Samba, July 4
Kanta Devi would not let go of her son’s wallet. There have been several people, she confided, who had offered to buy the wallet during the last 10 years. But she has not parted with the bloody and bullet-ridden wallet of her son, one of the martyrs of the Kargil war.
He was among the youngest soldiers to lose his life in Kargil. Udayman Singh, barely 18, perhaps had a premonition of his death as he called up his parents before the ‘final assault’ at Tiger Hill and casually mentioned that he may never get another chance to speak to them.
Posthumously awarded the Seva Medal for bravery, the teenager was the only son of his parents and on Saturday, his mother could not hold her tears back as she watched the officers and soldiers of 18 Grenadiers laying wreaths at the memorial erected to honour the Kargil martyrs. Kanta Devi was not alone though among the widows and mothers who had assembled on the occasion with moist eyes and memories to live with.
She wanted her to continue with his
studies and become a doctor or an engineer, she disclosed. But the boy had a fascination for the olive green uniform. One day he
simply informed his parents that he had passed the recruitment test and was going away for training.
“He was the only son and only brother of two sisters, both of his sisters have been married,
ten years have passed but neither compensation nor other facilities can fill the void,” she said. “Many people approached us to purchase the wallet but it is our last wish that when we die, half of the wallet should be burned with each of our bodies,” said the parents.
There were other poignant moments. The army has named women who lost relatives during the conflict as “Veer Naris” and they are felicitated every year on the anniversary of the Kargil victory. Sitting among them today was also Kamla Devi whose husband Havildar Madan Lal was awarded posthumously the Vir Chakra. “I am alive for the sake of my children,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks. But despite the loss, she would like her only son to also don the olive green uniform. Her daughter said, “I remember my father telling us to follow the path of righteousness.”
