Airline Lunches I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat.
It was going to be a long flight from Gatwick.
‘I’m glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short sleep,’
I thought. Just before take-off, a line of British Army Youngsters came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me.
I decided to start a conversation.
‘Where are you blokes headed?’ I asked the Young man seated nearest to me.
Cyprus . We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan .
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that lunches were available for five pounds.
It would be several hours before we reached Cyprus , and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time..
As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his mate if he planned to buy lunch.
‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just an airline lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five Quid. I’ll wait till we get to Cyprus ….
His mate agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers.
None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty Pound note.
‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers..’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly.
Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. ‘My young bloke was a soldier in Iraq , it’s almost like you are doing it for him.
Picking up ten lunchboxes, she headed up the aisle to where the boys were seated.
She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?
‘ ‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked.
She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.
This is your thanks. After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.
An old bloke stopped me.
‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five Pounds.
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he wasn’t looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane.
When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’
Quickly unfastening my seat-belt I stood and took the Captain’s hand.
With a booming voice he said, ‘I was an army pilot a long time back.
Once someone bought me lunch.
It was an act of kindness I never forgot.
‘ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs.
A kid who looked about 18 was sitting about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine.
He left another twenty-five Pounds In my palm.
When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to depart.
Waiting just inside the aeroplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word.
Another twenty-five Pounds! Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their Trip up to their training area.
I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five Pounds.
It will take you some time to reach your training area. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You Blokes.’
Ten young blokes left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow Brits.
As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.
These soldiers were giving their all for our country.
I could only give them a couple of meals.
It seemed so little…
A British Serviceman is someone who,
at one point in his life, wrote a blank
cheque made payable to
‘ United Kingdom ‘
for an amount of
‘up to and including my life.’
That is Honour, and there are way
too many foreigners in this country
who don’t understand it.’
This is India.
CHANDIGARH: Strange but true! Rs 2,550, that’s the amount which the Army feels, is sufficient to deny family pension to dependent parents of a soldier, who dies in a mishap.
According to the Army regulations issued on August 26, 1998, if the death of a soldier (including jawans and officers) is not attributable or aggravated by military service, his dependent parents would be entitled to ordinary family pension, provided their income from all sources is less than Rs 2,550 per month.(TOI 20 June 2011)
The Adarsh Housing Society is a cooperative society in the city of Mumbai in India. The origins of the scam go back to February 2002 when a request was made to the Chief Minister ofMaharashtra to allot land in the heart of Mumbai for the construction of a housing complex for “the welfare of serving and retired personnel of the Defence Services”. Over a period of ten years, top politicians, bureaucrats and military officers proceeded to bend several rules and perpetrate various acts of omission and commission in order to have the building constructed and then get themselves allotted flats in this premier property at artificially lowered prices. As the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to the President of India in 2011 put it, “The episode of Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society reveals how a group of select officials, placed in key posts, could subvert rules and regulations in order to grab prime government land- a public property- for personal benefit.”[1] The Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate(ED) are in the process of investigating allegations that three former chief ministers, Sushilkumar Shinde, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan of the state of Maharashtra were also involved in the scam.[2][3]
In an interview to The Hindu published on 26 March 2012, General VK Singh, the Chief of Army Staff ascribed many of the attempts to malign him during his tenure to, amongst others, those he described as “the Adarsh lobby”, those directly connected to the scam, as well as those who were affected by his efforts to rid the army of corruption.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adarsh_Housing_Society_scam
Thanks Prasad.
