\u201cSo dad you were telling me about a certain demon\u201d I chuckled. My father turned to me with a piercing gaze and growled \u201cA little respect would be appreciated\u201d. Dad (a paratrooper) had fought in five wars\/insurgencies and it seemed like he was about to add to the list . \u201cSorry dad, you know I meant no harm, its just \u2026\u2026 who is named Shaitan, what were his parents thinking!!\u201d \u201cYoung lady I seemed to have faltered in teaching you manners\u201d Reprimanded my father. \u201cI\u2019m sorry dad, didn\u2019t mean any of that, please go on\u201d \u201cIt was a cold day on November 18th 1962, Major Shaitan Singh was in charge of about 123 men at the Rezang La, a ridge overlooking the strategic Chushul plains in Ladakh\u2026\u2026\u2026.\u201d While dad divulged the details of the \u2018battalion that committed suicide\u2018 <\/i> my mind started wandering towards events earlier in the day.It just seemed like a few minutes minutes ago.<\/p>\n
At the breakfast table in Leh, we had been pondering over a possible journey to Lake Pagong Tso and Kargil. Of course the idea was to do it sometime this week. But the day was just too beautiful. And once the idea had germinated, there was nothing much to do but pack up and bundle ourselves in 2 Jonagas. One for us and another for our clothes and snacks! We went to Pagong Tso, had a ride in the army patrolling boat and also tried searching for garnets on Garnet hill!! Then as we crammed ourselves into the vehicles again ,we were told to \u2018positively stop by the Shaitan Memorial\u2019. I was wondering if this was another one of those local myths. \u2018One must stop to feed the stone in a temple else something real bad will happen\u2019. Humanity as we know might perish!<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor Shaitan Singh fought one of the bravest battles in recorded history\u201d! That got my immediate attention. I am a sucker for such stories, can\u2019t seem to get enough of them! \u201cThe Chinese Army attacked in 1962 at about 05:00 hrs in the morning. They were a few thousand strong. The ridge from where they planned to attack was quite strategically located above the Indian posts. The Chinese had better guns and ammunition.\u201d \u201cWow, so dad the Indians were outnumbered by both men and machine?\u201d I couldn\u2019t help thinking that with these statistics the Chinese would have had a clean and quick victory. The name of the memorial could well be a pun, indicating the evil Chinese! I did not share this thought with my dad, lest he make me run alongside the Jonga! \u201cDid the Chinese have any casualties at all?\u201d I asked. Dad smirked and then continued with the story like I hadn\u2019t interrupted at all, \u201cMaj Shaitan Singh was aware that the chances of survival were bleak. Yet he refused to let the morale of his men go down\u201d \u201cBut dad, if you know that you are going to die a very painful death in a matter of minutes, how can you be calm? It just doesn\u2019t make sense!\u201d Dad paused for a moment \u201cLet me give you a personal example. When I was facing the enemy, thoughts of death and pain did not cross my mind. I just wanted to tell those SOB\u2019s to go back where they came from. This was just as far as they would march\u2026.. not an inch more!\u201d My father was clearly very emotional at the moment to have used the \u2018foul\u2018 <\/i>abbreviation! We weren\u2019t even allowed to call each other \u2018stupid\u2018 <\/i>in sibling fights, although my sister did deserve a whole lot more!! I started to recollect the various fights that we\u2019d have over the years. She was just so annoying!<\/p>\n
I sensed that there were no words being spoken at the moment and hoped that it wasn\u2019t because I had been asked a question! Dad didn\u2019t particularly look angry, he had a faraway look in his eyes! So it wasn\u2019t me (phew). I gave dad another few minutes as it seemed appropriate and then requested for the story again. \u201cThey had divided themselves into 3 different posts to ward off attack from three directions. Moving between posts was almost suicidal. The area was quite barren and it was impossible to take shelter from enemy fire. A full fledged gun battle broke out. It wasn\u2019t long before the enemy realized that they had underestimated the Indians.<\/p>\n
With every attempt they were decimated and it seemed that the dry bed was in the wake of becoming a bloody river! Meanwhile Major Shaitan Singh bravely ran from post to post urging his men to fight without fear. He soon got a message from the higher authorities that the Chinese had surrounded almost the entire camp. It was being done to block any reinforcement or supply to the Indian posts. He was told to fall back with his men immediately. Major Shaitan Singh spoke to his men and unanimously agreed to stay and fight. They had vowed never to desert their county and this was the acid test. Everyone in the Indian camp fought like someone possessed. Major Shaitan Singh got seriously injured going from post to post. He refused help to safety and instead ordered the men to go fight! When the ammunition got depleted some soldiers jumped out of the trenches for a hand to hand combat. A falling comrade always evokes a stronger feeling of hate for the enemy. More Indian soldiers jumped out of trenches when they saw friends and colleagues being shot.<\/p>\n
Many who lay injured on the ground hurled stones. The stone hurling continued till a shower of bullets made them take their very last breadth. 109 brave men died that day and they managed to cause about a thousand Chinese casualties. That\u2019s one Indian soldier for about 10 Chinese men. A cease fire was called on November 21st 1962. Quite a few lifeless hands still clutched stones in tight grips when their bodies were being taken away for cremation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other than the sound of small stones being crunched under the tyres of the Jonga, there was silence. No one spoke a word, we all needed some time to digest this story. It was quite disturbing. I wondered if I would ever really understand what drives such men. We were safe in our beds because of people like these. I was feeling very patriotic at the moment! The Jonga\u2019s stopped as it was time for another break. We got out still quite lost in the voices of our heads. There were gentle sloping mountains in the near horizon and we were in a valley, it was very peaceful and unimaginably beautiful. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There wasn\u2019t another soul in sight for as far as eye could see. This gorgeous land is mine I thought! Nowhere in the world would I see beauty like this.<\/p>\n
Everything seemed perfect other than a lone boulder in the middle of the valley floor. On following my dad to the boulder I saw some stones with burn marks on them. I leaned forward to examine them and discovered that there were bullet marks and they seemed to be all around . My heart started beating faster. Could this be the place! \u201cDad is this where Major Shaitan and his men\u2026\u201d My voice trailed off as I looked up. Dad and the drivers were standing in front of a dilapidated monument (the boulder!) with their hands raised in a salute. We stood there for a while in admiration and pride. I couldn\u2019t help the feeling of warmth rush through my body and a tear rolled down my cheek!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cSo dad you were telling me about a certain demon\u201d I chuckled. My father turned to me with a piercing gaze and growled \u201cA little respect would be appreciated\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1547,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[127,1680],"class_list":["post-9487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-india","tag-1962_war","tag-indo-china_war"],"yoast_head":"\n