Param Vir Chakra Awardee Bana Singh- A living hero and a fitting felicitation

[Guest guest]

Param Vir Chakra Recipient Bana Singh :

>

 

>An Unforgettable Visit

>

>On 23rd and 24th February 2007,

there was a

>joyous welcome in the air, a suppressed

>excitement and an overflow of patriotism in the

>hearts of thousands of students and citizens of Villupuram and

Pondicherry.

>

> On that special occasion Hon. Captain Bana

 

> Singh, one of the 21 bravest of the brave

> soldiers of India, who have been awarded the

> Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award

> of the Indian Armed Forces, visited Villupuram and Pondicherry.

 

>

> It was high destiny which on 15 August,

> 2006 led my son to watch a TV program on

> CNN-IBN Channel, in which Param Vir Chakra

> recipient Hon. Captain Bana Singh was

> interviewed. He revealed that for being a Param

 

> Vir Chakra recipient, the Jammu & Kashmir Govt.

> gives him an honorarium of Rs. 160 per month,

> which too had not been paid for

the past two

> years due to paucity of funds. This information

> shocked me. With anguish and anger I thought,

> " Is this the way that our nation repays its

> debt of gratitude to its heroes and saviours?

 

> How can a nation retain its independence if it

> does not reward its defenders suitably? Does it

> behove a great nation like India to treat one

> of its greatest present day heroes, one of the

 

> three living PVC recipients, so shabbily? Do we

> not give our peons a higher increment ? "

>

> The Divine Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram

> had always supported the Indian Army. Once she

 

> had said, " For God's sake, support the Army.

> The Army is the only hope for India. "

> Therefore, then and there, I decided to invite

> PVC Bana Singh to Pondicherry and honour him. I

 

> phoned my trusted friend, Mr. S. Ramesh,

>

Principal Sri Vivekananda Vidyalaya Matric Hr.

> Sec. School, Villupuram, who is a fiery patriot

> and who, along with his two friends Mr.

> Chandrasekharan, Principal Sri Ramakrishna

> Matric Hr. Sec. School, Villupuram and, Mr. E.

 

> Rajendran, Principal Sri Sarada Vidyalaya

> Matric Hr. Sec. School, Villupuram, had that

> very day, 15 August, 2006, launched my scheme

> " Let Each School Adopt A Hero " at an intensely

 

> patriotic function at Villupuram. These three

> are like three spikes of Lord Shiva's trident.

>

> S. Ramesh heard my proposal and said, " Ma

> Ji, you invite Bana Singh. We will give him a

 

> rousing reception. " Then I spoke to my staunch

> supporters, Mrs. Rani and Mrs. Aruna, Principal

> and Vice Principal of Little Angels English

> School, Pondicherry, about the scheme. They too

 

> agreed to hold a

reception. Thus reassured, for

> two months I tried unsuccessfully to get the

> address and the phone number of PVC Bana Singh.

> Then I approached Maj. Gen. K.K. Tewari, who is

> my respected friend, brother and collaborator

 

> in the implementation of my three patriotic

> projects: " Let Each School Adopt A Hero " , " Let

> Us Honour Our Soldiers " and " Let Each Child

> Become A Hero Warrior. " Maj. Gen. Tewari at

 

> once wrote to the regiment of PVC Bana Singh

> and got his address and phone number.

>

> Soon I talked with this hero of India. PVC

> Bana Singh was so moved by this unexpected

> invitation that in an emotion-choked voice he

 

> replied, " Sister, if you want me to come, I am

> ready even to walk to Pondicherry. " We settled

> on 23rd and 24th February, 2007 as the dates

> for his visit to Villupuram and

Pondicherry.

