Things only Military Brats can relate to
Times of Bennett | Updated: Apr 03, 2023 13:00
By Anshul Saxena
The termBrat stands for born, raised and transferred. It is used to refer to military kids all around the world. Being a brat is unique, adventurous and challenging at times too. Being a military brat myself, I’d be touching upon things which only we brats understand.
1 We don’t really belong to a particular place
We might have been born in any place in India but we don’t really get a feeling that we belong to that place because of frequent transfers of our parents. Sometimes we might not even live in the place where we belong to. Ours is an assimilation of different cultures and different places.
2 We don’t understand religious or caste divide
IndianArmy is one of the most secular and caste neutral organisations in the country. In fact there is a very interesting concept of 'Sarv Dharm Sthal' in the army , wherein all gods from all religions in the country are put under the same roof. This brings in the feeling of oneness in the organization. I have fond memories of visiting these Sarv Dharm Sthals throughout my childhood, which have shaped my secular worldview.
3 We don’t have any mohalla or mohalle ke dost
Since we keep changing places every 2 to 3 years, we don’t have a permanent mohalla or mohalle ke dost. This is probably slightly painful, because we need to say bye to our friends every 2 years and then go to a new place to make new friends and start from scratch. I remember feeling very bad at times when I had to leave my friends and go to a new place.
4 Packing is actually like a ritual for us
Whenever our military parent gets posted to a new place, the whole house needs to be packed within a very short period of time. Generally, fauji jawans come from our military parent's unit and packing process starts. In course of packing stuff, things we had long forgotten we possessed, come to our notice. We pack our stuff in black iron boxes known as 'bakse'. On these boxes with white paint is written from which place to which place we are getting posted along with our military parent’s rank and name.
5 We have stayed in army cantonment all through our childhood
Staying in cantonments has its own beauty. Greenery all around, well-metalled road, spacious park, shopping complex, sports Complex, military hospital (MH) , etc, make up the components of a cantonment. We also don’t live in apartments named Aparna Avenue or Gaur Green Avenue, instead it is namedShankar vihar, Carriappa Vihar etc. Most of our schooling happens in Army schools where most of our classmates are from military background. All in all, most of the people we grow up around are from army background, which instils military culture in us. It is often said that even when brats go into civilian life, some parts of their personality have deep impressions of the army culture.
6 We bond a lot with other military brats
Whenever we meet another brat, questions like your parent belong to which arm, regiment, batch etc, follow. Also questions like which all places have you stayed at, how many times have you visited the LoC, how many battle honours your parent have etc, are asked. Also there is similarity in culture and thinking which immediately draws one brat towards another brat.
Being an army brat is an experience and lifestyle in itself. I’d give anything to get a brat life again.
The term
1 We don’t really belong to a particular place
We might have been born in any place in India but we don’t really get a feeling that we belong to that place because of frequent transfers of our parents. Sometimes we might not even live in the place where we belong to. Ours is an assimilation of different cultures and different places.
2 We don’t understand religious or caste divide
Indian
3 We don’t have any mohalla or mohalle ke dost
Since we keep changing places every 2 to 3 years, we don’t have a permanent mohalla or mohalle ke dost. This is probably slightly painful, because we need to say bye to our friends every 2 years and then go to a new place to make new friends and start from scratch. I remember feeling very bad at times when I had to leave my friends and go to a new place.
4 Packing is actually like a ritual for us
Whenever our military parent gets posted to a new place, the whole house needs to be packed within a very short period of time. Generally, fauji jawans come from our military parent's unit and packing process starts. In course of packing stuff, things we had long forgotten we possessed, come to our notice. We pack our stuff in black iron boxes known as 'bakse'. On these boxes with white paint is written from which place to which place we are getting posted along with our military parent’s rank and name.
5 We have stayed in army cantonment all through our childhood
Staying in cantonments has its own beauty. Greenery all around, well-metalled road, spacious park, shopping complex, sports Complex, military hospital (MH) , etc, make up the components of a cantonment. We also don’t live in apartments named Aparna Avenue or Gaur Green Avenue, instead it is named
6 We bond a lot with other military brats
Whenever we meet another brat, questions like your parent belong to which arm, regiment, batch etc, follow. Also questions like which all places have you stayed at, how many times have you visited the LoC, how many battle honours your parent have etc, are asked. Also there is similarity in culture and thinking which immediately draws one brat towards another brat.
Being an army brat is an experience and lifestyle in itself. I’d give anything to get a brat life again.
