Bharat Ke Veer

 

                                                    Image from Pixabay Image by Jai Bhutani

Ever since the news about the bloody Galwan Valley clash broke out, I have been restless, sleepless. I began following every bit of news to get the latest update. Thanks to Covid and the current lockdown situation, a lot of plans that I had made have just fallen flat. Plans for travel, religious and leisure, visiting cousins and friends, or even seeing off my dearest bestie before she leaves for the US - everything has come to a halt. I can't stop myself from cursing the neighbour that God has bestowed upon us with. 

During such sleepless nights, I scroll my Twitter feed over and over again. I realised I have not done enough, if nothing for my motherland, for my community. I have only been taking a lot from them. Now that all plans have been put off indefinitely, there is little we can do by venturing out. Here's where technology helps.

A handle I follow had shared a link to an event where the speakers would be Kargil veterans and the idea was to commemorate Kargil Vijay Diwas. As a very enthusiastic Indian who always tears up and gets goosebumps when I listen to our National Anthem or National Song or any music that is linked to patriotism (Amma used to make me sleep by singing these melodies), I joined the discussion.

While there are a few who know a lot about wars, not everyone knows about the infamous Kargil war which occurred when I was in Class X. Being a resident of the southern part of India, I realise that not everyone or not even the majority has the slightest inclination to say anything patriotic, leave alone Jai Hind or Bharat Mata ki Jai. Very recently I see a change in attitude mainly because we have a lot of people from the Northern part of our country living here and a little bit also due to our Prime Minister Modiji. I am digressing... 

Rewind to 1999 - One specific journalist took a lot of credit for reporting during the war and yes, yours truly used to be a fan but not anymore... Stories of Group Captain Nachiketa's ejection; Yeh Dil Maange More Capt Vikram Batra, the gruesome murder of Capt Saurabh Kalia are all that I can remember and I continued to live with that minimal knowledge. I hardly even knew where Kargil was located until Aug 5 2019 happened. I hang my head in shame. 

Back to today's event which was held via Google Meet and had Major Madhan Kumar, Capt Sada Peter, and Wing Cdr KR Srikanth narrate different aspects of the Kargil war. 

Did you know it was called Operation Safed, we only knew it was Operation Vijay. Did you know the story of a PVC recipient Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey? I didn't. Did you know soldiers had to carry a battle load of 25 kgs and manage pressure, low oxygen, and extreme temperatures at those heights? We only had a very rough idea. 

Having lived in a temperate climate all my life, I get the chills when temperatures go below 23 deg, imagine carrying a load and fighting the enemy at temperatures that could go down to -60 deg! Is it even humanly possible? 

As Major Madhan said, wars can be fought with military power, intelligence, and whatnot, Kargil was a war fought on the courage of the Indian soldier. It teared me up when he quoted Lt Manoj Pandey's words "If death strikes before I prove my blood, I promise (swear), I will kill death!" (source: Wikipedia) 

A shower of bullets would not stop the 24-yr old Pandey, what is stopping you and me from giving back to the nation? A lot has to be done to bring about an uprising, a wave, to rekindle patriotism. We need to do more. 

One member of the audience asked just what I had in mind - what can we do to increase awareness, spread more about our brave jawans and stories of their bravery, we need something like a rebirth. This is not the Bharat that our ancestors won Independence for, the independence that we take for granted today. We need to do more. 

Let us vow to choose our heroes wisely, read more about our heroes, tell our children about their heroic acts, instill patriotism from childhood. Let us learn to be responsible citizens that a soldier feels he must fight for. A soldier standing there at the border doesn't know you and me, he still gives up his life for us. Let us learn to be grateful for that and do what it takes to call ourselves citizens of this great nation!

Jai Hind!