Monday, April 22, 2013

HUMOUR IN UNIFORM - ARMY SENSE OF HUMOR


HUMOR IN UNIFORM

ARMY SENSE OF HUMOUR
A Laugh on Monday Morning 
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Disclaimer: Please read this only if you have a sense of humour. This is a spoof. So first convince yourself that you have a sense of humour and only then read the yarn and have a laugh.

I thought the Navy was witty, but I must say that the army has a great sense of humour.

I have seen many recruitment advertisements with catchy slogans aimed at attracting the right kind of youth to a career in the Defence Services (Army Navy and Air Force).

When we were students the most popular army recruitment advertisement had a rather prosaic yet effective slogan which appealed to your patriotic sentiment:

JOIN THE ARMY AND SERVE THE NATION

This simple slogan made it very clear what type of officers and soldiers the army was looking for.

The army wanted to attract youth inspired with a sense of patriotism – young men who wanted to dedicate their lives in the service of the nation.

In those “good old days” an army officer was required to put service before self and live up to the Chetwode Motto:

“The safety, honour and welfare of your Country come first, always and every time.
The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next.
Your own ease, comfort and safety come last always and every time”

And so the army recruitment slogan was in sync with this paramount OLQ requirement.

( OLQ is the acronym for “Officer Like Qualities” )

The Navy had its own slogans too. 

Those days a popular navy recruitment advertisement had the slogan:

JOIN THE NAVY AND SEE THE WORLD

(Now you know why I preferred the navy to the army, though in hindsight I realize that I have hardly seen much of the world especially in comparison to my merchant mariner son who has travelled round the globe sailing across all oceans and seas and seeing all continents)

Recruitment advertisements were designed depending on what type of person the army wanted to attract to recruit as an officer or a soldier.

The recruitment slogan encapsulates in a nutshell the cardinal OLQ (“Officer Like Quality”) desired at that point of time.

Thus, the slogan “Join the Army and Serve the Nation” clearly implied that patriotism was the most important OLQ.

OLQ (or what are considered “Officer Like Qualities”) keep changing as the army ethos and value system tries to keep in tune with the changing social culture and situational ethics. 

Accordingly, as the concept of OLQ changed from time to time, in order to attract the matching type of youth to join the army, the army came up with a variety of recruitment slogans emphasizing on and appealing to different human sentiments – adventure, bravery, masculinity, honesty, sacrifice, social status, quality of life, sports and recreation facilities, salary and perks, financial security, material benefits etc

Yes, with the progress of time, change in ethos and value system is inevitable and the meaning of OLQ too will accordingly change to keep in sync with social mores.

Like I said, I thought the navy was witty, but I was stunned when I came across this bizarre army recruitment slogan:

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE BEAUTIFUL AND SUCCESSFUL DAUGHTERS JOIN INDIAN ARMY

I chanced upon this gem of wit on twitter. It was a photograph of a hoarding apparently carrying an army recruitment advertisement. The advertisement had pictures of Bollywood Actors and Celebrities, who are daughters of army officers, with a caption that reads: “If you want to have beautiful and successful daughters, join Indian Army”

Some persons had clicked snapshots and photos of the hoarding featuring this colourful army recruitment advertisement and uploaded the pictures on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and soon this picture had gone viral on twitter.

In due course, this was picked up by the mainstream media and duly reported in newspapers and TV news channels.

There are many reasons to join the Army, but this one takes the cake: “Join the Army if you want to have beautiful and successful daughters?” – what a fascinating and incredible reason! 

I wonder what type of officer material the army is trying to attract and what is the new meaning of the term OLQ?

Well, I have not seen this advertisement myself, so I will not post it here. You may have seen it (and read about it) in the mainstream media or on the social media or on the internet. 

If you haven’t, here is are some links to reports and picture of the advertisement in the mainstream media (click the links below which will open in a new window):

(And hey, after seeing the pictures and reading the news-reports, please remember to come back here and continue reading my blog)

DNA Newspaper : Thursday, Apr 18, 2013



India Today Online



As I write this I cannot stop laughing.

“If you want to have beautiful and successful daughters, join Indian Army”

I have not seen a more hilarious army recruitment slogan than this one.

Have you? 


VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional  and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

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2 comments:

Jayadev said...

Interesting concept .... join the army to have a beautiful daughter! :)

But such ploys have been used the world over to win over the youth. These days the services are considered worthy career options.

Good one, Vikram.

Vikram Waman Karve said...

@ Jayadev - long term concept indeed