Poetry - A tribute to the Heroes of Kargil (1999)

A Tribute to the Heroes of Kargil (1999)

( I penned these verses in 1999 during the height of the Kargil War. At the time, I was at the GSI Training Institute in Hyderabad. As the conflict escalated, a heavy silence fell over us; we spent our days studying the earth and our nights in silent prayer for the brave soldiers defending those unforgiving mountain peaks.)

When the entire nation rests

Peacefully in the warmth of bed

The soldiers stand on frozen heights,

Away  from home and family's light,

Beneath the cold and silent skies,

They  guard the Motherland.

In sub-zero winds and the breath of war,

Where darkness deepened every fear,

They  stood like a rock   on the frozen floor,

With the shadow of the enemy near.

No suffering known to mortal men,

Could break their  loyal spirit within ,

For the love of the Motherland.

To save the soil of their sacred land—

- Pankaj Mala Bhattacharya