Why Sachin Tendulkar, the loving son of India did not join the Indian Army, I will come to that later in the review.
What others are saying
I had a look at most of the comments written about Indian Army. I can say they (Indian Army) either have been put on a Pedestal or have been written about very poorly.
Indian Army is only human!
I am no expert on Indian Army but these are my impressions from readings and input from friends and relatives from the forces.
Working in the Indian Army is a chosen profession and it is a career for those who wish to persue it. I am sure when making the choice about joining Indian Army, it is well known that a day can come in their life when the borders will get more active and they will be expected to defend it. So, in laying his life an indian solder is keeping in line with the highest traditions of the profession of choice. It is not easy to put your life in line of fire and Indian Army personnel have done it time and again in most demanding situations.
Indian Army is made in India
An army is only a reflection of the people of a country. I do not have to elaborate what we Indians are good at or not good at. So how do we expect to have an army made from this population to be any different? Let us look at the news paper reports and Indian army is only a profile of what its people are.
Army in J&K
Some of the comments are about the role of army in J&k. This is a unique situation that Indian army has been put in. Remember the army is trained to fight an enemy and not fix a situation created by politics. It can not fight what is in the minds of people. Indian Army like any other army in not equipped to run the adminstration of a state.
After the Indian Army achieved its target in Bangladesh, the Indian government had to send a contingent of administrators to run and hand over the country to the local population in Bangladesh. There are a number of instances where a country is run by armies that fail to deliver. If we look at the example of Pakistan that is run by army (yes still it is), it still has difficulty to come to terms with.
Army as peace keepers
Please recall that Indian army was thrown into Sri Lanka as IPKF (Peace Keeping Force) where they did not know what they were against. Some went thinking it is a foreign trip and those days VCRs were very much in demand and Sri Lanka was seen as a market for shopping spree. When the paratroopers landed (or as they were para dropping) they were getting shot as sitting ducks from the fire from tamil tigers. Even old women that one will respect as a grandmothers were carrying bombs and blowing army posts. In such situations where the enemy is not visible it becomes a survival issue and we can not always blame a human being in uniform. Despite all training it becomes test of human and some may not be as good as others, just like our population.
Some weaknesses
In any population atrocities and crimes against the weak (be it women or others) are happening and there are always some bad apples. It is hoped this is only a very small percentage and Indian Army I am sure is working on it to improve its lot.
Indian officers are from the cream of our society but some percentage will always escape the filtering process. So when talking about 1.5 million men/women under arms we should look at what percentage has brought disrepute to its ranks, and we will see there are only very few examples.
Indian Army in UN Peace operations
Indian army is also highly respected unit in many parts of the world where they have been on the peace keeping operations. I know when the charge was given to Indian army in one of the strife torn countries in Africa the indian army built schools and hospitals and regularly taught kids and really improved life for both warring sections.
Only couple of weeks ago when Pakistanis asked to remove the indian army presence from Afganistan, the prime minster of Afganistan said they are building my nation and giving it schools and hospitals, how can they be asked to go?
In the end
To look at Indian army just look at Indians at large and you have the answer. Most are good but yes we have some shortcoming and we are working on it.
Brave Tendulkar
Back to Tendulkar!! With his five foot frame he could have barely made to Gurkhas (with difficulty) but the only way he can run over pakistan is through cricket because whenever the Indian army is ready to run over pak it is stopped by the politicians. So he is in the right profession where he atleast he has the satisfaction that many of our top generals do not have.