Saturday, February 03, 2007

:: The Soldier ::

"Good soldiers never pass up a chance to eat or sleep. They never know how much they'll be called on to do before the next chance."

The above mentioned adage is a famous one by Barrayar in 1991. It might seem a tad frivolous and out-of-depth on first sight but let us examine the sanctified truth that lies behind such simple and ordinary words. As we all know, especially the boys who have been though National Service, soldiers are a special breed of people. They are special because they have answered a calling that exist in very few. They put family ahead of self, and the nation ahead of the family. Ultimately, they will be ready to give their life for their beloved country at anytime and any day may the need arise. As such, their lives become unpredictable. They have to be ready for action at all times and no brooding or hesitation is tolerated.

With this background knowledge, we can understand why good soldiers never pass up on a chance to eat or sleep. This is because, even the soldiers do not have the knowledge of the availability of their time. Hence, a good soldier is one who capitalizes on his free time and makes use of it to eat or sleep, two entities which are vital in everyone's life.

What is a quote on paper? What we need are real-life super-extraordinary people who actually bring this quote to life and teach us a lesson to remember. We need a role model to follow and a guide to hold our hand and lead us to victory. Only a fortunate few will get the chance and opportunity to meet such people in their lives. And we, the laughtertears are highly fortunate and blessed to have met such a person. The person who epitomizes and crystallizes the meaning of Barrayar's quote so aptly and succinctly that it is almost unbelievably astonishing and bamboozling. The person that I am referring to is the best of soldiers. One of the true warriors of all time who has taken advantage of his free time to both eat and sleep. Such is the quality of this sleep that he is unable to hear his fellow soldier's chiding right in front of his face. Such is his concentration that he is able to sustain such great sleep in the midst of a bustling canteen. It is truly my honour now to present the limited edition picture of our fantastic soldier.


Posted by Hamid :: 12:36 AM :: 0 comments

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