>

> For the past 38 years I have lived secluded

> in the sacred atmosphere of Sri Aurobindo

> Ashram. I had never organised a public

> function. Therefore I was worried as to who

 

> would help me. My sister, Smt. Raka and her

> saintly husband, Shri Satya Prakash, who is a

> Vice President of Sri Chinmaya Mission, have

> given invaluable help to me in writing the

> " Adopt A Hero Series " of biographies by

 

> interviewing the families of different PVC

> recipients, on my behalf. Both assured me that

> they would come to help me. Still, I needed

> another person who would remain constantly with

 

> PVC Bana Singh and Smt.. Bana Singh. When I

> mentioned it to my friend, Shri Rakesh Oza of

> Bombay, he promised to come and take care of

> PVC Bana Singh. This done, the question of

> funds remained. Then my generous

friend, Shri

> Satish Deora said, " Didi, I will take care of

> it. " Thus reassured, I started planning for the reception.

>

> Meanwhile Maj. Gen. K.K. Tewari wrote to

> the Governor of Tamil Nadu as well as the Lt.

 

> Governor of Pondicherry and the military

> authorities in Chennai about the felicitation

> functions and asked for their help. Due to his

> efforts, the Lt. Governor of Pondicherry, His

> Excellency Shri Mukut Mithi took a personal

 

> interest and directed the Education Secretary,

> Sri A.K. Verma, I.A.S., to help me. Shri Verma

> gave me a patient hearing and arranged a

> meeting in his chamber in the Secretariat with

 

> the Education Director Shri Ragesh Chandra, who

> along with his Joint Director Shri Ramadas,

> gave us invaluable cooperation and many facilities for the function.

>

>

>

>On

23rd February 2007 at Villupuram

>

>It is difficult to meet intensely patriotic and

>hardworking people like S. Ramesh,

>Chandrasekharan and E. Rajendran. One month

>before the coming of PVC Bana Singh they made a

 

>huge photographic chart, giving the names and

>photographs of all the 21 Param Vir Chakra

>recipients, as well as the history of the Param

>Vir Chakra Award and its photographs. They

>circulated this information, along with the life

 

>story of PVC Bana Singh, amongst the students of

>their respective institutions. The students

>appeared for a test on the subject and 250 of

>them passed the test in first division. Now all

 

>the students of these institutions eagerly

>awaited their hero. It was decided to hold the

>function at Villupuram on 23rd February and in

>Pondicherry on 24th February 2007.

>

> The dawn

of 23rd February was bright and

> beautiful. I awaited the news of PVC Bana

> Singh's safe arrival at Chennai Station and

> prayed to the Divine Mother that his train may

> arrive on time, because in India it is common

 

> for trains to be late. By the Divine Grace the

> train arrived 11 minutes earlier. A patriot,

> Mr. N. Jeyachandran, the Senior Catering

> Inspector of Railways, received PVC Bana Singh

> and his wife Smt. Ravinder Kaur, on behalf of

 

> Villupuram Function Reception Committee, at

> Chennai Station. As Maj. Gen. K.K. Tewari had

> informed the military authorities in Chennai

> about his arrival, a group of Army Corps was

> present at the station to receive him. After

 

> breakfast, our honoured guests left for

> Villupuram in a military car, with a military

> escort, arranged by Col. Dariwal.

>

> After

visiting some temples on the way, PVC

> Bana Singh and Smt. Bana Singh reached

> Villupuram Collectorate Guest House at 1 p.m.

> There he was presented a Guard of Honour by the

> police. S. Ramesh, Chandrasekharan, E.

 

> Rajendran, teachers of Sarda Vidyalaya, along

> with the assistant director of Ex-Service Men

> association, Lt. Col. Maria Vinneta Chowdhry

> and her husband, Captain Chowdhry, welcomed PVC

 

> Bana Singh and Smt. Ravinder Kaur at the Guest House.

>

> After a brief rest the guests were escorted

> to the nearby Vasantha Bhavan, for lunch. There

> the local reporters interviewed the Hero of

 

> Siachen and asked him many questions about

> Siachen and the Param Vir Chakra Award. After

> lunch, back at the Guest House, PVC Bana Singh

> signed the 250 certificates to be given at the

 

> main function, to the students who

had

> successfully passed the test about Param Vir

> Chakra and the achievements of PVC Bana Singh.

