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Do the armed forces give you an edge?

Whether it’s blazing up tinsel town with their oomph or hotting up the sports field with their skill, people from a forces background are doing it all with panache, finds Rashmi Vasudeva.

Offspring of Indian armed forces seem to have that X factor that reality shows are always harping about. Be that extra tilt in the walk that Priyanka Chopra, that in-your-face sexiness of Lara Dutta or the quiet force of Jaswant Singh, celebs with a military background rock. What is it about the armed forces that these celebrities have inherited?

Priyanka Chopra, in one of her early interviews after winning the Miss Universe crown, had said that the forces teach the kids adaptability. “We move from place to place and adapting to new situations comes naturally to us.”

Sushmita Sen, in her inevitable style, had a different take on her army background. She remembers her guarded lifestyle when she was growing up and how most of the time was spent in her dad’s air force camps. “Even the school used to be in the camp compound and the only people you could find attractive were fighter pilots and flight lieutenants — really young NDA pass-outs!” She recalls ogling at them and going ‘wow’ about those young lads in uniform.

This ‘beauty in uniform’ trend began much earlier with one of India’s earliest successes Manpreet Brar. Miss India Universe runner up, Manpreet admitted quite sheepishly that army kids rarely learn to speak their mother tongue well. “We kept moving all the time and our parents mostly spoke English.” But what she was most excited about was the kind of cars army life afforded. “Oh, I just loved those black Ambys and Gypsys with the red light on top that dad used to drive around in,” she had said in an interview. If Manpreet was one of the first in the long list that includes beauties like Sandhya Chibb, Lara Dutta, Priya Gill, Preity Zinta (her brother’s in the army), the latest is Amrita Thapar, the current Miss India. Amrita said recently that it was her Army background that helped her interact with everybody with poise during the run-up to the contest.

Don’t be misled into thinking that only beauty queens have the army edge. Sport celebrities too abound. From the ‘flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, who can easily be described as one of the most extraordinary athletes of all times to the current hottie Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (he won the silver medal for men’s double-trap shooting event at the 28th Olympic games in Athens, in 2004) the influence of the armed forces is seen in sports that depend heavily on athleticism. Rathore, in fact, is still an army officer and has been recently allowed by the Defence ministry to endorse products of the Sahara Group and Hero Honda. There is also the fact that the army will get five per cent of Rathore’s earnings through endorsements.

And finally, there are the sparkling stars — in fields you would hardly associate the army with. Col Wahi (Retd), who with his sheer hard work and patience (which he said he learnt from being a military officer), rose to the level of chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), a company that has today become the pride of the nation.

Not to forget former external affairs minister, the sober-looking Jaswant Singh, whose legendary ‘army temper’ is quite well-known in political circles. Singh’s military background, it is said, helped him understand perfectly American concerns following India’s nuclear tests. "He knew exactly which point to force and played on US fears of terrorism and a rogue state without control. His guidance was of immense help," an official had said. And finally there is Rakesh Sharma, who attributes his penchant for perfection and his healthy demeanour to his army training. Cosmonaut to ministers to athletes to stars — the stellar exploits of these privileged offspring seems to be as fascinating as the armed forces itself.