When the Uniform Is Folded, but the Service Never Ends

This is a day for those who no longer stand on parade but continue to stand guard in other ways: through memory, through example, through the values they pass on to a country that often benefits from their service without fully seeing it. Veterans Day belongs to men and women who have stepped out of active duty but not out of responsibility; whose service did not end with retirement papers, but simply changed form.

For India’s military veterans, this day is not about looking back with regret. It is about looking back with clarity.

“For us, Veterans Day is a day of memories, of nostalgia, and of the realisation that we became an army of our own,” says Lieutenant General Mohan Das (Retd), who joined the National Defence Academy in 1960 and served the nation through wars, insurgencies, and decades of command and technical leadership. His words echo a sentiment shared across ranks and regiments: that service created not just soldiers, but custodians of a national legacy.

That sense of ownership—of having belonged to something larger than the self—runs like a quiet current through every veteran’s recollection. The Indian Army, for those who have worn its uniform, was never merely an employer. It was a shaping force, a moral compass, and, for many, the first place where they learned what responsibility truly meant.

A Life Shaped Early

Military service in India often begins before adulthood has fully formed. Many veterans trace the shaping of their character not to a single battlefield moment, but to the slow, deliberate moulding that began in adolescence.

Lt Gen Mohan Das recalls joining the NDA at the age of fifteen. “We learned to become men from little boys at the academy,” he says. “And thereafter, in our regiments, we learned how to command men, how to deal with human beings, and how to extract the best from them.”

That education, veterans insist, is unlike any other. It is not confined to classrooms or drill squares. It unfolds in shared hardship, in responsibility assumed early, and in the understanding that leadership is inseparable from accountability. You learn quickly that rank does not shield you from consequence; if anything, it multiplies it.

“We were very privileged,” Lt Gen Mohan Das adds, “and grateful to this country for giving us the opportunity to grow into what we became.”

Veterans Day is a reminder of that contract—between a nation and those who offered their youth to its defence.

The Army as Identity, Not Employment

For many who serve, the Army is not a job that ends with retirement papers. It is an identity that persists across continents, careers, and even citizenships.

Brigadier Bakir Shamim (Retd), who commanded the 270 Engineer Regiment and later served as Chief Engineer, Hyderabad, speaks of this bond with striking candour. After thirty-five years in uniform, he took premature retirement, worked in the corporate sector abroad, and built a life far removed from military routine. He became an American citizen. Yet, when he returned to India, he chose to live close to a cantonment.

“I am an American citizen now,” Brigadier Shamim says, “but in the heart of hearts, I am still in the Indian Army. The Army is a family—a very close family.”

It is a sentiment echoed across generations. Veterans describe how the uniform may be folded away, medals stored carefully in cupboards, but the sense of belonging never quite leaves. Veterans Day acknowledges this invisible continuity—the way service lingers long after official duty ends.

The Quiet Cost of Service

When civilians speak of military sacrifice, they often imagine the battlefield. Veterans speak just as often of absence.

Missed milestones. Missed funerals. Missed childhoods.

“We gave our youth for the welfare of the country,” says Colonel R.P. Johri (Retd) of the 3rd Battalion, 9 Gorkha Rifles. “We lost moments that our friends in civilian life enjoyed. But our requirement was different—we had to forego those comforts for the sake of the nation.”

There is no bitterness in his voice, only a statement of fact. Service demanded trade-offs, and those trade-offs were accepted early and repeatedly. This acceptance is perhaps one of the least understood aspects of military life: the willingness to normalise absence, to treat separation as routine rather than exceptional.

Veterans Day does not romanticise this loss. It acknowledges it. It asks civilians to recognise that national security is not abstract—it is built on lives shaped by absence as much as by action.

What Never Changed

Despite dramatic shifts in technology, geopolitics, and warfare, veterans are strikingly consistent about what has endured at the heart of the Indian soldier.

“One thing remains constant,” says Col Johri. “Patriotism.”

He contrasts the soldier’s life with civilian professions not to diminish the latter, but to underline the difference. Soldiers live in direct contact with adversaries. They guard borders in isolation and discomfort so that others may live in peace.

“They do it,” he says, “without catering for personal pleasures.”

This continuity—of purpose, of willingness—is what Veterans Day honours above all.

Humanity in Uniform

Among the most powerful memories veterans carry are not moments of combat, but moments of compassion.

