Yashodhan P. Toprani รีทวีตแล้ว
His name was Captain Vikram Batra.
24 years old. From Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. Son of a school principal and a school teacher.
He could have joined the Merchant Navy. High salary. Stable life. He turned it down and chose the Indian Army instead.
In 1995 at Punjab University in Chandigarh, he met a girl named Dimple Cheema. They fell in love. Her family disapproved. She stayed.
He left for the Indian Military Academy. Then, for postings far away. They stayed together through letters and phone calls and stolen weekends.
Once at a gurudwara, he walked behind her holding the edge of her dupatta through four rounds of parikrama.
When she turned around, he smiled and said congratulations Mrs Batra. Did you not realise we just completed four rounds together.
That was his proposal.
Before leaving for Kargil in 1999, he wrote in his diary.
Either I will come back after hoisting the tricolour, or I will come back wrapped in it. But I will come back for sure.
In June 1999, he captured Point 5140 from Pakistani forces. His war cry echoed across the mountains. Yeh Dil Maange More.
On July 7 1999, he went back up for Point 4875. A fellow officer was injured and lying exposed to enemy fire. Vikram went forward to pull him back.
He was shot.
He was 24 years old.
Dimple never married.
She lives in Chandigarh and teaches in a school. She has said this.
Not a single day in the past 25 years have I felt detached from him. It feels as if he is away on a posting. I know we will meet again. It is just a matter of time.
He got 24 years.
She gave him the rest of her life.
Remember both names.
(The Image was improved using an AI tool.)
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