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."
Medieval Odisha: A Hindu state that resisted Islamic onslaught for centuries
Monday, December 12, 2022
We have references of rulers like Raja Raja III, Ananga Bhima III, Bhanu
II, Narasimha I, Kapilendra, Purusottama etc defeating Islamic rulers
in pitched battles. Some even extended their kingdoms at expense of
their enemies.
Odisha is usually one of the least talked about states in India. Not
surprisingly, when the general history of India is discussed, it usually
struggles to get a mention. However, a close study of its history gives
us some interesting details in the context of independent Hindu
political and military achievements, specifically in the medieval
period.
It was a proud and powerful Hindu kingdom till the third quarter
of the 16th Century, at a time when a great chunk of the
rest of India had succumbed to Islamic invaders. This is a humble
attempt to depict a general picture of Odisha or Kalinga in the medieval
period.
After the fall of Prithviraj Chouhan, the Turks ravaged kingdoms of
northern India, swiftly captured the plains of the Ganga basin and
reached near the borders of Odisha by around 1200AD.
Since then, till
1568, for nearly 360 years the Hindu rulers of Odisha and its people
maintained their independence through continuous struggle. There were 2
glorious dynasties that ruled in this period, namely the Eastern Gangas
and the Suryavamsi Gajapatis. While discussing Eastern Gangas, famous
historian RC Majumdar says
