By:- Rishika Ghai
What is life? Life is a very beautiful thing but when it comes to the life of an Army BRAT {Born Raised and Transferred} then it’s more beautiful, different and full of adventure than normal life. People think that the life of an Army BRAT is very easy but it’s not like that. The place where we live, the type of people we meet, the environment in which we live is totally different from the life of a civilian. An Army BRAT can understand the life of a civilian but it’s very difficult for a civilian to understand the life of an Army BRAT.
A civilian can never understand the pain of leaving a place which he loves’s, the people with whom we have established a good relationship because they never have to face this problem. They live in the same place for years and study in the same school till their completion but the Army BRATS have to change his/her school and even move to a different place and new environment after every 2 years. Moving to a new place or a new school is not a big deal but meeting new people and being friend with them is a very big task. Even adjusting in a new place is not an easy task but still we do that because we love it and this is a part of our life.
The civilian people and their children thing that the life of an Army BRAT is very easy and they enjoy a lot and they also think that for Army BRAT everything is free of cost but it’s not like that. The life which we enjoy and the facility which we avail is not free of cost because our parents have to pay that cost by putting their life in danger and staying away from us for months. Sometimes our fathers /mothers are posted in such remote places where they can’t even talk to us regularly even after having such an advanced technology. The feeling of staying away from our father and waiting for them to come home can never be understood by a civilian it can only be understood by an Army BRAT.
A common question that a civilian friend will ask an Army BRAT is that does your father have a gun, had he killed anyone but it’s very hard to explain that life is more than that. They don’t pick up the gun to kill but to defend the country and people they love. Sometime our civilian friends also say that you get everything for free but I don’t like it when they say like that everything is paid for. It’s really annoying when someone prefixes my father’s name with Mr. or Shi its Colonel as in कर्नल and not कोलोनेल and it’s really not a tongue twister.
I was the coolest kid in my class when my father came to pick me up in his Olive green uniform and my friends use to look at me as if they had a shock of their life. Once a friend of mine in school said that my father looked very dangerous and intimidating when he use to come in his combat uniform. Mess with me if you dare, my father is an Army man and I am proud to be an Army BRAT. I love Army parties, retro songs, great food and people around me in uniform.
For me canteen means C.S.D, furniture means M.E.S and home means an Army Cantonment. We Army BRATS love these things. Sometimes our fathers get posted to remotes areas where a common man will never ever think of going on a vacation and I love these places and the work which is done by my father. I am even more proud of my father when he gives more importance to the nation than his own family.
I really love to be an Army BRAT because being an Army BRAT makes you feel proud and make you understand your duty towards your nation. An Army BRAT has a different world.
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© Rishika Ghai
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