Articles by S Krishnappa

The Americanisation of Bodh Singh S Krishnappa SOME years ago a Canadian journalist named Stevens wrote a rather interesting piece called "The Sun Is Setting on the Paleface Brave". That was just before the electronic war in Vietnam had got into full swing. Stevens' thesis was that Western armies and specifically the white soldier had surely but steadily lost the fighting man's basic stalking instincts and senses, because he had become more and more dependent on sophisticated and expensive gadgetry. The coloured soldier (Asian or African), on the other hand, had not been trained and, therefore, had not become dependent on gadgetry. He retained his keep basic (call it primitive if you like) instincts and senses; acute vision, hearing and sense of smell as well as the ability to move unfettered on and under the battlefield. The coloured soldier was therefore bound to defeat his white adversary, who was handicapped on the battlefield by his electro-mechanical crutches, so to speak. Vietnam has since abundantly proved that the more a soldier is trained to be dependent on sophisticated crutches the more he cannot fight.