating a part of my salary to the army welfare did come to my mind, but better sense has prevailed and I have decided against it. Reasons for not being on their side... I think army people have an easy life... They are waited hand & foot by their orderlies/batman during peace posting. Since, they have field postings every 3 years, in some godforsaken place, they don't have to maintain a lifestyle that we have to. And the biggest factor, they don't have to buy clothes every fortnight, they have uniforms...I waste 10 min every morning deciding what to wear....its a criminal waste of time, considering that I don't end up looking great like the model advertising the same clothes which is why I bought them in the first place... And then, the subsidized liquor rates... why do I have to pay for double the market rate, plus service tax, plus leave a tip, not to mention that whenever I go to a pub, its always with a friend whose tab I'm obliged to pick up... give me army mess any day...hic!

Well, even though I have filled reams of paper against these poor men in uniforms, I know that deep down that they deserve more. They are risking their lives for us so that we can crib about subsidized alcohol and agonize over our clothes. They spend nights waiting in extreme conditions without proper equipment or clothes. Is this why we pay taxes so that the government spends it in throwing stones at each other during assembly sessions.... I am a firm believer of the fact that the government has enough funds to run this country but has dimwits who siphon off the same.

Aarrggghhh... I have lost the thread of what i started out to say... the bottom line is that lets all be honest and sincere in our work ... and follow the sayings of the Gita... Kaam Kar par Phal ke icchah mat rak... in essence one should do one's duties in life as per his/her dharma, or duty, without concern of results. And let their be free flowing alcohol (subsidized or otherwise) to enable this without any hiccups...hic!