न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि- न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो म्रनत्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पराणोु - न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥

‘The one who is indestructible and the one who sails the ocean of life without any wounds, the one that knows no bounds is the soul of a soldier whom death knows not, and whose departure fears life.’

In those clouds of darkness, into the labyrinth of combat and carnage, enters the one who is willing to give an aahuti of himself into the veneration for peace and justice analogous to the diya which burns itself to spread light in a room engulfed in darkness. One that dares to defy the odds, one to whom we all look up to, one that lightens up the souls of the disheartened, one that even fate fears, one that is the nation’s true pride: The soldier.

In the world we find ourselves today, our sight finds the abundance of fights and frights. In contrast to which my vision meets the sight of contentment and peace guarded by the souls of one million Indians: The Indian Army. The desire to which even fate kneeled, the heart whose yearning changed our nation’s course, the soul which adorns our flag, and the courage which has now become an impeccable idol for the budding patriots is the one whom not only this NCC cadet salutes, but every mind and soul living in every corner of our country does. The man, who turned all the tables and yet, wasn’t trapped in the web of iniquity, the man who himself knitted the wool of patriotism, the man whose courage couldn’t be suppressed under the pessimism of defeat, the true soldier and a legend, the Sher shah Captain Vikram Batra.

‘Yeh Dil Maange More’ shouts our existence, for it was his success trumpet. Indeed, this heart desires a lot more for the country. From my perspective, I think that Captain Vikram Batra’s valour and undaunting courage is a shining inspiration for all the residents of this globe. It was his awe-inspiring life’s voyage that became my stanchion facilitating me to join the National Cadet Corps organisation in the eighth grade.

“I’ll come back home, whether alive or wrapped in colour, but I’ll grace my home with my presence.” I reckon that when these words of the Kargil’s lion reached my ears, they were my Dhruv tara, for I think that the Armed Forces is the only route to pay the debt of my land, the opportunity to celebrate the unification with my soil by becoming a martyr, and the fortuity to gain the ultimate respect by returning home wrapped in the tricolour.

Joining the Armed forces is a dream that holds the topmost rung of my life’s ladder, for I believe that the presence of the tree’s shade, which we await, is what the swords of courage, yielded by our soldiers, shower upon us, and it is their valour that is a lullaby to our contented

sleep. I think that joining the Armed forces is the ultimate weapon that will pave the path for my life’s course. I feel the vitality in spreading the light of contentment and peace in my entire family of one million, analogous to the light the Param Vir Chakra awardee, the Kargil hero disseminated to liberate every Indian from the citizenship of hell by illuminating the extinguished diyas of delight and triumph.

In my opinion, it is not the essence of victory but the service to the nation that provides the courage to gift every person their lives’ unfettered wings, free from the shackles of defeat’s despair. I think that adding my name to the endless list of those whose valor is the nation’s pride and wounds the people’s gravest agony would be my honour. It is the drizzle of hope and optimism that Captain Vikram Batra brought to the Indian souls. Being the cloud of that drizzle is an opportunity that I dearly await.

In the endless maze of obstacles, it is only the Parthputra Abhimanyu who dared to yield a weapon to answer the enemy’s roar, who is himself his clan’s weapon. I believe that the Armed Forces function as a bridge to embrace the obstacles and emerges from the shadows not only the shoor veer Abhimanyu but also the Gandivdhari Arjuna. Even in the Mahabharata, for a second, the Dhananjaya was grasped with the clutches of fear, but with pride, I state that it was the Indian Captain Vikram Batra who has registered his name in the history of humanity to take our country from the possibility of defeat to the golden triumph without being bound in the shackles of fear. I feel that the Indian army is the place where history is penned and is an emotion that resides in everyone’s hearts.

Even the shattered pieces of glass are a perfect mirror of a person’s real face, analogous to the portal the Indian army will provide to my true soul. The fire of inspiration that I have ignited in myself, will help me join the Armed forces to become my country’s weapon to uproot the evil eye from its very foundations, come what may.

How’s the Josh?
Indian Army’s josh is always high, sir. How're the shivering feet?
Of our country’s enemies’, sir.
And how’s the weapon?
Our army itself is, sir.

The imbecile who thinks the wind to be in possession of the power to make our flag fly knows not that it is the last breaths of the martyrs which set it into an unparalleled motion.

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