‘If I don’t, who will save him?’ pondered Shershah amidst the chaos.
His mind buzzed with rapid-fire thoughts.
‘It’s not a choice really’ he reassured himself & jumped into the crossfire.
‘Get up, you have to make it’ Shershah yelled repeatedly from above.
For the first time in his life, the body disobeyed the mind.
Gyanban Thoughts – What were you doing in the summer of 99? Think about the time you were 24 years old. What fun were you having ? What pleasant memories you have about those delirious parties, innocent romances the thrill of your first salary check perhaps.
And then think about Captain Vikram Batra,24, died saving his men in the battlefield. Posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra, nations highest military honour, while we hummed to the tune of Yeh Dil Maangey more( my heart wants more) the popular cola advert.! Ironically this became the war cry for Captain Vikram Batra.
Nick-named Sher Shah (King of Lions) for his unflinching courage, he was killed when he tried to rescue an injured officer in the battled field. Think about his mindset before he took that decision to jump into an obvious hazardous cross-fire.
And I think to myself - When was the last time you did something brave? Something selfless? Something that does not amount to any benefit to you ?
Captain Batra – True courage needs no adjectives. Salute.
liked the thought behind the post
ReplyDeletemani
When hoopla and hype reign supreme, this post do come as a gentle throwback to the past.
ReplyDeleteVery nice :)
ReplyDeleteYou brought out countless emotions in so few words.
How easily we forget our heroes - glad you wrote about him.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO GB.....Am proud of you:-)The after thoughts are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteGot this link from purba's blog where she rates it as one of the best. She is right.thanks for your thoughts,had not heard of the captain....a bit of an awakening for me as well.
ReplyDelete@MM - glad you liked it. Thanks.
ReplyDelete@Meghpeon - Thanks. yes I keep thinking of people who are once made history now rest in old archives, for some lone researcher or another event to remember them.
@dialoguewithyou - thanks. Imagine what emotions Capt.VB would have gone through.!
@Purba - Exactly, only anniversaries or catastrophies remind us of them.!
@Sudeshna - Thank you.
@Prakash - welcome to Gyanban. Thank you for your kind words. I am glad this post did a little bit to make someone sit up and think.
Good one Gb. :)
ReplyDeleteWe get so caught up in our own busy lives, that we don't spare a thought for people like Captain Vikram Batra. I didn't even know about him, till I read this post of yours.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that there are people like you who bring forward such touching incidents to the rest of us. Thank you!
@Bedlam - thank you.:)
ReplyDelete@Venice - Thanks for reading.Sometimes in our race to attain material greatness of our self -centered lives,we tend to get oblivious about the true selfless greatness which keeps the world still spinning.
We just remember our protectors during anniversaries or crisis situations.!!
have been out of the blog world for a while.....luved your post7 the thought behind it.
ReplyDeleteWonderful - as always! Succinct and poignant too. We tend to forget our real heroes - who ensure that we sleep peacefully... and worship matinee idols and cricket gods instead.
ReplyDelete