Childhood As An Army Brat

Alot of us have heard the term Army Brat.The word Brat means something completely different to an army kid. It’s not just a word it’s actually an acronym. It stands for Born, Raised, and Transferred.

Today,it primarily refers to any child who has grown up with a parent in the army has never lived in a place more than 3 years, studied in kendriya Vidyalayas, Central schools and army schools.Most of the army brats are not born anywhere close to their hometown. In fact, they are born in army hospitals of places whose names you probably have never heard!

Home Is Where The Army Takes You

One thing we always hear about Army brats is that they move around a lot, and that’s true. You just don’t belong to one place.  On average, Army families are assigned to a new installation every two to three years. And it’s usually not just a relocation down the street. No,Military families are assigned to fly to a new “home” all the way across the country with an entirely different culture.

Living in the cantonment

The environment seems to be more friendly and soothing than any other place surrounded by lush greenery.People from different parts of the country live together, enjoying each others company. I myself learnt many new things when I met new friends, tried to catch their tongue but failed, saw the vibrant culture and traditions.

 Get to live in a mini India

It may be our class or the campus , we get to witness a miniature form of India 😍 . We get friends from almost every Indian state so its no wonder to have been tasted the best of recipes from every state .😉

 We tend to understand quite a good no of languages yes we understand a few languages apart from our own mother tongue ( though not perfectly 😂) for instance punjabi ,haryanvi ,rajasthani, marathi , gujrati , bhojpuri .

Our school vehicles are different 

We never went to school in any van or a normal school bus . It was either the army bus , shaktiman or the gypsies .we went to schools in either of these.Army schools and Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) are the default options for us.

                                Source:- www.reddit.com

 We rarely go to Supermarkets , its always the CSD Canteen 😂, so frankly speaking we buy 90%of the things from canteens and still try to find the rest 10 % in the Canteen .

                                           Source:- www.northeasttoday.in

Life of housewives.

Frequent welfare programs were also there for house wives to expose their talent and art. They were conducted by commander's or brigadier’s wives.

                                       Source:-awwa.org.in

 Environment at home

 If you are from army background getting up after 7 or 8 is crime 😂 . For me , my dad doesn't let that happen most of the times . He used to give us a time and we had to be ready by then in the morning to go for morning walks with him . Home seemed to be more strict and disciplined when dad was on his “chhutti".

Healthcare

We have Military Hospitals and Command Hospitals(apart from MI Rooms. MI rooms are like the clinics where you have a general practitioner sitting. For any special treatment you are referred to Military Hospitals/ Command Hospitals 

Treatment  is free(yes, free treatment for lifetime even after you retire). For dependents, age limit is 21 yrs for males and for girls it is free until they get married.

Festivals

Another best part of childhood were festivals like Lohri, Diwali, Holi. All were celebrated with great energy and enthusiasm.

If on Diwali we share sweets with our neighbor families then on Holi we spare no one. Mens, wives, children all use to make separately in groups and attack surprisingly.

Furniture

For us, the lavish Furniture's means nothing, we have our ‘Government furniture  wherever we move to. Every household in the armed forces has a black painted trunk, which is now being used as a sitting space (this one is not sarkari).

Who can forget the dependent card!!

People often lose their metro cards, aadhar cards. But we, actually, used to take care of our - Dependant cards, Gate Pass, Vehicle Permit, Canteen Card,   and then the list continues with the common cards that we all have - Debit/Credit Cards, Aadhar Card, Driving Licence, Metro Card, Pan Card, etc.

Functions

• Our unit use to have regular Mandir on Tuesday where we all gather and offer prayers to almighty.
• Lunger and Bhandara on festivals was quite common.
• I got a lucky chance to be a part of celebration of our unit's Golden Jublie. It was hell of a grand event.

The air-force campus !

How can i not write about it! the campus or camps are amazing residential areas for defense families. we have swimming pools, open air theaters, large playgrounds, sports facilities, Auditoriums for parties and get together, the CSD canteen, AFWWA shop apart from the quarter with very friendly and supportive families as neighbours ! we love one another a lot. we stand one for all and all for one!

 Adapting the civil environment is a tough job 

So once you are used the army campus life , its gets difficult to adjust in the civil crowd . When you face the crowd out there , it won't be easy to adapt as there's a huge difference in the mindsets , understandings ,way of life .

Being an army officer's daughter.I would not have traded my life for anything else.I loved the nomadic life.The uncertainty of the next posting,the excitement of packing and shifting to a guest room for that period,shedding tears for friends we knew we had never meet again and hen unpacking and setting down at another station,making new friends and going to a new school.I interacted with people from diverse cultures and ethnicity. I lived a life  less ordinary as my father is in the army and i am a proud army brat.