Role of soldier in the defence of India

Every Indian contributes something as far as the defence of India is concerned. But the role, which a soldier plays in defending and protecting the borders of India, is really unparalleled. A soldier is the most disciplined lot of the nation. Upon him depends, to a great extent, the security and stability of the nation.

A soldier’s life, no doubt, is very difficult and hard. It is he who obeys the order of his commanders and does what so ordered by them. a soldier keeps nightlong vigils on the borders even in the face of great and grave dangers. He stands heroically before his enemies. For a soldier, in the words of Longfellow:

There’s not to make reply,

There’s not to reason why,

There’s but to do and die.

A soldier faces death bravely. He fights up to last moment of his life in order to protect his motherland. He scarifies everything for the sake of the nation. It is he who has to live miles away from his family. It is he who goes into the jaws of the death while defending his country.

His life is not bed of roses; rather, it is a bed of thrones. With his meagre income, he feeds himself and his family. The life of soldier is really very hard but he is not scared by it. For him, defence of the country is the foremost in his duties and responsibilities.

During the war, he fights bravely but at the same time, he helps the civilian population as well. The role, which Indian soldiers played during indo-pak war, is exemplary. Our soldiers helped and assisted the civilian population of Pakistan. They offered them food and drinks and did not harm them. So, Indian soldiers acted in accordance with the noble Indian traditions.

A soldier is ready to face death. He never shirks responsibility. He fights in the most difficult terrains or, the hills Ad Mountains, plains ad forests. The defence of the country is the only mission of his life.

A writer, a politician, a statesman, a businessman and a teacher play their own roles through their actions, abilities and aptitudes. But the role, which a soldier plays while safeguarding the frontiers of the motherland, is paramount and unique. He lives for the nation and dies for her dignity. He makes history and history immortalises him.

READING HABIT

Knowledge knows no bounds. Even if we gain more and more of knowledge, we cannot be satisfied as there is much more than we could absorb. Reading books contributes towards the enrichment of our knowledge in terms of human experiences and information. Unfortunately, we in India, do not have reading habit. That is why, in India, 70 percent of the total number of book published are the text books whereas in the western countries, this percentage is not more than 30 percent.

Once, the famous Indian writer, Mulk Raj Anand, was asked about reasons for low reading habit in our country. His reply was that India had a tradition of verbal communication of knowledge from one generation to another. The pananiya shiksha proclaims that those, who learnt from written records, were the lowest in the rank among the seeker of knowledge.

Even today, the formal teaching method of imparting knowledge to students is based on “note memory”, lectures and reproduction. It hardly expects the students to delve into the vast mass of knowledge. This method touches students superficially and in effect, it has failed to arouse an inner urge among them for self study.

The inculcation of the habit of reading depends upon three factors-pedagogical, bibliographical and bibliotheca. The first one is related to teaching and can play an important role. But the teaching profession unfortunately, lays more emphasis on achieving short term objectives rather than on the ultimate goal. In order to prepare for examinations, students prefer to consult more diluted and cheap text books rather than standard texts. Teaching should lay stress on self improvement and self development of the students to prepare them for lives. For self improvement, love for books and reading are the essential pre-requisites.

This should be supplemented with the right type of reading material and that is the bibliographical factor. Unfortunately, we do not have any reading material for children and adults. Language is another barrier. We are also divorced from the main stream of literature because there is hardly any translation facility available in the country. So, we do not know anything about what has been written in the different parts of the country in various languages.

The third factor is the bibliothecal factor. It underlines the role of the library as an institution to coordinate the activities of described two factors earlier. There should be libraries that must be rich in terms of collections. The books should be easily available.