You think you respect soldiers
Most of us break the rules they defend
Deepak Kumar survived the Indian Army.
Years of service. Real combat. He made it through everything the Army put in front of him.
He died on a Delhi road on July 5, 2021.
Not enemy fire. Not a militant.
A truck driver who decided the rules did not apply to him.
A Delhi tribunal confirmed it: death by negligent driving. His family received ₹1.1 crore.
That is what a life was reduced to.
He survived war. He did not survive us.
Sit with that for a second.
This was not an accident.
This was not just one bad decision.
It was the result of something far more normal.
A culture where breaking rules is not rebellion. It is routine.
We do it without thinking. We expect others to adjust. We call it “chalta hai.”
That is not harmless.
That is the system quietly failing in real time.
And soldiers are the ones holding that system together.
What soldiers defend
We say soldiers defend borders.
But that is only part of the job.
They defend something more fragile.
The ability to stop at a signal and trust others will too.
The confidence that rules will be followed even when no one is watching.
The basic contract between strangers that makes daily life work.
We test that contract every day.
At red lights when we are late.
At tax deadlines when it is convenient.
At counters where a shortcut is faster than doing things properly.
Respect is not what you feel.
Most people say they respect soldiers.
What they really mean is they respect the idea of sacrifice.
Because real respect is inconvenient.
It slows you down.
It costs you money.
It asks you to do the right thing when no one is watching.
That is where this breaks.
Most respect is performance.
Thousands gather when a soldier dies.
Flags go up. Speeches are made.
And then, on the drive back home, some of those same people break the first rule they see.
That is not respect. That is performance.
The damage is measurable.
India recorded 4,61,312 road accidents and 1,68,491 deaths in 2022.
Over 70 percent were linked to speeding, drunk driving, or ignoring traffic rules.
That is not fate. That is behavior.
Every one of those deaths is a call a family did not see coming.
Most will never get justice. No tribunal. No meaningful compensation.
Just silence and adjustment.
Now look at taxes.
₹7.08 lakh crore in GST evasion detected over five years.
That is not clever accounting.
That is unpaid infrastructure. Unfunded defense.
Then corruption.
Every bribe paid keeps a broken system alive one more day.
People blame politicians.
But corruption survives because ordinary people keep voting for it with cash.
The belief that breaks everything.
The same person who posts “Respect our soldiers” will bend three rules before lunch.
Not because they are evil.
Because they believe rules are optional when inconvenient.
That belief is the real threat.
Not at the border.
At the signal. At the office. At the counter.
When we fail, they get deployed
When things fall apart, who do we call?
The Army.
Your breakdown becomes their deployment.
Your disorder becomes their burden.
And it lands on real families. Again.
Start where it hurts.
If you want to honor a soldier, do not start with emotion.
Start with discipline.
Pick one rule you usually bend.
Follow it today. No exceptions. No justifications.
Stop at the red light.
Pay what you owe.
Say no to the bribe.
Do it when it costs you something. That is the point.
One person will not fix the system. But that is the same logic that breaks it in the first place.
A system does not collapse in one moment. It erodes through millions of small permissions.
Soldiers stand guard so a country under laws can exist.
What they cannot do is live that discipline for you.
That part was always yours.
Uncommonly yours,
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