Remembering Super Men

I dont want to die an ordinary death. When I go,the whole nation will remember me. So spoke Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan to his father when he had just joined the NSG.

I dont want to die an ordinary death. When I go,the whole nation will remember me. So spoke Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan to his father when he had just joined the NSG. Unnikrishnan was to die a heros death,fighting terrorists who struck the Taj Hotel in Mumbai last November. Now,a 29-year-old merchant navy officer has delved deep into the young commandos past right up till that fateful day,bringing his brief but eventful life alive,in an unusual format,the comic book.

Delhi-based Aditya Bakshi,an army officers son has seen too many times how war heroes are feted madly after a successful operation and just as quickly forgotten. A while ago he hit upon the idea of using the fun and accessible comic book format,to tell the stories of the tumultuous lives of Indian soldiers. Comics are great reads and we still go back to our old Amar Chitra Kathas for their mythology,so I wondered if I could do the same with Indian soldiers, says Bakshi. In 2008,he tested the waters by self-publishing an 88-page black-and-white comic book on Captain Vikram Batra,who died fighting Pakistanis in Kargil. Called Yeh Dil Mange More,it was to be a one-off comic book but the response surprised me and encouraged me to bring out more comics, he recalls. As the sales figures came in,Bakshi realized children would read stories of Indian soldiers if they were well told. I decided to make the comics thinner because children are afraid of thick tomes. Also,the new books are coloured to make them more appealing, he says.

On August 15,Bakshi will release a comic book on Colonel NJ Nair,one of the most decorated officers of the Indian Army,who died fighting insurgents in the Northeast. The book on Major Unnikrishnan will follow soon after, he says. This isnt the first effort at creating comic books on the Indian soldier: Sabre comics talks about Partition and post-Partition army operations. Weve kept it on hold due to recession, says publisher Kalpana Shukla. Bakshi funds his project from his own savings,as efforts to rope in sponsors have failed.

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The books,he stresses,go beyond the soldiers supreme sacrifice. We look at the soldier right from his youth. I started my research by talking to his parents. Major Unnikrishnans parents were initially hesitant but soon fell in with the project. I also spent six hours talking to the men who were with Major Unnikrishnan during that last operation. Tracing the lives of each soldier takes more than two months, he says. Bakshi adds how some traits are common to all three war heroes hes researched till now Batra,Unnikrishnan and Col Nair have all held records on the sports field since childhood,they were all voracious readers,and cultivated deep bonds with the troops in their charge.

The books,retailed through Om Book Stores and other prominent outlets,are still a family affair. Bakshis father,Major General GD Bakshi,who has won the Seva Medal and Vishisth Seva Medal,helps out with the initial storyline. Bakshis wife Namrata puts the final touches on the computer. The illustrators range from students of the Delhi College of Arts,Mukesh Sehgal and Shwetang,to an Ahmedabad-based portrait artist called Deepak Prajapati.

The storyline is high on adventure,heroics and adrenaline as the target readers are 10-year-olds and above. Though the purpose of the books is to entertain and inform,Bakshi hopes it will also restore the former glory of the Indian army in young minds. Young people dont want to join the army,but being an Indian soldier is about self-transcending values and a very different way of life, he says. In 2008,of the 300 recruits selected by the National Defence Academy only 190 joined,and of the 200 selected for the Indian Military Academy,only 80 turned up. Thats a sad comment on how youngsters view the army today, says Bakshi as his father adds yudhasya katha ramya (The tales of war are enchanting). With stories that strike at the imagination,Bakshi hopes to make a difference. Major Unnikrishnan may yet get his wish to be remembered forever.

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Remembering Super Men

I dont want to die an ordinary death. When I go,the whole nation will remember me. So spoke Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan to his father when he had just joined the NSG.

I dont want to die an ordinary death. When I go,the whole nation will remember me. So spoke Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan to his father when he had just joined the NSG.