More and more youth are approaching the armed forces to know about the ‘life there’.

Many like Ajay Shrestha, who visited India Gate with his wife recently, say they no longer see being frisked as an ordeal. “Policemen are the backbone of safety and I support them during security checks. After the Mumbai attacks, I think we need to trust and support them,” Ajay says.

On any usual evening at the India Gate, a few visitors make it a point to get their photographs clicked alongside the jawans on guard there.

The armed men themselves see the difference. They say since the Mumbai attacks, they have been getting more “fans” wanting to know how it feels to be a jawan.

“Nowadays people look at us with a lot of respect. Earlier, they usually avoided us , but now they stop to talk to us,” a CRPF jawan on duty at India Gate says.