Indian soldiers – “We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial…” ― Erich Maria Remarque

Soldiers are the only lot that actually deserves the name HERO.

There is no country without an army and there’s no army without its soldiers. We don’t know their lives closely, and hence, we don’t know many facts.

Let us take a moment in our busy little lives and think over the kind of experiences an Indian soldiers have to go through in his/her life.

Things that Indian soldiers go through –

1. A young awestruck boy, overwhelmed, proud and extremely happy at the very sight of the Army Academy is what every soldier is, when he steps into the life, with head held high! With dreams of heroism, and aspirations to bring out some real action on the ground, the young lad dives into the training!

2. And yes the appearance needs to be changed, needs to be aligned with the responsibility that the soldier will carry on the shoulder. Frivolous dressing and the long hair – a strict NO NO! All goes, with a sad sigh! The heart breaks into a million pieces with those flowing hair loosing the head grounds, but frets he not, for it’s all for the motherland!

3. The 3 excruciating stages of training that the Indian SOldier goes through are bone crushing! Gruelling to the core, than you can ever imagine! Starting from early morning soldiers are initiated into intense physical and psychological training. The idea is to make them tougher, faster and more efficient. And the immediate goal is to habituate the soldiers into being physically and mentally alert at all goddamn times.

4. When they finally make it to battle field, they unanimously chant – “if death strikes before I prove my blood, I promise, I will kill death”. To put things in perspective, let me recount to you the story of a man – Jaswant Singh Rawat – who single-handedly baffled 300 Chinese soldiers. During the Indo-Chinese war in 1962 when Jaswant’s entire company retreated in the face of advancing Chinese army, he insisted on staying back. With the help of 2 Monpa tribal girls he kept the Chinese army at bay for 3 whole days. When they eventually found out that they were being fooled by a single Indian soldier, they captured him. But by then Jaswant had shot himself in the head. We are proud of you lads!

5. And then comes the saddest of experiences when a soldier loses a comrade. To see a fellow soldier die in front of his eyes is like seeing a brother dying you grew up with. And you just cannot do anything about it! It’s killing, trust me, it is!

6. Death, Destruction, Blood, Wounds and Bullet Holes – These images haunt them for as long as they live! Nightmares follow them when they try to get some sleep!

7. Returning troops often suffer depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (aka PTSD) resulting from the horrible ordeal they’ve gone through in the battlefield. For war veterans PTSD occurs from traumatic incidents like mugging, being subjected to 3rd degree torture, raped as war prisoners or being held captive. Soldiers suffering from PTSD become emotionally numb and are often driven to committing suicide!

8. The experience of washing away the unbearable guilt of having killed someone for the first time is something we’ll never know. But our dear soldiers understand that back home their loved one’s are counting on them, to keep them safe and sound. And that is the reason they keep everything behind them and return with a smile on their faces. No matter how haunting the battlegrounds are, off they go, marching to the front once again, vowing that they’ll return, either victorious or wrapped in the tricolour, and then one day they experience the joy of saving a comrade, which adds to the glory, to the ultimate satisfaction of being a soldier.

10. Letters become a significant part of their lives and the lives of their families. The only way they can communicate, touch and feel the presence of the loved ones. The window to the lives they are not a part of, day in and day out! They live their families, throw the letters only.

11. No matter what hardship they face, every time they view the DLTGH (days left to go home) marked on the calendar, their heart melts. They count the moments for that day when they can return to their families, to their newborn babies, waiting kids, melancholic wives and grieving parents. To hug them and tell them that they are standing right there, to take care of everything. Joys of returning home alive, to love, to embrace and to live is something most of us will never truly understand the way soldiers do.

12. And no matter how happy and comfortable they are, no matter how much they love being home, when the motherland calls, they’ll rise without hesitation and march again to save the country.

13. For Indian soldiers, the stars on their shoulder are way too magnificent than the one’s in the distant sky. They live, they fight, they love… everything for the nation!

Their very own India!
Long live the Indian soldiers!

The post This Is What An Indian Soldier Actually Goes Through! appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

Tales of bravery – We have read about heroes in tales and folklores have mention of them.

