Why Do I Still Serve India?
______________________ An anonymous soldier ______________________ Though this is not a poetry blog, the newsworthiness of the following ballad merits its inclusion here. It has been composed by a fourth generation, 24-year old career officer in the Indian Armed Forces, spurred by the report of the Sixth Pay Commission and an insensitive article written by a 'respectable' denizen of the country in a national daily on the armed forces and the pertinence of the Sixth Pay Commission therein. This free-flowing verse has not been edited; it's to ensure that the originality of the angst is maintained. After all, when you are in pain, the language of expression is the last thing in your mind H ow you play with us, did you ever see? At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be; I would serve you to the end, All these boundaries I would defend. Now you make me look like a fool, When at Seventeen and just out of school; Went to the place where they made "men out of boys" Liv