>

> PVC Bana Singh and his wife reached the

> main venue of the function at 3.15

p.m. N.C.C

> cadets gave him a Guard of Honour. The District

> Magistrate, Shri Pravrajit I.A.S.,

> Superintendent Police K. Periyaaiah, the Chief

> Education Officer, P.A. Naresh and

> correspondents and principals of many schools

 

> as well some Rotarians received our hero. Maj.

> Gen. K.K. Tewari and Maj. Smt. Kamala Tewari also graced the

occasion.

>

> As soon as PVC Bana Singh entered the hall

> thousands of students waved flags and gave him

 

> a thunderous ovation. Their enthusiasm is hard

> to describe. The tumult was deafening. It was

> the first time in their lives that these

> students saw a true

hero, one of the greatest

> warriors in modern India. A strong overflowing

> current of hero-worship pervaded the atmosphere.

>

> I have talked several times with PVC Bana

> Singh on the phone and was eager to meet him.

 

> There in the meeting hall of Villupuram I saw

> PVC Bana Singh and his simple wife for the

> first time. He looked so handsome in his light

> green shirt and matching turban. Because of his

 

> personality he stood apart from the assembly.

> His face glowed with self-confidence. For some

> moments I stood looking at him. Oh ! he is the

> pride of India, bravest of the brave, PVC Bana

 

> Singh, the hero-conqueror of the 21,153 ft.

> high, snow-bound, extremely difficult to scale

> peak of Siachen. There was a strength in his

> personality, a sheen on his face. Even though

> short in stature, he looked a

personification

> of bravery, as if the matchless valour of the Sikhs was incarnated in

him.

>

> After a prayer-recitation, the students of

> different schools of Villupuram, presented

 

> cultural programmes. Then the Chief Guests, PVC

> Bana Singh and Smt. Bana Singh, along with

> other special guests were seated on the dais.

> PVC Bana Singh spoke about his experience at

 

> Siachen Glacier. He was moved by the

> spontaneous welcome and intense love he

> received. He said that this function proved

> that the Soul of India was still alive, that

> India cared for its soldiers. His speech was

 

> being translated in Tamil. After his

> speech the other distinguished guests spoke.

> Poems, especially composed in his honour and

> permeated by the spirit of bravery, were

> recited. Shawls, flowers, presents and purses

 

>

were given to the Chief Guest. S. Ramesh compered the programme

beautifully.

>

> After the function hundreds of students

> literally mobbed the Hero and asked for his

> autograph.. PVC Bana Singh was surrounded and

 

> lost in that joyous crowd. His wife, Smt.

> Ravinder Kaur joked in Punjabi, " Your brother

> is lost. " It is hard to describe the élan of

> the gathering. Till that day, these students

 

> had seen only film and cricket heroes. That

> day, they saw a real live hero, who had

> unfurled the Indian flag on the peak, which the

> Pakistanis called Quaid-Post, after their

> President Jinnah. Today, that peak is called

 

> " Bana Top " . PVC Bana Singh patiently

> autographed note-book after note-book. Hundreds

> of students exulted on receiving their Hero's autographs.

>

> At 6.15 the programme finished.

We went

> with the guests to the Circuit House for a

> small break. There I began to interview PVC

> Bana Singh for the series " Our Param Vir Chakra

> Recipients " , which I am writing. Soon it was

 

> time for dinner. We went with our honoured

> guests to Vivekanand Vidyalaya where S. Ramesh

> had arranged a delicious dinner. There also,

> nearly a hundred students and teachers lined up

 

> for autographs. How could their hero, Bana

> Singh, disappoint them! After giving them autographs, all of us had

dinner.

