So a young smart aviator of the Indian Army proposed to his girlfriend where the helicopter, his flying machine was in the backdrop; well what is all this hullaballoo!! A bright young man in the prime of his youth is expressing his love to the beloved and actually declaring his intent and a sense of commitment, I think deserves to be commended rather than ridiculed. In today’s day and age, when youngsters are commitment phobic, this officer seems to be a pathbreaker of sorts, firstly joining the army itself is a huge commitment and then this proposal for marriage. I think we need to give him a huge round of applause.
Now who are the spoilsports in this game of Cupid, I bet they are the old fogies, who themselves were betrothed courtesy their parents, left to themselves, they would not have even reached the proposal stage. I am sure most of the veterans would recall, in our days, there were no NDA/IMA Balls, when it was introduced for our course while in NDA, there were just a handful out of the 300 of us who could even muster up a dance partner, forget about a girlfriend. Then there are those, who go on endlessly about the helicopter being visible in the photograph, as a breach of security, the fact that he was in uniform and it was all over the social media, is in contravention to the existing orders on the subject. Well, to these wise souls, I must say, Have a heart, the photograph of the flying machine is available in the open source at umpteen number of places, so relax, no national secrets have been compromised. The aspect about him being in uniform, does need a small rap on the knuckles, as the fact that he proposed is his personal matter but posing and posting it on the social media, well that can be avoided, as you never know, the creativity and imagination of the Gen Zee where will the next one lead to.
For the veterans, just a small word of advice, please stop taking yourselves too seriously, as no one else does. The current generation is well equipped to handle the challenges, as we once were and any interference was hardly welcomed. The fact that even these guys out of respect let us be, just like we did. Times have changed, environment is no longer the same, the troops are agniveers, mind you, thankfully we didn’t have to contend with this new species. I have hung my boots just three years ago, but the nature of warfare is being revolutionised at such a pace that even six months seem like history. We only gave presentations and wrote our thesis on RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs) remember, they are living it.
Evolution is a continuous process friends, none of us can stop it and why should we, after all I bet these guys are as professionally competent or may be better than most of us were. Be rest assured they are as committed or may be more committed than we were.
Finally I think, the photograph is actually excellent advertisement for ‘joining the armed forces’, may be we could just use it with their permission of course!
10 thoughts on “CUPID IN OLIVE GREENS”
Love in the Time of Trump
Can’t agree with you more. Some old fogies just cannot get out if their sham OG’ness .. Let the young man and his girl friend be. Suggestion for these always unhappy old men – Try and propose to your better half now – you may have a good drink in return .. Cheers
A wonderful viewpoint, which I wholeheartedly endorse ! Army should evolve with changing times ! The photo in question would have motivated many boys and girls of GenZ to sign up !
The concern was never about security, regulations or exposing a piece of eqpt for public consumption. Nothing about the war capabilities is hidden from anyone.
The issue was different. Is the incident a precursor to Weddings in the War Room ? Where do we draw the line ? Would it have made any less impact had the venue been appropriate, say, the Officers’Mess ?
What if PBOR also propose the same way ? It is about the declining discipline standards as also a matter of norms, ethos & culture. What stops a newly commissioned officer from playing the DJ on the Drill Square or other indiscretions – the infractions are numerous.
The reasons for suitable detrimental actions far exceed the emotional quotient, beautiful moment, lifetime memory et al all put together. At the end of the day, none should be consumed by the overwhelmingly condemnable charge that one has largely contributed to the waning standards just because one did not uphold the dignity of _dastoor_ & decorum and avoided speaking the voice of conscience in the interest of the organisation when they should have.
Very well 👌 written & appreciate your true opinion on this. Regards VZ.
Sir,
I must confess, I met my better half, on my first chutti which you had kindly granted in Feb 2008.
My Second CO ( Your Succcesor), was also Kind enough to heed to my lve application Six months later, that is when I proposed.
If given chutti on time , an Offr catches upon the other important things in life.
The uniform is the second skin, he or she will propose when he or she summons up the courage to do so. Gen Z likes some Flash to go with it, Harmless to an extent.
In the instant case the Offr’s plan to propose in uniform and with mil eqpt in the background may perhaps be because his CO or the MS Branch was not considerate enough to grant him chutti on termination of Flying Course and choose not to be grounded by that, perhaps.
My concern for the young man is if she actually said Yes.
Be as it might, I am thankful to the lord almighty that I had more considerate COs,
( Atleast when one declared his intent to sweep his Belle off her feet and to do so in person). The fact that you will be asked by your CO about the outcome of the campaign on return from Chutti, added much needed courage to the campaign.
I hope she said yes! Cause mine did 18 years ago.
Karthik.
The photograph captured two companions of an aviator’s future: the girl he hopes to spend his life with, and the machine that already shares his skies. One is his wingman in the air, the other his wingman in life. Hard to find a more fitting backdrop for a proposal. ❤️🚁🇮🇳
Heh! Different strokes for different folks. We are evolving with time!
I think his action is perfectly fine as long as his intention was not to make Reel or generate Likes.
Love the picture beneath the article