Flowers on a Kargil Cliff

Description

"At 15,700 feet, I was clinging for dear life. Like a lizard's belly, I had pressed my body tight into a cliff of the Kargil War. There was no safety rope around my waist to secure my passage along the cliff wall, which was near-perpendicular in stretches. My hands and feet had the barest of holds and pressing against the wall was the only safeguard against the forces of gravity that would send me plummeting thousands of feet into Gragario nullah." Posted with The Indian Express in Kashmir and later, during the Kargil War, Vikram Jit Singh is that rare breed of war correspondents who took grave risks to their lives in the line of duty. Embedded with Army's seek-and-destroy columns, he climbed Safapora mountains at night to hunt down killers of 23 Wandhama Pandits. Incorporating unpublished photographs of Point 5353 in Drass taken by Pakistani intrusive patrols in Oct 1998 during the Kargil build-up, the book establishes how 5353 and Bajrang Post were captured. Photos reveal Gen P. Musharraf and his entourage of generals across LoC in March '99. A diehard romantic, Vikram Jit collected alpine flowers while under fire on the cliffs of Kargil for his anxious fiancée. The book narrates powerful human stories of love and loss. Of the widow who did not part with her sindoor & bangles even as her husband lay dead in a Kargil cave. Of Capt Jintu Gogoi and Anjana Parasher whose love triumphed death. The book brings alive untold stories and captures the zeitgeist of war reportage in Ernie Pyle style. The refusal of Capt Manoj Pandey (PVC-P) to obey suicidal orders. The 244 unclaimed Pakistani bodies in Kargil. The Gurkha who used his khukhri. Since valour doesn't adhere to a line of control, it includes one of Pakistani young officers and soldiers. As Lt Gen Sanjay Kulkarni, the Siachen legend, put it, "Vikram has been baptised under fire as a war correspondent, and has operated less as a correspondent and more as a soldier in Kashmir...truthful reporting is his forte." Review: Untold stories - Many unknown stories was unveiled by this book. Review: An Excellent account of the battles fought, along with tales which will evoke emotions . - I have been a through follower of Vikramjeet Podcast and also his articles online. One of the few Journalists who has an excellent grasp of the subject matter and minute details, which many professionals in the same line don’t know. The author has endured the privation of troops and the officers in conflict. Each chapter has been dealt with deliberately, bringing out previously unknown, lesser known stories of courage, stoicism and honor. The book has captured the accounts of the enemy, and the author has given adequate due to their valor. A character trait that few leaders and few good men possess at present times. I hope the young readers as well as the old, will read this excellent account and bear in mind how leaders were made and how our men in uniform, true to the ethos of warriors fought to defend territorial integrity and in the same breath, respected and gave honor to their enemy soldier who fought on those icy heights.