Brigadier Bakir Shamim recounts one such episode from his tenure in Nagaland. A junior leader had been killed in action; insurgents burned down the family home of his widow. Bureaucratic assistance was slow, entangled in the process.

“So the GOC told me, ‘Let us help her,’” Brigadier Shamim recalls. “And that was it.”

Officers and men of the regiment built her a house within two months. There was no publicity, no citation. The story could have ended there—but it did not.

The widow began visiting the unit every fortnight, bringing a cake.

“My officers would joke, ‘Sir, your girlfriend has come,’” he laughs softly. “But that cake meant everything.”

Veterans Day is filled with such stories—rarely publicised, never demanded, quietly transformative. They reveal an institution that understands service not only as defence of territory, but as stewardship of people.

Brotherhood Beyond Rank

Military camaraderie is not transactional. It does not dissolve with postings or promotions, and it does not end with retirement.

Veterans speak of batch reunions with the emotion reserved for family gatherings. Lt Gen Mohan Das mentions his NDA batch of 1960, now largely in their eighties, planning to reunite once more.

“All of us are octogenarians,” he says, “but we will get together and relive those days.”

These bonds were forged in shared hardship—through war, training, loss, and triumph. Veterans Day recognises this brotherhood, understanding that such cohesion is rare and precious.

The Army as a Moral Training Ground

Veterans often say that the Indian Army teaches lessons no civilian institution can replicate—not because civilians lack discipline or dedication, but because the stakes are fundamentally different. In uniform, decisions carry consequences that are immediate and irreversible.

Colonel Raja Shekhar (Retd) of the Rajput Regiment, commissioned in 1974 and deployed extensively in counter-insurgency operations, describes the Army as a finely balanced machine.

“We are a professional force,” he explains. “Each man has a task. If one part does not function, the entire machine faces problems.”

This clarity of role creates a moral framework. Accountability is continuous. Veterans Day honours this internal architecture of responsibility, often invisible to the outside world.

Trust Before Technology

Modern warfare is increasingly defined by technology. Veterans acknowledge this readily. Yet they are equally emphatic that technology cannot replace trust.

Lt Gen Madan Gopal (Retd), former Director General of Military Operations, notes that today’s soldiers are more educated and technically capable than ever before. But faith in leadership, he insists, remains foundational.

“In earlier days,” Col Raja Shekhar adds, “men believed us and did what was required.”

Veterans Day is a reminder that armies are sustained as much by relationships as by resources.

Restraint as Courage

Popular narratives of military bravery emphasise aggression. Veterans speak just as powerfully about restraint.

“In operations,” Col Raja Shekhar explains, “there are times when men feel they should react immediately. But leadership is telling them no.”

This discipline—to hold fire, to remain calm—is one of the Army’s least visible strengths. Veterans Day honours this quieter courage.

Loss, and the Weight of Command

Loss is not abstract in military life. Lt Gen Madan Gopal recalls an operation near Sonamarg where he encountered a soldier killed in action.

“I picked him up myself,” he says. “The mission had to continue.”

Leadership, he explains, is understanding that duty sometimes requires emotional sacrifice. Veterans Day is not about glorifying such moments, but acknowledging the burden they place on those who must make them.

Education, Growth, and the Thinking Soldier

The Indian Army has long understood that modern warfare requires intellect. Lt Gen Mohan Das, with advanced technical degrees, credits the Army for enabling both professional and academic growth.

“The Army helped us grow in overall knowledge,” he says.

Veterans Day recognises this evolution—from sheer force to informed capability.

When the Uniform Is Folded

Veterans often say you never truly leave the Army. The habits remain. The reflex to step forward when something needs to be done.

“Even today,” says Lt Gen Madan Gopal, “we think like soldiers.”

Retirement, for most veterans, is not an end but a redirection. Many carry their values into civilian life—into education, administration, corporate leadership, and community service.

Why Veterans Day Matters

Veterans Day is not meant only for those who served. It is a mirror held up to civilian life.

It asks who stands watch while others sleep. Who absorbs risk so daily life may remain ordinary.

“We served back,” says Lt Gen Mohan Das. “We gave back.”

Veterans Day exists to ensure that gratitude flows in return.

A Collective Thank You

On the fourteenth of January, the nation pauses—not to glorify war, but to honour those who carried its weight so others would not have to.

Veterans Day is a collective thank you to men and women who stood watch in silence. To those who missed milestones so others could celebrate them. To those who absorbed risk so others could live without it.

The uniform may be folded. The service never ends.