>

> With the dinner over, the moment to bid

> farewell to Villupuram arrived. My sister,

 

> Raka, suggested that I should travel in the

> same car with PVC Bana Singh and continue my

> interview, which her husband Satya Prakash

> would record. It was a very useful suggestion

> because, the next day, in Pondicherry, there

 

> were so many programmes that I did not get a

> chance to interview PVC Bana Singh. After I

> finished the interview in the car, Satya

> Prakash sang a moving patriotic song. Then PVC

> Bana Singh sang a Punjabi song about the life

 

> of a soldier. Thus the one hour drive from

> Villupuram to Pondicherry, passed like a minute.

>

>

>

>At Pondicherry

>

>My two staunch supporters in Pondicherry, Mrs.

 

>Rani and Mrs. Aruna, Principal and Vice

>Principal of Little Angels English School, are

>veritable daughters of Durga. A few days before

>the arrival of PVC Bana Singh I had met by a

> " Divine Arranged Chance " Senior Superintendent

 

>Police of Pondicherry, B. Srikanth at the Sports

>Day function of Little Angels English School and

>told him about the coming visit of PVC Bana

>Singh. This dynamic officer offered to help and

 

>help he did, in an astounding way. He brought

>with him a renowned social worker of

>Pondicherry, L.I.C. officer Shri Ragothaman. By

>the combined efforts of these two the whole

>programme at Pondicherry became an outstanding success.

 

>

> Shri S. Ragothaman persuaded a rich man of

> Pondicherry Shri Kannan to contribute Rs.

> 30,000 to translate in Tamil and publish the

> Vikram Batra PVC booklet written by me. With in

 

> a week Shri Ragothaman's friend Shri Ramaswamy

> translated an abridged version of the booklet

> which was published and distributed free to

> more than three thousand students on 24th

 

> February. PVC Bana Singh launched the booklet.

>

> Due to the efforts of Maj. Gen. K.K. Tewari,

> our gracious Lt. Governor, His Excellency Shri

> Mukut Mithi invited PVC Bana Singh and Smt.

 

>

Bana Singh to stay at the Raj Bhavan. When at

> 9.45 p.m. we reached Raj Bhavan, S.S.P. B

> Srikanth welcomed our Hero on behalf of the

> Pondicherry Police. He presented PVC Bana

> Singh and Smt. Bana Singh beautiful shawls and

 

> bouquets. Then the guests were escorted to a

> grand guest room. Even though it was 10 p.m.

> the Lt. Governor, His Excellency Shri Mukut

> Mithi came and chatted with PVC Bana Singh and

 

> inquired after him, and with his kind words

> made every one feel at home. He has a

> graciousness to match his high station. He

> invited us all to breakfast. Shri Rakesh Oza

> stayed in another room in Raj Bhavan, to look after our guests.

 

>

> Next morning, Rakesh took PVC Bana Singh

> and Smt. Bana Singh to the Samadhi of the

> Mother and Sri Aurobindo. They were in the

> Ashram for half-an-hour. Later,

they strolled

> on the beautiful sea shore and watched the

> gorgeous sunrise. Then our whole group had

> breakfast with the Lt. Governor. PVC Bana Singh

> said it was a great honour for him to breakfast

 

> with the Lt. Governor. The Lt. Governor was

> equally gracious and replied, " It is an honour

> for me to breakfast with a Param Vir Chakra

> recipient. " After breakfast the Lt. Governor

 

> presented PVC Bana Singh with a purse and Smt.

> Bana Singh with a beautiful sari. Maj. Gen.

> K.K. Tewari presented him gifts on behalf of Auroville.

>

> S.S.P. B. Srikanth had given a police car

 

> for our guest. The untiring social worker Shri

> N. Ragothaman had arranged three other

> functions. After breakfast, at 9.30 he took us

> to the famous Amlorpavam Hr. Sec. School of

> Pondicherry, where 5000 students gave a hearty

 

>

reception to PVC Bana Singh. He and his wife

> were presented shawls and bouquets. The

> students asked Param Vir Bana Singh questions

> about the Siachen battle and Army life. PVC

> Bana Singh answered in Hindi. His speech and

 

> answers were translated in Tamil by Shri

> Ramaswamy. PVC Bana Singh told the students

> that at each moment a soldier is ready to

> sacrifice his life for the country. He does not

> fight for money or name but for the honour of

 

> his country. This hour-long programme ignited

> the fire of nationalism in the hearts of the

> students. The Principal and S.S.P. B. Srikanth gave beautiful

speeches.

