What the letter must contain
- The informal letter format the unit itself uses — address, date, ‘Dear ___,’, an opening line of greeting, three or four short paragraphs, ‘Your friend,’ and your name.
- One paragraph for each of the three areas named in the question — natural calamities, infrastructure, welfare — with a real example in each.
- A closing that says why this side of the Forces surprised or moved you.
14, Nehru Colony
Dehradun
18 August 20XX
Dear Ritu,
Hope you and your family are well. Do you remember arguing with me that the Army only matters when there is a war? I have just finished a chapter in our English book that changed my mind, and I had to write to you at once.
Think of the last big flood you saw on television. The helicopters lifting people off rooftops, the soldiers wading chest-deep with a rope, the inflatable boats — those are the Armed Forces. In the Kerala floods and in the Uttarakhand disaster, Army, Navy and Air Force teams rescued thousands and set up kitchens and shelters. In an earthquake they are usually the first to reach, because they are trained to move fast with their own food, tents and doctors.
They also build. The Border Roads Organisation cuts roads and throws bridges across rivers in places where no contractor will go — high passes in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, where a bridge means that a village gets medicines in winter. Army engineers have put up temporary bridges in a single night after floods washed the old ones away.
And there is the quiet work nobody photographs: free medical camps in border villages, veterinary care for cattle, schools and libraries run for children who live too far from a town, and swimming and adventure courses for local youngsters. In Ladakh and the North-East, soldiers have taught in village schools for years.
So the uniform is not only for war. It is for the worst day of an ordinary family's life, whatever causes it. Write back and tell me what you think now!
Your friend,
Ananya