In the common belief, a hero is who protects his society and has an image larger than life, at least that’s what Greek Epics taught us. But we had little inkling what our real heroes do, how irrevocable their dedication to the nation and its people is and till what gamut they self-sacrifice.

Here’s referring to Tales of bravery of our brave soldiers and it is no secret how they stand guard in the Siachen Glacier overnight in the bone-chilling cold to give us peaceful sleep. If that is not larger than life, then what is?

Here are the Tales of bravery of our brave soldiers that will surely put you in tears:

Tales of bravery –

1 – Captain Vikram Batra:

Captain Vikram Batra is known as the hero of Kargil war who belonged to the 13 J&k Rifles. He pioneered one of the toughest operations in Kargil and hence called the Sher Shah. He, with his team recaptured Peak 5140 located in 17,000 feet, there after he recaptured peak 4875 and called his family, little did he know, that it will be his last call. Pakistani forces were up in arms against them there and in the journey, his fellow officers was severely injured. He laid his life to save his fellow soldier because he had children. His last words were ‘Jai Mata Di’. He was posthumously awarded Paramvir Chakra.

2 – Major General Ian Cardozo:

He left his mark in 1971 war with Pakistan where he was an young major in 5 Gorkha rifles. His leg was injured by a landmine blast in the war and doctors could not operate it. He asked for a Khukri and cut his leg off saying ‘go bury it’. He, with his unflinching will power, continued to serve the country even after the incident and became the first disabled officer of Indian Army. No abled soldier could beat him for fitness too.

3 – Brigadier Mohammad Usman:

He was named ‘The Lion of Naushera’ by his fellow soldiers because of his fierce attack on Naushera and Jhangar during the Indo-Pak war of 1947/48. At the time of Partition, he was offered the supreme position in the Pakistani army but he chose to stay in India and joined the Dogra regiment of India. He never got married as he was committed to his country and its people. He even donated a large share of his salary  for the well-being of poor children. This inspiring personality died during defending Jhangar and his last words were ‘I am dying but let not the territory we were fighting for fall to the enemy.”

4 – Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav:

He was the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra which  was conferred with at the age of 19. His courage in 1999 Kargil war became a benchmark and he volunteered the capturing action of three strategic bunkers on Tiger Hill above a 16,500 feet snow covered high cliff face. By the time he was climbing, the enemy camp started rocket-firing which struck his groin and shoulder but he didn’t stop until the target was achieved. He crawled to the nearby enemy bunker and threw a grenade irrespective of the severe pain prompting the Indian soldiers to climb up the peak. He further engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemies too and succeeded in achieving Tiger Hill. He even survived a few more bullets that hit him during this time. Yadav’s on screen portrayal was Hrithik Roshan’s character in the film Lakshya.

5 – Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan:

He was an officer in the Indian Army serving the elite special action group of the National Security Guards. He was martyred during his fight against the terrorists in the fateful 26/11 incident in Mumbai. In the night, when several iconic South Mumbai buildings were attacked, He was the team commander of 51 Special Action Group and jumped to the rescue of hostages in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. He entered the hotel with 10 commandos and reached until sixth floor through the staircase. On suspecting the presence of the culprits in the third floor, they broke open the door and opened fire. During this fight, his fellow team mate Sunil Yadav was gruesomely injured by the counter attack and Unnikrishnan arranged for an evacuation for him. Soon after, he succumbed to his injuries being shot at the back. He received Ashok Chakra  for his bravery.

6 – Major Ramaswamy Parameshwaran:

He was martyred in the 1987 India’s Sri Lanka operations. He was returning from search operations in Sri Lanka where he was attacked by terrorists. He showed great presence of mind without panicking. He encircled the enemies from the back and hurled attack on them. This one was followed by a hand-to-hand combat where a militant shot him at the chest. Parameshwaram snatched the rifle from the militant and gunned him down and kept fighting until his last breath. In that situation, Indians managed to kill 5 predators only to recover three rifles and two rocket launchers from them.

These are the Tales of bravery – Our eyes moisten, hearts stop and we get goosebumps reading these stories because they are too heroic to be real.

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