>

> After an emotional leave-taking from the

 

> students, we came to the world renowned Sri

> Aurobindo International Centre of Education.

> There PVC Bana Singh was accorded a warm

> welcome. I gave a

brief introduction of PVC

> Bana Singh. Sushree Ratna Chakraborty and her

> students presented a patriotic programme. They

> sang the famous song written by Indira Devi

> " Hum Bharat Ke Hain Rakhwale. . . " It was set

 

> to music by Shri Dilip Kumar Roy and was chosen

> by General Cariappa for the Army from amongst 300 songs.

>

> Maj. Gen. K.K. Tewari gave a small but

> important speech. Then Colonel Ashok Chaudhari,

 

> who has fought at Siachen, told us in detail

> about Siachen and showed a rare slide of the

> peak conquered by PVC Bana Singh, which is now

> named Bana Top in his honour by the Indian

> Army. In his talk, Professor Kittu Reddy

 

> revealed an important fact. He told us that the

> Mother gave great importance to the Army and

> that once, when there was an altercation

> between the police and the Army in a

state, the

> State Government asked for the Mother's advice.

> She said, " For God's sake, support the Army.

> The Army is the only hope for India. " At the

> end of the function Shri Manoj Das Gupta, the

 

> Managing Trustee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and

> the Registrar of SAICE gave a gift to PVC Bana

> Singh on behalf of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

> Here too the students took his autograph.

>

 

> After passing one hour in that sacred

> atmosphere, where the Mother's presence was

> palpable, we went to the second function

> organised by Shri S. Ragothman at Petit

> Seminaire Higher Sec. School where the cadets

 

> of the school and their band gave him a guard

> of honour. In the huge basement hall he was

> welcomed by nearly 4500 students. All the

> students wore tricolor flag-badges. Here also

> PVC Bana Singh and Smt. Bana

Singh were offered

> shawls and bouquets. The Head Master Mr.

> Anthony Samy welcomed the guests. After the

> speeches PVC Bana Singh came down from the dais

> and shook hands with hundreds of students. It

 

> is remarkable that although both these schools

> had their annual examinations in the afternoon,

> yet they arranged these functions.

>

> Then we went to the Police Lines for a

> " Bada Khana " , a lunch for 400 people organised

 

> by S.S.P. B. Srikanth. The Lt. Governor, the

> Chief Minister, the Education Minister, I.G.,

> D.I.G., Chief Secretary and other officers

> of the Police participated in the function. A

 

> red velvet carpet was laid out for PVC Bana

> Singh to walk upon from the car to the venue of

> lunch. Beautifully dressed girls threw flower

> petals on his path. The sumptuous lunch took

> place under

the shade of a majestic banyan

> tree. There also according to the tradition of

> south India, PVC and Smt. Bana Singh were

> presented with shawls, flowers and gifts.

> Important people welcomed our Hero. At about

 

> 2.30 p.m. we came to my house with PVC Bana Singh.

>

> Time flew exceptionally fast and soon it

> was time for our main function from 4 to 6

> p.m., at the huge Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium,

 

> organised by Vraja Trust established by me, and

> the Little Angels School. The permission to

> hold the function at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor

> Stadium was given to us by the Education

> Secretary of Pondicherry, Shri

A.C. Verma,

> I.A.S. He graciously asked his director Shri

> Ragesh Chandra to help us. Shri Ragesh Chandra

> helped us greatly. His department bought 450

> sets of my 'hero books' to distribute to

each

> of their 450 schools. I can never be grateful

> enough to Sri Ragesh Chandra and his Joint

> Director, Shri Ramadas for their invaluable

> help. Joint Director Shri Ramadas himself

 

> supervised the erection of the stage on 23rd

> and remained in the stadium from 2..30 p.m. till

> 7 p.m. on 24th, to help supervise every thing.

