Reliving some dark childhood Diwali memories

This is the season of Diwali, the festival that is associated with fun, frolic, food, fireworks and lamps. Hindus interpret the Diwali story based upon where they live. But there’s one common theme no matter where people celebrate: the victory of good over evil. But this is not always true. Sometimes the wicked, cruel and evil win over the good, honest and sincere people. It can be people or even countries. My thoughts of one of those unhappy and unpleasant memories of Diwali takes me back to 64 years in the time machine to 1962, the horrific Sino-Indian war. The tall, dark and handsome hero for us, Second Lt Vikram was martyred fighting a fierce battle in its peak.

The Sino-Indian war between China and India, which started on October 20, a few days before that year’s Diwali, ended on November 21. A disputed Himalayan border was the main cause of the war. China consolidated its position in Aksai Chin. But the fact is that India lost 43,000 square km of territory to China.

Colonel Santosh Babu, MVC (posthumous) of 16 Bihar regiment and 19 fellow soldiers died at Galwan Valley in a brutal close combat. There have been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries since the 1959 Tibet uprising, when India granted asylum to the Dalai Lama. Till that unfortunate day we could not tell where the Mc Mohan Line was because we trusted the deceitful China. In the war in these treacherous terrains, 1383 Indian soldiers died and 1047 were wounded. Besides 1696 Indians went missing and over 400 taken as prisoners of war. It was a war in the Himalayan region at a very high altitude where Lt Vikram was fighting the Chinese, but the impact and tremors were felt even far-off Deccan Plateau, in the city of Hyderabad. Many young children associated with him recall Indo-Chinese conflict with fear and anger. He was fondly called Vikram anna or Vikram bhaiyya by all of us.

He was in his early 20’s and we were all in the 10-13 years age group, always eagerly waiting for his arrival during his ‘block leave’. He narrated his experiences in the Defence Academy, about his regiment and the valour of his superiors. Words like regiment, company and battalion were Greek and Latin for us. What we knew was that Vikram anna was ‘our hero’ who fights bad guys and kills them. We spent hours listening to him till somebody came to fetch us back home. He always said he was eager to face and kill the enemy in the war or get killed fighting the enemy. Being very young we felt scared and nervous but always drew inspiration from his words. We always questioned him whether he fears death. He said unforeseen eventualities are an integral part of a soldier’s life. “It’s all God’s will: You can die in your sleep, and God can spare you in battle. Service to the nation comes first before self”, the motto of NDA. The value of personal courage is most displayed by many soldiers making a difference in the lives of others. He added that soldiers don’t shy away from uncomfortable situations even in the most difficult times. Our armed forces are known for strong values like discipline, selflessness, strategic planning and determination. Their bravery is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation especially in the battle. We heard him in awe, admiring his grit and determination and courage to face and smash the enemy.

It was a fateful evening, as usual the entire bachha party reached anna’s home to plan for the coming Diwali festival falling on October 28. Alas! He was not there. We were told by his parents that he was summoned by his regiment to fight a battle with the enemy somewhere in the Himalayan region. Initially we didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. As days passed by, reality started sinking in and fear gripped all of us. Every day as a group we went to meet his parents to learn about Anna. There was no information. Somebody told us that a short clipping of the war was being shown in the newsreel in one of the movies that was being screened. We begged and requested the man at the entry gate into the movie hall and managed to sneak in, in the hope we might see anna. Such was our innocence. Our Diwali celebrations went lacklustre. Newspapers reported that much of the fighting took place in freezing cold harsh mountain conditions, entailing large scale combat at altitudes of over 4000 metres, which was humanly impossible for soldiers unaccustomed to such harsh weather conditions and terrain. It takes several weeks to condition soldiers to fight in depleted oxygen levels. We imagined Anna fighting a fierce battle like the hero in the movies killing the enemy. We knew Anna was strong willed and would not give up under any circumstances. A fortnight after the war commenced news came that anna was missing. Four days later, we heard that he had died on the battlefield. He fought gallantly during the fierce attack where the enemy was armed with automatic weapons. Undaunted by the setbacks when many of his comrades were either killed or wounded, Lt Vikram fought the Chinese and killed many. Throughout the fight, the parents were told that he displayed the highest sense of duty, leadership and courage at such a young age in the best traditions of the army. A few days after the war ended a few of his belongings were handed over ceremoniously to his parents.

For many days our evenings were spent with his parents trying to fill the vacuum. Time is really a great healer. It does not wait for anyone. Being children, we got busy with our school and life. Come Diwali, Lt Vikram is remembered and I pay homage to this martyred soldier and to all other soldiers who sacrificed their today, for our tomorrow. The least we children and the residents together could do was name the locality, where he spent his childhood, named ‘Lt Vikram Nagar’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Hyma Moorty

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