Param Vir - Our heroes in battle

Cannon to the right of them,

Cannon to the left of them,

Cannon in front of them,

volleyed and thundered,

Stormed at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of death,

Into the mouth of hell.

- Alfred Lord  Tennyson

War is probably the least expected thing on this planet, which is an extension of politics of a nation and ultimately falls to the lot of the soldier to face combat on the ground. Major General Ian Cardozo has but his best effort in the book 'Param Vir - Our heroes in battle'.  Param Vir Chakra is the nation's highest decoration for gallantry. This book honor's every brave Indian men who showed their patriotism even in the darkest hour of the night. Their extraordinary bravery in the battle field is well explained in every page of the book. Sir Cardozo has stressed his words on these Indian soldier and their degree of commitment to the Indian Army, and the nation they have served. Every paragraph of the book highlights the fact that few men have never thought about their life, rather they thought all was about his motherland and her dignity. Sir Cardozo's word's are a strong arrow on our hearts to build patriotism in our soul. He has also well described. The introduction by Sir Cardozo's written poem 'The Unknown Soldier' pays tribute to every soldier, and his desire for duty. 

The first Chapter is on the War in Jammu & Kashmir in 1947-1948. Major Somnath Sharma's bravey has been very well highlighted and if we read we can feel how brave he acted even when the enemy had shattered every Indian base and he stood till the end. The sacrifices of the other recipients of Param Vir Chakra and their citation have been beautifully presented for our read.  The other recipients of the PVC are -

Company Havildar Major Piru Singh, 6th Rajputana Rifles

Lance Naik Karam Singh, MM 1 Sikh

Major Somnath Sharma

Naik Jadunath Singh, 1 Rajput

Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane, Bombay Engineer's  

The last word's of Major Sharma, "The enemy are only 50 yards from us. We are heavily outnumbered. We are under devastating fire. I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to the last man and the last round." 

The second chapter is of the war in the east, The Sino-Indian War. 1962 was the time when Indian politicians failed to recognize the duplicity of Chinese Diplomacy. Subedar Joginder Singh's bravery when the advancing Chinese Troop had to face disappointment because he and his few men charged them with heavy firing. Major Dhan Singh Thapa of 1/8 Gorkha Rifles who showed his cool courage and conspicious fighting qualities and leadership fighting against the army. Even after been captured as a prisoner by the Chinese Army, he never spoke against his motherland and his Government. Major Shaitan Singh of the 13 Kumaon who had shown his supreme courage and was found dead after he succumbed to his injuries. 

The third Chapter is of the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. This war had two brave men who were awarded with the PVC - Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid of the 4 Grenadiers and Lietanant Colonel A. B. Tarapore. Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, who can be termed as the terminator of tanks.

The Third chapter is on the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 which ultimately resulted in birth of Bangladesh. This war had a number of PVC recipients-

Lance Naik Albert Ekka, 14 Guards

Major Hoshiar Singh, 3 Grenadiers

Second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal, Poona Horse

Second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal, Poona Horse belonged to a family of long tradition of military service. He has shown the qualities of leadership and excellent warfare even at his training days. It is a must read.

Captain Vikram Batra

The Fourth chapter is on the The Kargil war of May-June 1999 where there are four PVC-

Captain Vikram Batra, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles

Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, 1/11 Gorkha Rifles

Grenedier Yogender Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers

Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles

This was the first time when two men of the same regiment received the PVC for the first time. This war had many crucial points like Khalubar, Rocky Naub, Pimple Complex and Tiger Hills. Thanks to all these men in Uniform who has saved our country's dignity and earned her respect.

This 220 paged booked is a real patriot's words that beautifully speak and salute of all Great men who have stood straight while keeping intact the country's independence. Every Indian must read this book. This book is available in all leading book store of all cities and towns and available in Flipkart as well.

JAI HIND.

Salute to those Gentlemen who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our motherland.

 The images have been taken from Google.

Terra Mayaa

Terra Mayaa, at Anil Plaza-II, G S Road, Guwahati a newly opened restaurant cum bar is a fabulous place with such a superb ambiance. The good service of the staff further add points to the list. Its a must visit for people who love buffet meals. Either we can enjoy our meal with some classic English music or we can also have an open air meal with a view of busy Guwahati city.  Their lunch buffet theme is different for different days of the week; Monday it's continental, Tuesday its Indian, Wednesday its Mexican, Thursday its Italian, Friday its Lebanese and Saturday its oriental. I never tasted Mexican and so stepped in there on a Wednesday. The welcome of the staff and the first look of the atmosphere around gave a good impression of everything around. The welcome drink was with soft drinks. Their service started with soup, and then starters, main course and the mouth watering dessert. The Mexican lunch was like this -

Salad
Fresh Avacado with Coconut
Hori Tikka Salad
Pine Apple with Cheddar Salad
Spicy Chicken Cheapote
Dressing Salad

Soup
Water Chestnut with Tortilla Soup
Chicken Jalapeno Valute

Starter's
Chicken Chaarmula
Rery Potato
Nachos with Salsa

Main Course
Chimi Changa
Veg fajita
Veg Paella
Chicken fajita
Lamb in Lemini

Dessert
Banana Cheese Cake
Chocolate Mousse

While everything there was too good, still a few dishes are worth saying.

'Pine Apple with Cheddar Salad' is a pineapple salad with cheese that is so good. I could not resist myself from another bowl. The cheese with the pineapple is really yummy.