> Apart from this, they asked many schools to

> participate in the function with their students.

 

>

> Thus, when, at 4 p.m. we reached the Rajiv

> Gandhi Indoor Stadium more than 5000 students,

> sporting Indian flag-badges, with several

> hundred other distinguished guests awaited

 

> eagerly to see and welcome the Hero of Siachen.

> There was thunderous clapping and standing

> ovation when we entered the stadium with our

> Hero PVC Bana Singh . With him and his wife

> were seated on the stage,

Maj. Gen, K.K.

> Tewari, Education Director Sri Ragesh Chandra

> and his Joint Director Shri Ramadas, Prof.

> Kittu Reddy and S.S..P B. Srikanth. We presented

> them with shawls and bouquets. Shri Satyanarain

 

> presented a purse on behalf of the Vraja Trust.

> The Ex-Servicemen's Association of Pondicherry

> presented PVC Bana Singh with a photograph

> of the surrender in 1971 by General Niyazi and his 93,000 soldiers.

 

>

> The cultural programme started with Mantra

> Path by the children of Little Angels School,

> followed by chanting and singing of Veda

> mantras by the students of Sri Aravinda

 

> Sanskrit Vidyalaya with their teacher Hari

> Narain. I have established this Vidyalaya and

> at present we are teaching Sanskrit to 600

> students from 10 schools, without charging

> anything. The pure and sweet notes of Veda

 

> mantras transported the audience for some time

> as if to the Vedic Age. The children of Little

> Angels School staged plays, dances, dialogues

> throwing light on different facets of a

 

> soldier's life. The patriotic fervour of these

> little ones made them like living flames. After

> watching the play on a soldier's life PVC Bana

> Singh commented, " You have said here every

 

> thing about a soldiers life. " It is rare for

> such little children to present such a

> beautiful programme. The children of Bright

> School also presented a beautiful dance. Many

> children touched the feet of PVC Bana Singh,

 

> who humbly tried to stop them from doing so.

>

> The credit for the success of this program

> goes mainly to the Principal and Vice Principal

> of Little Angels English School, Mrs. Rani and

 

> Mrs. Aruna. They were

the first to implement my

> scheme " Let Each School Adopt A Hero " in their

> school in February 2006 in a grand function,

> where they had adopted the first Param Vir

> Chakra recipient Major Somnath Sharma as the

 

> Hero of their School. Four generals and several

> other military officers had attended this

> function. This time they chose two new Heroes

> for their school: The Great Revolutionary Shri

 

> Chandrashekhar 'Azad' and Param Vir Chakra

> recipient Sec. Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal. The

> unveiling of their portraits was done by PVC Bana Singh.

>

> At six o' clock we had to stop the

 

> programme, even though several items had to be

> cancelled, for which I am truly sorry. The

> famous French journalist Mr. Claude Arpi was

> awaiting us at my home for an interview with

> PVC Bana Singh. At 7

p.m. Shri Ragothaman had

 

> arranged the inauguration of a Citizen's Forum

> at Hotel Mass by PVC Bana Singh. Many

> distinguished citizens of Pondicherry were

> present. Shawls and bouquets were presented to

 

> the distinguished guests. PVC Bana Singh

> lighted the ceremonial lamp to inaugurate the

> forum. He gave a brief talk. All his talks were

> full of patriotism and humility. Many important

> citizens spoke about the problems of

 

> Pondicherry. I put before them my three schemes

> for inculcating patriotism and bravery amongst

> the students. The function ended with dinner.

>

> We went to the Raj Nivas with PVC and Smt.

 

> Bana Singh and helped them pack their things.

> The time for parting had come. It was 9.45 p.m.

