Since the very beginning to Air Force we are drawn,
As military hospital is where most of us are born.
Different corners of the country in each posting we've seen
In camps clean and green we have always been.

Studied in a KV or an Air Force school,
Went by green busses coz yellow wasn’t rule.
Evenings were spent cycling, swimming or playing,
Moms would walk and dads away flying.

Badakhanna and Tambola we would be taken,
But rum punch and dining at night we were forbidden.
From one room to two, then status house we'd move,
That would be end of tenure and we'd be back in the groove.

Boxes and trunks got numbered and painted,
Soon all belongings into a truck got mounted.
Making new friends and change of school so common,
As adieus and farewells were bid so often.

Eating out meant at the mess or institute,
For food-courts and restaurants, they were our substitute.
Parties were held in the anteroom,
Also sometimes in the in the ladies room.

Santa came on a chopper or Queen Mary but never on a sleigh!
Christmas was time for party n gifts and it surely made our day.
Festival times in groups we'd roam,
Wishing people home to home.

Dads had uniforms for every season,
And a dress code for each occasion.
All this is so amazingly clear,
Memories that are so dear.

This was childhood in the Air Force,
Lucky to have it we realise in due course.


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* Air Force - Indian Air Force
* KV - Kendriya Vidyalaya. A system of central government schools that have been instituted under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (wikipedia)
* Badakhanna - 'Grand lunch' where officers and families join other ranks and their families on special occasions like Squadron anniversary
* Tambola - Game of Housie or Bingo
* Rum punch - Cocktail party on special occasions 
* Queen Mary - A long trailer used to transport containers. On X'mas day, children would go around the campus with Santa Clause on the vehicle