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Saffron




The snow of the mountains, still

Bear the scarlet stains of your final act,

The crisp, solemn winter air of Pinglan, still

Stands a witness to the last moments of greatness.


Even on your human case crumbling,

The brilliance of your sacrifice

Shone through the valiant bullet wounds.

No matter the ages that trudge through,

The rousing drum of your strength,

Bravery amid paralysing pain,

Strength amid the chaos,

The sincerity of your offering,

Like that of the great Kunwar Singh,

Will echo in my heart for a lifetime.


Your willing welcome of the last second,

Pushes me to transcend the trivialities of life,

And readily sacrifice what man holds on to,

For a purpose greater than myself

Or anything that I call my own.


The unfathomable love and pride you nurtured

For the soil that we shared,

Stirs my soul to rise to the occasion,

And fight till the very end, 

Even if it meant sacrificing myself.


As you arrived home, after months of separation

Wrapped in streaks of saffron and emerald,

Our hearts swelled with grateful respect,

For the selfless lionheart you were,

That I thank for every day,

That I aim to be one day.



(Written for the Veer Gatha Project - martyred Maj. Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal)

Comments

  1. THE SCIENTIFIC ATHLETEDecember 11, 2021 at 4:05 AM

    Reading it after Gen Bipin Rawat unfortunate demise...... Apart from the well known martyrs who laid down their lives in Kargil , Siachen etc , there are also officers from the coast guard ,territorial army and CRPF who have lost their lives during rescue opps and even during incident of riots. The saddest part is that many of these martyrs are not know to our public and few instances even criticized by various journalists when they are part of certain insurgency operations. Very well penned and realistic representation of what these heroes face . Keep writing Maanasa :) !
    --
    Anjana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MaanasaDecember 14, 2021 at 5:10 AM

      Thank you so much Anjana ❤️✨
      Truly means a lot :)

      Delete

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