A grab from the video clip showing Major Mukund Varadarajan with his daughter, Arshea.
It could have been anyone's home video.
A doting father with his daughter on his lap.
Singing a song together.
Except, this was no ordinary home video. And this was no ordinary father.
Mukund Varadarajan loved young Arshea. But, when push came to shove, his choice was clear. He would leave his daughter and wife far behind in the safety of their home, pick up an AK-47 and lead his men in fighting terrorists in Kashmir.
And thats how Major Mukund Varadarajan lost his life - leading his men in battle.
For Mukund, India came first. Each and every time.
According to the Army, "Major Mukund Varadarajan, Company Commander, received information about the presence of three terrorists in village of Shopian District of Jammu and Kashmir on April 25, 2014. This group had targeted polling officials just a day prior. Major Mukund acted swiftly by deploying troops in an effective cordon and simultaneously evacuated civilians from the target house. This aggressive action forced the terrorists to shift their position to an outhouse in the compound. Major Mukund, along with his buddy Sepoy Vikram, displaying raw courage, crawled in proximity to the outhouse. The officer lobbed a grenade inside the cement outhouse, killing one terrorist instantaneously. Another terrorist present in the outhouse opened a burst of automatic fire thereby seriously injuring Major Mukund. Although bleeding profusely, the officer crawled ahead unmindful of his grave injury, fired and neutralised the second terrorist."
Today, Mukund was awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award, in recognition for what the Army says was "exceptional bravery and courage while leading an anti-terrorist operation. Major Mukund Varadarajan displayed exemplary leadership skills, raw courage, planning and swift action, which culminated in the elimination of three top ranked Hizbul Mujaheddin terrorists."
Its a strange irony that the words of the song Mukund and Arshea were singing was an iconic poem by Subramania Bharati:
"Fear I have not, fear I have not,
Even if the entire sky breaks,
And falls on my head,
Even if they judge me as the worst,
Fear I have not, fear I have not."
Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh of the 57 Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles (13 Rajputana Rifles) was built of the same stuff - India first, every single time.
On August 24, last year, Naik Neeraj was leading a search operation in the Gurdaji area of the Kupwara District of Jammu and Kashmir. Suddenly, Neeraj's unit came under heavy fire from terrorists, which hit one of the soldiers. With utter disregard for his personal safety, the Naik crawled and extricated his buddy. A terrorist threw grenades and brought heavy fire on Neeraj but inching forward, the Naik moved in on a terrorist and shot him dead. Almost simultaneously, he was attacked by another terrorist and his rifle dropped from his hand as he was shot in the chest.
According to the Army, "Despite his grievous injuries, displaying unparalleled courage, he pounced on the terrorist, snatched his weapon and killed him in hand to hand combat. He refused to be evacuated till he became unconscious and was later evacuated, but he succumbed to his injuries."
Both Neeraj and Mukund were honoured today by President Pranab Mukherjie with the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award, with their wives receiving the awards.