Phone Call to Glory

Phone Call to Glory

The early days of the Kargil conflict were increasingly tense as the enormity of the military task began to slowly seep in.  This was compounded by the possibility of escalation to a full-scale catastrophic war.   A techno savvy media on the other hand brought to homes never-before visuals of terrain features from the battle zone - uncommon and formidable names like Jubbar, Tololing, Tiger Hill.  These had come to symbolise the devil incarnate.  To the common man, the ‘forces of good’ had been launched against those of evil and revert it to who it belongs.

 Initiative lay with the enemy who was well-entrenched, well- armed and enjoying enormous advantages of terrain, altitude and above all, surprise. For our soldiers fighting to dislodge him, the task was uphill in every sense of the term. They had to climb the bedeviled high peaks, carrying with them weapons and battle hardware to engage the enemy in brutal close quarter combat.

 Military Commanders and the few others who know battle in such terrain gauged the slim odds of success.  If the mission was to be accomplished our boys will have to do much beyond their potential. Silent prayers underlay cautious hope.

 Second Battalion, The Rajputana Rifles was amongst the first units to be inducted into the battle.  A large number of the its soldiers hailed from a region which had long traditions of valour, where martyrdom is regarded next to Godhood itself.   Their task was to secure a feature named ‘Three Pimples’ a formidably steep mountain.  Those who would confront the enemy at its heights would be sapped of energy by the severity of the climb. 

 This was no ordinary military task for howsoever well-trained and proud a Battalion from any Army in the world. Each man stood dwarfed to humility by the awe and might of the very mountain they were tasked to capture. The ‘Raj Rif’ boys grouped silently for this unqual battle at the Forming Up Place (FUP), the Start line of the battleground, the ‘ Ranbhoomi’ for many of them. Hereafter, they are well unto their own, with their comrades and their God.  Nothing else matters henceforth and there is no looking back. 

 An initial attempt to capture the feature had to be aborted and even as planning was afoot for the next attempt, something unexpected occurred – a phone call on the  Commanding Officer’s handset. This was a call from the Army Chief, exhorting him and his troops to success. 

 Overwhelmed, there was little the CO could say in reply but the call brought about a cataclysmic transformation in the morale of each of his men.

 The battle that followed is a shining chapter in the annals of the recorded history of the Kargil War. In Buddhist philosophy, the human mind is akin to a lotus flower. Once the dark sepals of ignorance are peeled open, they reveal the staid petals of thought, knowledge, emotions, in vivid colours and   patterns which reflect the turbulence of the mind.  These become more variegated towards the centre and then recede in size where they cluster, to merge into a oneness. Their shrinking size reflects humility and their brightness the blissful joy they experience in the proximity of the divine cosmic jewel that lies beneath.

 It is this diamond of eternal existence, which has to be drawn out to attain the ultimate effervescence of life - the essence of the prayer chant of the Himalayan Buddhists - Om Mani Padme Hum.