Kargil by Rachna Bisht Rawat

Author:Rachna Bisht Rawat [Rawat, Rachna Bisht]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789353055912
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2019-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Premonition

A young officer takes off his engagement ring and leaves it behind before heading out for a battle.

5 July 1999

7 a.m.

Mushkoh Valley

It is a cold, wind-lashed morning. On the barren brown mountain, where temperatures dip to two degree Celsius even in peak summer, Col. Umesh Singh Bawa, CO, 17 Jat, stands facing twenty-three-year-old Capt. Anuj Nayyar of Charlie Company, the icy wind whipping their unwashed hair and sunburnt faces. Anuj has been tasked with leading a platoon to reinforce Delta Company that has wrested the feature Whale Back from the enemy after a fierce battle but is facing ferocious counter-attacks. Maj. Deepak Rampal, Company Commander, D Coy, has sent a desperate message to his CO on the radio set that ammunition has almost run out. Anuj is being sent to his aide.

‘An opportunity to go for war comes to the most fortunate soldiers, Anuj,’ Col. Bawa tells his young officer, who stands before him, his arms ramrod straight by his side. ‘You are lucky it has come to you so early in your life.’ Looking into Anuj’s eyes, Col. Bawa rests an arm on his shoulder. ‘You have a chance to be remembered forever, don’t miss it. You can either be brave and have a shot at everlasting glory or fail in your duty and be called a coward for life. This is your chance to create history. Go and make a name for the battalion.’

Anuj’s handsome face radiates courage. His young eyes sparkle. They show no fear. But he slips off his engagement ring and takes his wallet out of his pocket. He opens it and looks briefly and tenderly at the picture of his fiancée, a pretty schoolmate he fell in love with at Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, between bunking classes and playing basketball. She is smiling up at him. He hands both his ring and wallet to his CO. ‘Will you please keep these for me, sir?’ he asks.

‘Wear the ring, Anuj. It will inspire you to fight with even more courage,’ Col. Bawa tells him.

However, Anuj is adamant. ‘I don’t want these to fall into the dirty hands of the enemy. Please keep them,’ he says.

Col. Bawa, who too is from Delhi like Anuj and had met the young bride-to-be when Anuj brought her over to his house one evening, gets sentimental. ‘Nothing will happen to you, my boy,’ he tells Anuj. ‘You will come back to us. Go and do your duty. I shall keep your belongings safe.’

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