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He was Luv, and I, his identical twin (younger by 14 minutes), am Kush. Our childhood was spent in Palampur and we made the most of our identical looks — playing pranks, filling in for each other and at times, even getting punished for the other’s mistakes. The similarity ran deeper than looks.
‘Shershah of Kargil’, that’s what the enemy called Vikram. That’s the mark he made on those unforgiving mountains of Kargil in 1999, 25 years ago.
As students, both of us were always in awe of the men in uniform as our school was inside the Army Cantonment at Palampur. The dream of joining the armed forces was embedded in 1986-87 when TV serial ‘Param Vir Chakra’ was broadcast every Sunday on Doordarshan.
Vikram cleared his SSB in March 1996 and I, not recommended twice by the SSB, settled for an MBA. It was on December 6, 1997, that Vikram got commissioned into 13 JAK Rifles. His first posting was in Sopore. There, he was involved in anti-insurgency operations. We knew that he was born to fight against the odds.
During his annual leave, he would talk for hours about the challenges he faced in Sopore. I would dream of the day he would command his regiment and I would get a chance to attend some of the regimental functions.
When Kargil happened, their first mission was to capture Point 5140 at 17,000 feet. With the roaring sound of their regimental war cry, ‘Durga Mata Ki Jai’, Vikram led his contingent on the night of June 19, 1999. He had promised his Commanding Officer, Lt Col (later Lt Gen) YK Joshi, that he would have his morning tea at Point 5140.
He led the attack so ferociously that he was intercepted by some of the enemy soldiers. They challenged him to not climb the top. He strategically regrouped his men and lobbed a hand grenade, destroying one of the bunkers and killing five Pakistani soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. As he had promised, he radioed his CO, ‘Yeh Dil Mange More’, by hoisting the Tricolour atop Point 5140 on June 20,
His last remark to one of our friends before proceeding for Kargil was that either he would hoist the Tricolour or come wrapped in it. He did not dither.
Never could I have imagined that ‘Param Vir Chakra’ would one day become so real for me and our parents, and Vikram would be the hero, just short of his 25th birthday (on September 9).
It was a reconnaissance mission when Lt Naveen Nagappa was hit by a grenade in the second mission at Point 4875 (the most strategic feature which overlooked the Srinagar-Leh National highway), counter-led by Vikram on July 7.
As Vikram jumped on the other side of the cliff to silence the machine gun that was firing indiscriminately, he got into a close combat with three Pakistanis and put them to death before being hit by a sniper from a close range. Having realised that their commander had fallen, the charged-up company went berserk and destroyed all the enemy bunkers. The Tricolour was planted atop Point 4875 — they call it Batra Top now for his supreme sacrifice and giving an edge to recapture this strategic feature.
It’s been 25 years. A lot has changed, and so much remains the same. I have grey strands in my hair. Vikram is as youthful as ever. Time cannot touch him.
My dream of visiting Vikram as a CO couldn’t come true, but Vikram still commands. I could witness that when I travelled to Drass and paid tribute to my brother and all valiant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice at Batra Top on July 7, 2019, to commemorate 20 years of their martyrdom. Next month, it will be 25 years.
Every alternate year, I visit the shrine (that’s what I call the mighty peaks at Drass) and it’s a blissful feeling. Jai Hind, Capt Vikram Batra, PVC.
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