00:00Marat Madagir, Marat Madagir, Sir!
00:17On Republic Day, India celebrates the values written into its constitution, sovereignty, responsibility, restraint.
00:26Along the line of control, those ideas are not abstract, they are practical, they are lived every day.
00:33This is a forward post, far from the parade routes and public ceremonies.
00:37Here, Republic Day is observed not with speeches, but with continuity of duty.
00:43Borders rarely feature in national celebrations, yet it is here that the idea of the Republic becomes tangible.
00:50The soldiers posted along the line of control here are not only fighting an unseen enemy, but hostile weather conditions as well.
01:00Thousands of miles away from their families, they guard these barbed wires to ensure that no infiltrators cross their fronts and create any unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
01:12There is no visible change in routine today, and that, perhaps, is the point.
01:16The morning begins with briefings. Terrain is reviewed. Equipment is checked, methodically, without urgency.
01:23Modern border management is not built on constant confrontation. It is built on preparation, information and judgment.
01:30Much of that process cannot be filmed, nor should it be. What can be seen is discipline, quiet, repetitive, deliberate.
01:38Every decision here is shaped by one overriding consideration, that stability is best preserved when situations are understood early and handled calmly.
01:47Republic Day is often associated with display, of capability, of confidence, of national pride.
01:53Here, it is marked differently. The tricolor flies as it does every day. The watch continues as it always has.
02:01For these soldiers, the Republic is not something celebrated annually. It is something maintained daily, through consistency rather than ceremony.
02:09Whether there are times of peace or war, the soldiers deployed along the line of control have always their fingers on their rifles and their only aim is the enemy sitting across the fence.
02:24The firing drills are a normal practice along LOC to sharpen their skills in shooting down the enemy.
02:32As evening approaches elsewhere in the country, families return home from celebrations.
02:37At the border, the rhythm does not change. Night alters the landscape, visibility narrows, distances feel longer.
02:44This is when training matters most, not for dramatic moments, but for long hours of attentiveness.
02:50There is little to distinguish this night from any other, and again that is deliberate.
02:55The Republic is sustained not only by laws and institutions, but by people entrusted with responsibility far from public view.
03:02From this forward post along the line of control, on India's Republic Day, the work continues.
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