'Chicken Chaarmula' is a kind of fried chicken dipped in Mexican Spices. Its somewhat similar to Indian chicken Tikka although tastes purely Mexican.

'Rery Potato' are Mexican spiced potato fries and are a real gem for potato lover's.

The entire main course is really superb. even if I was full with the starter's I never could imagine how I asked for more and more of the main course. 'Lamb in Lemini' is a gravy dish of lamb meat. I have always been in love with lamb meat and so it was a blessing on my appetite.

'Banana Cheese Cake' & 'Chocolate Mousse' in the dessert were also too good. After such a good main course such a superb dessert keeps a better taste in our tongue for a while.

Terra Mayaa also doesn't disappoint those who like a drink with their meal. They have a varied collection of drink from Johnnie Walker Blue Label to Old Monk rum. Also a good collection of beer is available.

The entire meal was really good only at a mere price of Rs. 539 (including taxes).

Even my friends who accompanied me were too happy with the service and food there. We are soon looking forward for our next visit there.

Caravan to Shivasamudra..

Usually people associated with Visveswaraya Technological University get very less holidays. It was all of a sudden that we got two days continuous holidays. We obviously needed a break. Sidhartha, Ritu and me stressed our tiny brains to every extent to know every different place around Bangalore that was not visited. We had declined Nandi hills at the first thought itself. We didn't even dare to think of Wonder la because we needed a territory of peace, away from human occupancy and noise. Suddenly the idea of Shivasamudra popped in and we agreed at the first thought. We called up Syamanta and Manish and they agreed even without thinking. Manish also added that one of his friends, Pragyan would also accompany us. We were six Assamese guys on the caravan to Shivasamudra with a Hyundai Accent and a Bajaj Avenger. 

We gathered together at my Apartment in Chamrajpet. We decided to party all night and then when it shall be only a couple of hours till dawn, he would head towards Shivasamudra. We had our party and none of even bothered for a sleep. 

At 03:30 AM we started our journey. Manish & Syamanta were on the Avenger and rest of us on the Accent. We headed towards Sarakki Signal and then turned our car towards Shivasamudra. The road took us from the busy metro of Bangalore to the outskirts and slowly the straight road turned into curves and we went inside the rural of Karnataka. As it was an odd time, so we didn't have and company on the road which tempted Ritu to steer the sedan fast.

On the road we stopped for some time. It was a perfect deserted road with darkness saturating every gap of life. It was away from any other touch except the six of us. It was time for Sidhartha to try his photography skills. We stopped for around 10 minutes and then again started on the journey. The empty road tempted Manish for some stunts and seriously, that drove us angry for a while. Still, he managed to stay safe. With the first rays of the sun light we reach Shivasamudra.

We got disappointed by the guards words that he had strict orders not to open the locks before 09:00 AM. At the first look he seemed very serious with his words. Later somehow with better negotiations we managed the guard to open the locks with a bribe of only 20 bucks. It was the cheapest bribe we ever offered someone. He allowed us in through a opening in the fence but we had to leave our vehicles outside. We went inside.

As far as our eyes could see, we saw only a long road. I still remember Ritu's face that turned pale seeing such a long road. Still we walked, consoling each other that destiny ain't far now. Finally we saw the lake. It was saturated with natural beauty. We climbed down the stairs with no idea of the pain that we would have to encounter while climbing it up again. The cold lake water was all in front of us when we were seeing each other's face and asking a silent question, "Who would get down first?"

At the moment I had my legendary statement, "Since I am the only guy here who has no idea about swimming, I will get down first. You guys know swimming and so you would stay on the shore to rescue me if I start to drown." Everyone could make out that it was not me who was speaking; rather it was the monk speaking. Everyone started to laugh and by the time they could see I was in water and I remember Syamanta saying, "watch out carefully".

Soon Ritu, Sidhartha, Pragyan and Manish were in the lake too. Syamanta preferred to stay out and finish his early morning call of job behind the bushes. As I went away from the shore I realized it was only five to six feet deep and I was sure I wont drown. I went far till the rocks and climbed one of them and sat there below the cold lake water. Syamanta was still outside. We were in the water for an hour or so. We came out just because the sunlight was burning our eyes. We changed and then when we saw the stairs again, we asked our self, "Is it the same stairs that we climbed down??" Somehow we managed to reach the top and then we also had to walk till the gate where our cars were parked. We were at the gate before 09:00 AM as the watchman said us that if we would have been late, his job would be in trouble. We soon left the place.

Manish wasn't able to ride anymore as his toe got cut in glass. Pragyan rode the bike. Syamanta was in the pillion. We were hungry and so decided to stop at a nearby hotel. We had rice bath and idli-vada along with the truck drivers. We changed places. I went in the pillion with Pragyan and Syamanta got in the car. We reached home at around 11:00 AM. We all were too tired and exhausted. We slept till evening. It was a fabulous road trip. I am looking forward for another such trip to a deserted natural beauty.

The trip reminds of of the FooFighters song Overdrive with lyrics -


Coming down I'm coming round

this time I think I'm waking up
Give me loud to drown it out
before the world starts breaking 

You change and then you change again
Turning like a wheel inside your head

Yours and mine and left and right
there's still two sides to everyone
You and I get on with life
and pray we'll find a better one
You change and then you change again
Turning like a wheel inside your head

Overdrive we're going life or death
Overdrive we're going life or death
Overdrive we're going life or death
Two strangers on the mend