00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:06 So Sikhs are actually synonym to martial races.
00:10 So we don't care about that if our son or if our kid
00:13 or somebody goes into the army.
00:15 It's rather a matter of pride.
00:16 So there is no ill feeling or there is no sad reaction.
00:20 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:22 My son will be there or not.
00:24 Nobody thinks about all those things.
00:27 You know, the challenges in life are
00:29 given to only those lucky peoples who
00:31 are bound to get success and beautiful future.
00:34 Only thing what we have to realize
00:37 is that every challenge is an opportunity
00:39 to go inside and build your inner strength
00:43 to rise above that challenge.
00:44 The day you rise above the challenge,
00:46 you will get that success for which you are destined.
00:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:56 Seed of IMA or seed of army was sown when I was in ninth
01:01 standard itself because that is when after running away
01:06 from my home once, I realized that I
01:09 will have to stay put wherever I am
01:12 and make my mark by doing something great here itself.
01:17 Though it was a difficult journey to step into the IMA
01:20 because after a few failures only,
01:22 I could get inside the army.
01:24 But once I was in, it was like the biggest
01:27 achievement of my life.
01:30 101 badge is actually not a badge.
01:32 It's an extended family for me.
01:34 The bonding between the 101 brothers or any course mates
01:39 is, you know, unexplained type of a definition it belongs to.
01:44 You can't put it into words.
01:45 It is even more stronger than any of your thick blood
01:49 relations.
01:50 That is what the 101 bond is.
01:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:55 I was already deployed on line of control
01:57 in a poor area, which was not so heavily impacted
02:00 as the Kargil, Ras, Moscow towns or the villages.
02:06 [GUNSHOTS]
02:09 It is the Operation Vijay, the Kargil War,
02:12 which changed my life.
02:13 [GUNSHOT]
02:16 On 15th of July, 1999, in the same area,
02:20 where I was posted on my small post,
02:22 PT6, the enemy has attacked with heavy weapons.
02:28 And a mortar bomb has wounded me badly.
02:31 I was evacuated bravely, courageously by my soldiers,
02:35 my boys of 7th Dogra Battalion.
02:37 And even the surgeons and everybody
02:39 has played a critical role.
02:41 After being once declared dead in the war,
02:43 I was revived by Dr. Colonel Rajinder Singh.
02:46 And that is where my second life started.
02:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:55 The whole body is shattered with one injury or other.
02:58 And for me, it is very, very connected to my heart
03:00 because only after that, only I became disabled.
03:03 I lost leg.
03:05 I have injuries all over my body.
03:07 I am so cold, 100% disabled medically.
03:11 And then I started running on my artificial leg,
03:13 late running and skydiving and flying off the aircraft
03:16 and whatnot has happened.
03:17 So everything has happened only after the war
03:20 and only after being declared dead.
03:22 So for me, it is like rising out of ashes
03:26 during Operation Vigil.
03:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:29 As I always say, I perhaps am the most blessed person
03:32 on this earth because God gives me the toughest of challenges.
03:35 And then he equally gives me the courage
03:37 that, brother, if someone shoots you,
03:39 you will go up the same way.
03:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:43 This is a beautiful gesture by our band of brothers, 101,
03:46 because it is silver jubilee year of Operation Vigil.
03:52 We are paying homage on that spot
03:54 where they have given their life for us.
03:57 So in the process, we are not just
03:59 trying to pay personal homage.
04:01 We are in the process trying to convey this message
04:04 to the larger audience also that today, you and me are alive.
04:08 Today, you and me are living in a beautiful life
04:10 with our family in a comfortable environment
04:12 because somebody, whenever the opportunity came,
04:17 did not shy away from giving his life
04:19 or limb for the sake of us.
04:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:24 (dramatic music)
Comments