Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
The results of the recent assembly elections in five states must have
left BJP’s opponents feeling totally defeated. The BJP not only
retained Uttar Pradesh, but it also did so by a huge margin. On top of
that, the BJP won Goa, increased its seats there, and broke the
well-established incumbency cycle in Uttarakhand. Then, of course, there
was Manipur, but they had always factored in a BJP win there. Because
Manipur is in the northeast. In a region dominated by Congress since
independence, a region with hardly any of those much-maligned Hindi
speaking vegetarians, people just assume these days that the BJP is
going to win. That is 2022 for you.
Imagine the despair of the usual suspects. And think of how many
strokes of “luck” they got since 2019. First, the pandemic. It hit India
at its weakest point, which is our healthcare system. Nobody could have
predicted it. There was no precedent, no plan and no policy blueprint.
With the government driving blind and in total darkness, with deadly
pitfalls at every corner, it would have been the best time to be in the
opposition! Barely had India’s economy begun to recover than there came
the war in Ukraine, feeding inflation further. And yet, the BJP
dominated the elections.
