The way Field Marshall Manekshaw was ignored in death by the dishonorable men and women who we 'entrust' the management of our beloved country does not surprise me at all. My sister lost her husband, an army major, to counter-insurgency operations in the north east a few years ago.Having seen the amount of running around and mental torture she had to endure to get her Shaurya Chakra awardee husband's dues from an ungrateful and inhuman political and beurocratic establishment all my idealistic notions about how soldiers are honored to rest. Anyway, Sam Bahadur did not need these cheapskates to honour him in death. And from whatever I have read about him he would have breathed a sigh of relief on their absence.
However, a greater tribute to the values of honour, honesty, dignity and valour that Manekshaw and other men and women like him have stood for in different walks of life would be to throw our cynicism out of the window and start doing what every religion and good teaching teaches us. That is to think about the greater common good and bring back the old fashioned values of right and wrong in our society. A good starting point would be to enculcate these values in our children. People possessing these values would automatically honour those who stand by them and their elected representatives would better behave similarly. Trust me, it doesnt take that much to do this and it is not as self defeating as many think it is.
