August 15th

I salute the crew and families of INS Sindhurakshak

I had a fun and quirky message lined up for the Independence Day which I might write in sometime……maybe next year.

I have always loved India and I always explained that this was India’s Birthday to my small child. Due to security state being high during I-day my husband would never be around at home to celebrate it with us but never the less we dance, we bake cake and rejoice, I mean rejoice  just like it were a family member’s birthday. That is the day I look back to all the people who died for our country’s independence. I look at them with gratitude and pride. I thank them in my heart for the free air I breathe in now. Being in Navy I have even visited the cellular jails. I have touched the loathsome cells and tried to imagine how horrible it would have been to be there. I always try to keep their memories alive in head so they are not dead as a matter of fact but alive in us. 

Every Naval wife, no matter what hardships she goes through will stand proud when she remembers where her husband is working. She more than anybody else in the world remembers how dangerous and yet how soulfully rewarding is his work. It is not like any other job. Defence jobs are very meaningful. Very very meaningful. You are not working to feed yourself and your family. Your work is to ensure that others can live well. You go sleepless so others can sleep peacefully in the country; you go without food so others can sit in restaurants without any threats; you stand in snow and rain so others can go about their lives without the fear of being attacked. Defence Life is THE life. To me each defence person is a savior in his/her own class. There is a pride and a sense that life is more than just me in the hearts of every person associated to our defence family. 

I never thought I would wake up on Independence Day and cry like that. When I heard the news one part of me was thinking this is not happening and the other part remembering the cramped quarters of a submarine. I used to feel so claustrophobic being inside them. Going through those submarines raised my level of respect for the men in uniform. It is something not everybody can do. Sitting in 6x5 rooms, not seeing the sky for months together, no entertainment, same few faces to speak to – the mental strength needed to endure these conditions is TREMENDOUS. In a sub the space is so constricted you have to watch each step so you don’t stumble. One fall means you will definitely get a painful blow from some heavy metal equipment. I cannot imagine having to experience multiple blasts in such a small place. I cannot imagine. I cannot.

I know how the general public looks up to the Armed Forces with certain awe and wonder. But the story on the other side is known only to the wives. The missed family time, dangers involved in the work place; waiting for 23 hours and 58 minutes to hear the voice of her husband for two minutes over a sat phone from the middle of nowhere. This tragedy that the families of the people on board are facing now is unimaginable. No one can truly understand or alleviate the suffering of these brave people.

This is just the recent disaster in many such work hazards in Navy. There are so many brave souls that lost their lives trying to save others, going on routine flight checks, on safety inspections. I remember and thank God for each one of them. I see them par with all our freedom fighters. Our national heroes died to give us freedom. And our defence heroes give their lives to keep India independent and formidable. 

All of us are born  to die someday. But losing some of the best men in our country is not easy or meaningful in anyway. I remember the words in the movie Troy that the mother of Achilles speaks to him just before he leaves for Troy.

“If you stay in Larisa… you will find peace. You will find a wonderful woman. You will have sons and daughters, and they will have children. And they will love you. When you are gone, they will remember you. But when your children are dead and their children after them…. Your name will be lost.

If you go to Troy…. Glory will be yours. The world will remember your name. But if you go to Troy… you will never come home. For your glory walks hand in hand with your doom.

And I shall never see you again.”