It was during a flight on an air force aircraft that it dawned on me what the event was going to be all about. The joint military exercise by Oman and Britain, Shumookh 2 and Al Saif Al Sareea 3, had reached the last stages and we were about to witness the grand finale: the use of live ammunition.
There had been talk of northeasterly winds; in Mahout, we experienced it. A ‘never-ending’ land was the chosen site for the event. Being with officers was an eye-opener on how different our world was compared with those of the dedicated officers, both men and women.
They have just one focus: the security of the nation. Their training is both physical and mental. Not in the comforts of an air-conditioned room always. More often, the training is ongoing throughout the career.
Another realisation was how the uniform tames the ego. We are in the world of individuality and entrepreneurship. Here I came across a group of people not just unified because of the uniform, but it was a group of people who had a collective conscious and awareness on their call of duty. They probably do not wait for recognition or appreciation. They do their part like it is required. They have a duty to perform and nothing comes between them and their duty.
We talk about dreams to achieve, leisure time and so on. I am sure they have all that too. What is different is the discipline, most importantly, obeying orders. Most of the time, our response even to a request is ‘why’?
On our list of proud moments of obeying could be when we were younger. We listened to our parents or just followed teachers’ instructions due to the fear of being pulled up.
Then on, we got carried away by opinions. When it comes to army life, the initial part is to break the ego and then mould it by reintroducing discipline.
To be in the service of one’s country requires great determination because one has to overlook personal interests and vision. They are not often seen or heard, but they continue to serve silently.
It was a great sight to see women in the army — a doctor and a nurse. The gentleness is very much there even in uniform. They did not wear the white or the blue, but colours of the army. That brings the topic of identity.
There is an element of pride when you are part of a prestigious entity. A sense of belonging even through training. What is impressive is the importance of maintaining physical fitness, which becomes part of collective consciousness.
The day before happened to be another team-building process and that was at SAS48, where there were individuals who had just formed teams in order to transform ideas into mobile and web applications. Within hours, they had to understand each other and work as a team. They had their roles defined.
In careers and in life, often confusion arises when we do not know the definition of our respective roles. But it is not to say that it is not ideal to be individualistic because it is this spirit that is required in entrepreneurship and to be an achiever.
The desire to excel is welcome whether you are a team player or a leader. What is challenging are the expectations.
In a disciplined system, expectations are clear cut whereas in a majority of other circumstances, the general feeling is ‘there is room for improvement’.
It is up to us to decide where we want to reach. The only difference is the combination of reliability and accountability and these two factors make all the difference.
lakshmiobserver@gmail.com
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