Soldier At The Gates of Heaven
After a while, he came back with a File, examined its contents, and gruffly said, "Your Record has many Serious Flaws. While on Earth, you indulge in several bad habits. You savored Rum when off duty and smoked cigarettes endlessly, not only that, you killed many humans. You have just killed three Jehadi Militants about to explode an IED in a school in Kashmir when you lost your own life. You have been indulging in everything, a good person should never do. All your Life, you have followed Orders. You executed them without even a Whimper. You never insisted on Written Instructions. You certainly don't deserve a place in Heaven.”
Then the Sage started reading the last portion of Record of that Soldier and his eyes grew moist. He gave a gentle look and said with a choked voice, "Son, you stood in isolated places in High Mountains, Burning Desert, Falling Rain, Insistent Snow Fall, and shivered alone. You left your Place, kiths and Kins, Father and Mother, Wife and Siblings, in fact, Everything for Army. This you did to Serve and Protect Unresponsive People who Care a Damn for you but sleep peacefully, who ignore your Family, who, time and again Fail to look after your Welfare while you stand Guard on the Front. They take pleasure in demeaning your Tribe and consistently deny your rights In every Pay Commission."
He then led the Soldier gently to the Caretaker of Heaven and said in a Heavy Voice, "Take him in and treat him well. He has already done his time in Hell. He was a Brave Soldier in the Indian Army.
I was fortunate enough to have served with these Brave Colleagues, braved All Eventualities with them for Thirty-Seven years, and Fought Wars/Actions with them. I adore them, respect them, and Love them. Monday, 15 January 2024 is being celebrated as “Army Day” so a Salute from Old Hog.
Colonel Abhay Patwardhan (Retd)
Colonel Abhay Balkrishna Patwardhan (Retd) did his BA in Political Science, B Sc in Biology, M Sc and M Phil in Defence Studies, and MBA in Finance and HR. He got commission in the Special Frontier Force and Commanded 19 Jat Regiment. In his 36-year service with the Army, he handled the insurgency in Nagaland, Mizoram, Khalistan and Kashmir; participated in the 1971 Indo-Pak war; trained the Mukti Bahini, and participated in Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984. He also served as member of the IPKF in Sri Lanka, Commanded a battalion in Tawang, and received Unit Citation for Outstanding Ops against the Chinese in 1990-92.
He served as Instructor in Defence Services College at Wellington; Director of Training at Hq DG, NCC, New Delhi as In charge of the Republic Day Parade and Student Foreign Exchange Program. He received two medals for valour. Besides, he authored a “Reference Book on Disaster Management” in 2001 under Ministry of Defence. The book was released by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandez.
Col Patwardhan has authored six books in Marathi on Military aspects. He regularly writes in newspapers and magazines, gives lectures and presentations, participate in television debates on matters related to military, security and terrorism. He has been a visiting faculty in National Defence College and National Fire Service College on security and disaster management. He offers free guidance for entry to Defence Forces, Para Military forces, Police, and Service Selection Board interviews. So far 47 candidates have qualified as Officers and 14 as Personnel below the officer rank in defence forces and 39 in para-military forces and police. He is also member on various government bodies/organizations on various aspects of security and disaster management.