> Taking leave from all of us, our dear guests

> left for Chennai. Shri N. Jeyachandran had

 

> remained with them from

23rd morning. On 25th

> he saw off PVC Bana Singh on a plane to Hyderabad.

>

> Param Vir Bana Singh was so touched by this

> outpouring of love at Villupuram and

> Pondicherry that he remarked, " Eighteen years

 

> after the Siachen War, I have received my true

> reward. What more can I get in life ? It will

> be better if I jump in the sea here itself at

> this high moment of my life. " He said, " The

 

> Indian public has ignored its heroes. Leave

> aside giving them due respect and regard, they

> have forgotten them. The Government invites us

> to functions on 15th August and 26th January.

 

> But these functions are mere formalities and

> lack any true feelings. A soldier does not

> fight for name, fame or money. He fights for

> the love and honour of his country and his

> regiment. For so many years I lived almost

 

> forgotten and ignored. It is the first time I

> have been given true love and appreciation. "

>

> He told us a touching story. In 2006 the

> then Chief Minister of Punjab Shri Amrinder

 

> Singh heard that a Param Vir Chakra recipient

> lived in Jammu & Kashmir State. He sent a

> message that if PVC Bana Singh would agree to

> come and settle in Punjab, he would give him

 

> Rs. 25 lakhs, a monthly pension of Rs. 12,500

> and 25 bighas of land. Even though ignored and

> rejected by the J & K State, PVC Bana Singh did

> not agree to leave his birth place. That he

 

> rejected such a big offer, shows his greatness.

> Then Shri Amrinder Singh inquired that if they

> invited him to Chandigarh for a visit, would he

> agree to come ? To this our Hero readily

> agreed. On 26th October, 2006 Shri Amrinder

 

> Singh honoured him

by presenting a sword, a shawl and Rs. 10 lakhs.

>

> I want to share with you two other

> incidents, difficult to believe, almost

> miraculous stories. Originally, we had planned

> to take PVC Bana Singh to Auroville on 25th

 

> February. But he phoned to us from Jammu that

> he has been invited to Hyderabad on 25th. I

> supposed he might have been invited to some

> military function. But on the morning of 23rd I

 

> received a call from Smt. Arundhati, the

> Principal of Sangh Mitra School of Hyderabad,

> that I should inform PVC Bana Singh that he

> had to reach the airport 90 minutes before his

> flight. I came to know that Smt. Arundhati had

 

> also seen the same CNN-IBN interview with PVC

> Bana Singh, only for one minute towards the

> end, which my son had seen and had had exactly

> the same idea of inviting and

honouring PVC

> Bana Singh. She sent air tickets for PVC Bana

> Singh and his wife from Chennai to Hyderabad.

> They reached Hyderabad safely on 25th. Sister

> Arundhati made arrangements for his stay in a

 

> five star hotel, gave ivory bangles for his

> wife, clothes for every member of his family as

> well as a purse of rupees one lakh fifty

> thousand. All this PVC Bana Singh told me after

 

> returning to Jammu. I bow to sister Arundhati.

> It seems as if Bharat Mata herself is honouring her brave son.

>

> There is another more miraculous story. The

> local newspapers of Pondicherry gave a wide

 

> coverage to the event. The name of the

> Principal of the Little Angels School was also

> published. After reading this a person

> approached Mrs. Rani and told her that six

> years before a relative of his had seen PVC

 

>

Bana Singh on TV and had named his college

> Param Vir Chakra Vijeta Bana Singh Degree

> College. But he could never find the address of

> PVC Bana Singh. With the permission of PVC Bana

> Singh we gave him the address and phone number.

 

>

> Then in April 2007, the famous

> international pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly

> invited PVC Bana Singh twice to Hyderabad, to

> give three talks to motivate their staff of 70

 

> people. They spent Rs. 1,50,000 towards his

> air-tickets and board and lodging, and presented him with rupees one

lakh.

