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."
Rahul Gandhi, an improbable prime minister-in-waiting, will be 52 on the
19 June 2022.
It has been eight years since the Congress lost power,
reduced to a little over 40 seats in Parliament. He is even challenged
to lead the Opposition.
When Napoleon lost to a coalescing of rival Western powers, in 1814,
after failing to conquer Russia, he was forced to abdicate. The
erstwhile emperor was banished to the close-by island of Elba, from
where he was able to make a comeback. When he lost again, after a brief
season of 100 days in power, this time at the bloody battle of Waterloo,
he was exiled to Saint Helena, a remote island in the Southern
Atlantic. Napoleon Bonaparte could never leave Saint Helena. It was
where he eventually died, at the age of 52.
The year 1815, when Napoleon fell for the last time, marked the end of French domination of Europe.
In a very real sense, 2014 marked the end of Congress domination of
electoral politics in India. But it consoles itself by saying you may
have the government but we have the system. While this was largely true
in 2014, it is less so in 2022, and if things go according to present
indications, it will be quite untrue in 2029.
Subsequently, after May 2014, there was further decline. The Congress
lost power in most of the states, Union territories and municipalities.
It even lost most local body and panchayat elections. It lost the next
general election in 2019 as well.
It has lost in all five states that went to the polls in 2022, and
has bleak prospects for those going to the hustings in 2023. It is in no
shape to challenge the BJP/NDA at the general elections in 2024. If the
Hindu nationalist BJP wins in 2024, it will be for the third
consecutive term of five years at the Centre.
