Life of a soldier is tough and Life of his wife is even tougher,he stands there at the borders serving the nation while the Army wife waits behind, along with everything he has left behind,the kids,the house,the people and of-course his smell at every corner of their fauji house. You love the man in uniform,start dating and then the marriage happens but I wish Army life would have been that simple! How it is to celebrate the most special moments of your life without the most special person,not just once or twice but most of the time? You complain initially,then you cry and then you get used to! Yes, you miss him but the feeling that he is safe and can manage to call back home once a day fills you with a contentment you never knew, the thankfulness that lingers around you and you start deriving pleasures in every small thing around,the tree,the air,the pets,even the swing yawning lonely in your garden but you feel happy even when he is not around. He called! Right?

Biggest thing that sails an Army wife whose husband is deployed or simply in a war exercise is the faith,faith in yourself,faith in people around,faith in niceness that universe bestows around and above all faith in almighty! You know nothing would go wrong ever, because you have been a God fearing woman!

It feels very fancy when you see a soldier waving goodbye to her lady love in the movies but what actually happens when it actually happens in real life?

Everybody praises the soldier at front but nobody knows the story behind!

When the units, brigades,divisions and everybody moves,the take away the essence of a Cantonment,they leave a few soldiers,women and kids behind! The cantonment is usually vulnerable at the time not just the security wise but also in spirits. The men in olive greens roaming around in their gypsies,the ‘dhai tonnes’ moving now and then,various sports and PTs which are usual sight of a cantonment just vanish in a whiff! The air looks gloomy and the chirp stops. The kids go to school and the stay at home ladies prefer to stick around fauji phones which might just feel not so useful when husbands are around. The usually busy Army ladies mingle a lot during this time,they keep bugging the husbands whereabouts from the senior most lady, because she is usually the one most updated and also the one most exposed to the world termed as deployment.She knows and she will guide you well and hold you well when you break occasionally. You miss him. Things are just not right.Kids are bugging way too much or simply the life is not as flowery as it looks from the outside. But if the first lady is kind and compassionate life looks rosy again. She understands!

It might sound weird in civilized world today but yes a phone connect is a luxury.There are forward posts and border areas where phones and networks don’t exists,only enemy and enemy lines!

Why do soldiers move out? Where do they go?

Even if no war around, the Armies keep preparing themselves,they visit the classified locations,acclimatize initially for a few days into the area,There could be cases of high Bp or other high altitude sickness among soldiers too. After that, the mock frontal attacks are performed. The Infantry units deploy the soldiers,the supply units provide ration under inhospitable situation finding ways to supply ration to the troops if the enemy bomb or destroys the main supply chains,the EME workshops repair vehicles,provide support under pressure and aim to safeguard the vehicles as well. The Signal core struggles are to establish safe communication line.  The Brigade headquarters startegize the whole situation and the Division looks after the Brigade. The situation is as tense and as painful as it should be during a real war. They keep moving from one location to another and if the exercise is happening around the border lines,enemy is always alert and so are you.

A large scale preparation is needed for such exercises and hundreds of vehicles and weapons move in the area. It is not an easy situation,one mistake and you can still risk the lives of your men and the Commanders pray every second for this whole thing to wrap up safely and nicely without a scratch.

The First lady

Army Wives know what is happening and do you think they would bat even an eyelid over the missed birthdays or anniversaries, or the parent teacher meetings? They are proud of what their husbands are doing. After all it is not a joke and it is the matter of national security. But they wait and support each other,uplifting everyone’s morale and try to spread more smile. The First Lady plays the most important role because she is the one who has seen it all,been through all and she just knows how to hold the ladies around,there could be a pregnant woman or a mother with small kids,she knows there can be any emergency and she is prepared to deal it all. All the women meet more so often and share what is there at that moment during the times when all the soldiers have moved out. Sometimes managing daily grocery could be a herculean task. But the women left behind hold each other’s back and nobody feels alone. All the kids play together and frequently share the updated list of the gifts that their dads have promised to bring back,little do they know, that those gifts would secretly be bought by ‘Mumma’ and diligently be handed over to the Daddy the moment he arrives back. 

The Army Brats

The ladies dinner nights, the usual cup of teas and evening snacks are mostly catered together where the Army Brats would roam around and it would be the duty of eldest kid there to be the guardian,warden and care taker all at once… And let me tell you, it is a tough job, if the kids misbehave or are not in control,he or she would be scolded but it would also be him or her fondly loved and looked upto by rest of the kids.Community living is a far fetched theory in today’s world,we don’t find this concept even at country sides but in Army it is just not a hypothesis but a reality. You need to be there for others,for your own, else things might go out of control,soldiers might not perform,even disaster might just crawl inside. All these welfare programs,ladies meets at peace stations are for some reason. These event equip women to turn into ladies and ladies into a generous host. There is so much of talent amongst the Soldier’s Girls and they happily invest into the community they believe in,people they put faith into!

If you ever  wondered why Army wives are respected in the Army, so much so that they are named silent ranks here is how they deserve it!

It is an Army Wife who stays behind,hold the fort,love the community, raise the kids and manage everything, the soldier has left behind only so, the soldier can serve the motherland with a smile on his face and calm in his mind!

Also if you want to know more about Army Life and Army Wives you must read the hit military romance of the year which will burn your ears through its passion and ignite your soul with hope, click onto the link below

Soldier’s Girl: Love Story of a Para Commando

What has been the your experience of living without the husband and among st the ladies? Do share for sure. Till then read and enjoy some more on Army life

 

Living in Separate Family Accommodation (SF) and surviving it

An Army Wife experience of setting up an Army House

Confessions of Indian Army Wives

What do girls say about handsome Indian Army Officers?

The unsung heroes of Army : Army wives