>

> Some months back I came to know

> industrialist Shri Arun Chudiwal of Kolkata,

 

> who is a true patriot. After reading about our

> scheme, he decided to invite all the three

> living Param Vir Chakra recipients to a grand

> reception by the hundred-year-old

august

> Merchants' Chamber of Commerce Kolkata. He

> invited the Vice-President of India to preside

> at the felicitation-function of these bravest

> of the brave. The Honourable Vice-President

 

> Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat accepted the

> invitation and there was a grand felicitation

> by the big industrialist-members of the

> Merchants' Chamber of Commerce Kolkata on 31

> May, 2007. The two younger Param Vir Chakra

 

> recipients Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, PVC

> and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar PVC are still in

> service. Shri Arun Chudiwal moved the highest

> military authorities to allow them to attend

 

> the function. His untiring zeal was rewarded

> and the authorities permitted them to attend

> the function. Shri Bana singh PVC had come one day earlier.

>

> When the felicitation-citations, which I

 

> had written on

Arun's request, were read, the

> 500 strong audience kept on clapping. There was

> such sustained applause that each hero had to

> come forward and take bows three times. At the

> end of the reading of each of the three

 

> felicitation letters the whole audience gave a

> long standing ovation to the concerned hero.

> Apart from a beautiful citation-letter each

> hero was presented with a purse of Rs. 51,000.

 

> After the Vice-President left, Lieutenant

> General Jamwal, Commander of the Eastern

> Command, presided over the rest of the

> function. Then the three living Param Vir

> Chakra recipients narrated their reminiscences.

 

> Lt. General Jamwal was overwhelmed by this

> honour bestowed on the Military Heroes of India

> by civilians. He said that it was the first

> time that all the living Param Vir Chakra

> recipients were present at

one place. Surely,

> the souls of countless revolutionary martyrs of

> Bengal, like Bagha Jatin, Khudiram Bose,

> Kanailal Dutt and others must have watched the

> function from heaven and rejoiced at the

 

> rekindling of patriotism in Bengal. Swami

> Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo must have blessed

> this resurgence of nationalism.

>

> After the function, Sri Arun Chudiwal

> graciously called me up on the phone, so that I

 

> could talk with all the three PVC recipients.

> Before coming to Kolkata, the younger two,

> Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, PVC and

> Rifleman Sanjay Kumar PVC did not know anything

> about the scheme " Let Us Honour Our soldiers "

 

> launched by me, and about its inauguration in

> Pondicherry on 23-24 February, 2007. It was an

> honour to talk, one after another, with all the

> three living

legends, the three living PVCs of India.

>

> Sri Arun Chudiwal has edited a beautiful,

> commemoration volume on behalf of

> the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata,

> to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the First

 

> War of Independence of India. Apart from many

> beautiful reproductions of rare paintings about

> the First War of Independence of India, and

> short life-sketches of many known and unknown

 

> martyrs of India's Freedom Movement, the

> Commemoration Volume has given the names of the

> provinces from where these patriots hailed and

> the years of their imprisonment at the dreadful jail at Andaman.

 

>

> Thus a seed of patriotism has been sown. A

> severely handicapped student of class 8 from

> Villupuram told me, " I want to become brave

> like Param Vir Bana

Singh. " By the Divine Grace

> this movement may spread all over India. Some

> occasions leave deep foot-prints on the sands

> of Time. Surely, Hon. Captain Bana Singh's

> visit was one such occasion which will have its

 

> repercussions in future, out of all proportion

> to itself. As we have seen, it has kindled the

> flame in many a heart already. Let us hope,

> from this lamp of patriotism will be lighted million more lamps.

 

 

Click to join Gita_dharshan

J.Venkatasubramanian

Join Bhagavad Gita study group- Gita_dharshan

Gita_dharshan

 

 

 

 

Do you get hundreds of mails everyday? Delete none. Go to

http://in.rd./tagline_mail_9/*https://edit.india./config/eval_\

register