Random Ramblings of a Reluctant Blogger

Shubham, Abdul Majid, MV Pranjal, Sanjay Bisht, Sachin Laur. Do these names ring a bell?

Now what about Virat, Rohit, Shubman Shreyas, Shami.. Of course it does. Almost  the whole nation plunged into a collective grief when the anticipated World Cup glory failed to materialise. And their actions were dissected,  talked, roasted, defended in almost all media platforms. 

As for the five names  _ Shubham, Abdul Majid, MV Pranjal, Sanjay Bisht, Sachin Laur _ hardly strikes a chord. Doesn’t it? 

These were the young soldiers who lost their lives fighting terrorists in the Rajouri encounter. But do we even spare a few minutes just to think about them?

My rant isn’t about war, I want to make it clear lest someone gets into my left ear with all the futility, machismo, and how none wins war and all that. This is about our priorities, our memories and our collective sensibilities.

A good friend and a leadership coach  says, ‘A defeat lasts only till the next game’. While it stays true for every game and maybe even life, I wonder if defeat was even an option for the young soldiers. Their sense of duty for someone so  young _ mind you they were just in their twenties _ is exemplary. Shouldn’t that be something we ought to be talking more about?

I am in no way belittling the sporting achievements. It takes a lot of discipline, sacrifices and hard work to succeed in sports too. What is deplorable, however, is that we are absolutely immune to what the real  heroes, _like Shubham, Abdul Majid, MV Pranjal, Sanjay Bisht, Sachin Laur and many more such unnamed, _ do. (I don’t even want to get started on tinsel town and its cardboard heroes).

A bad day on the sports field is just another day, but when fighting terrorists and enemies, a bad day is the last day. Yet, a loss of a single tournament and people talk about depression and time to cope. What about the loved ones the young soldiers leave behind?

Reams and reams are spent on discussing Rohit’s plans or lack of it. But very little on who the young soldiers were, what their dreams were, how will their loved ones cope? What drives them to be so brave and selfless. Aren’t these the qualities we want to imbibe in our youngsters? How come then,  we hardly spare a thought on it?

January 15? Not many of us remember what it is about. But June 25, 1983 even if someone forgets, there is enough noise and sound to tell us what happened. In contrast, January 15 the Army Day, one hardly sees any  write-ups or social media posts on it. How much more insensitive can we become?

Therein lies the rub. Our priorities. We have propped up false heroes, probably because it is easier to pull them down. While the real ones we can hardly even match. 

 In an Utopian world maybe there aren’t any wars, but life is far from Utopian. Is it, then, too much to ask that we  keep alive the collective consciousness and the memories of those who have made  it possible for us to enjoy our freedom and indulge in our own pursuits, be it celebrating sports wins or lamenting defeats.

A nation that does not value its real heroes may well end up having nothing to celebrate.