'The IMMORTALS of KARGIL'
''Atop the cold blankets of snow.
A dark conspiracy was what they planned
To throttle our sacred nation.
With their wicked plans and ammunition..
But little did they know their ambush would backfire..
And when the snow started to melt,
Their cowardice was out in open..
A battle was on and our brave jawaans marched along..
The tiger hill had to be regained
The battle of Kargil had begun..
The firing bullets roared the cold skies..
Destroying every atom of the enemy's existence.
Blood was shed from our side too..
And sacrifices made..
As the entire nation watched in bated breath..
And with silent teardrops on their eyes.
As the heroes became martyrs
As mothers lost their sons.
And sons lost their fathers.
And many more widowed wives..
But little did they care about their own lives.
As scars became their ornaments and martyrdom became their life time achievement award..
And in that moment they became unafraid of death itself.
As the nation demanded salvation.
And human lives were just instruments
In the gory battle of attrition..
They fought and fought till their breaths allowed.
Even as the bullets pierced their very hearts.
Until the fluttering tricolor was hoisted back in its safe place..
Martyrs did not die.
History made them immortals..''
P.S.- As I write this, there are soldiers in readiness guarding our frontiers so that I can make this blog..
Countless sleepless nights in the chilly snows of Kargil and dreadful hot days in the summer months of Rajasthan. All for one reason- To keep the tricolour fluttering high!!
They stand there unflinchingly even as our celebrated leaders enjoy their afternoon siesta in lok sabha or just bunk it and run away to desolate places for months together. Even as a meagre 25 opposition party members halt the proceedings of the Parliament. And even as Arnab Goswami cribs and cries and roars and shouts and verbally rips apart the Pakistani delegates. They stand there, even as our leaders go out of their way to help a special convict reach out to his ailing spouse, not bothering about their dying parents and ailing children, much less caring for their own lives..
I am full of guilt as i write this, but I don't think we do justice to their sacrifices by whiling our time on nonsense petty talks and sheepish entertainment..
On this independence day, I wish to salute all the jawaans who sacrificed their lives for protecting us day in day out... For this is the least I can do..
- Devashish Palkar
